The Latest Breaking News from Pacific islands

Hiroshima (Japan) (AFP) - A Pacific Islands leader on Friday called on the United States and China to not bring "adversarial competition" to the region, as the rival powers intensify their bids for influence.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Papua New Guinea on May 21-22, sign bilateral defense and maritime security agreements and meet with Pacific Islands Forum leaders, the State Department said on Thursday, after President Joe Biden pulled out of a planned visit.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, will join Pacific Islands leaders next month for a "historic" future-oriented meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Sunday.

U.S. President Joe Biden will briefly visit Papua New Guinea (PNG) on May 22, officials from the Pacific island nation said on Thursday, as Washington seeks to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically important region.

The top Pacific islands diplomatic post will pass to Taiwan ally Nauru next year, the 18-member regional bloc agreed Friday, as it resolved to face climate change and superpower rivalry as a united "family".

Senator Penny Wong has made her ninth visit to the Pacific, taking in Kiribati and the critical Pacific Islands Forum leaders retreat in Fiji.

Washington has renewed its focus in the Pacific because of China’s engagement in the region and is expected to send a senior official to the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands later this year, writes Emma Ricketts

While work schemes offer Pacific Islanders economic opportunities, critics say they exacerbate labour shortages at home.

Climate change is forcing people around the world to abandon their homes. In the Pacific Islands, rising sea levels are leaving communities facing tough decisions about relocation. Some are choosing to stay in high-risk areas.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington, DC, on December 6.

Although they contribute less than 0.03% of the world’s total carbon emissions, the Pacific Islands are at the front line of the climate crisis. Entire countries could be submerged under water within the next two to three decades. How are these island states fighting for their survival?