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The Latest Breaking News from the South Pacific

The long half-life of France’s nuclear tests in Polynesia

Thirty years ago this week, on an island in the South Pacific, France conducted its final nuclear test – ending a programme that exposed thousands of people to radiation over decades. The islands of French Polynesia are still living with the fallout.

Radio France Internationale

New Caledonia's pro-independence party won't attend Paris meeting

New Caledonia's pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) announced on Tuesday that it would not attend the meeting on the institutional future of the French archipelago in the South Pacific, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday in Paris.

Radio France Internationale

Photos of New Year’s celebrations across the globe as the world welcomes 2026

Australia saluted the new year with defiance less than a month after its worst mass shooting in almost 30 years

The Independent UK

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How France’s political dramas threaten more instability in violence-wracked New Caledonia

The unprecedented political crisis in France is increasingly being felt thousands of kilometres away in the South Pacific.

The Conversation

Where will the partial solar eclipse be visible Sept. 21?

The 'equinox eclipse' will bring up to 86% coverage across New Zealand, Antarctica and parts of the South Pacific.

Space

Documents Show New Zealand Unease Over Chinese Warships In South Pacific

China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, according to military documents obtained by AFP. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads…

International Business Times

This tropical plant builds isolated ‘apartments’ to prevent battles among the aggressive ant tenants it relies on for survival

In the middle of the South Pacific, a group of Fijian plants have solved a problem that has long puzzled scientists: How can an organism cooperate with multiple partners that are in turn competing for the same resources? The solution turns out to be simple – compartmentalization.

The Conversation

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China Downplayed Nuclear-capable Missile Test: Classified NZ Govt Papers

China tried to mislead foreign governments in 2024 by playing down the importance of a nuclear-capable missile test over the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand diplomats privately warned in documents obtained by AFP. Beijing sent shivers through the South Pacific in September 2024, when its elite Rocket Force fired a dummy…

International Business Times

France’s final nuclear tests in the South Pacific, 30 years on

In recent months, the viability of France’s nuclear arsenal has been making headlines with talk of a French “nuclear umbrella” that might shield its allies on the European continent. In the face of the Russia-Ukraine war, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements regarding the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in…

The Conversation

Niue, the tiny island selling the sea to save it from destruction

On a remote raised coral atoll in the South Pacific, the tiny island nation of Niue is quietly protecting one of the world’s most ambitious marine reserves. While global leaders at the UN oceans gathering in Nice debate how to scale up efforts to safeguard the seas, Niue – population…

Radio France Internationale

Edmund White was my friend – I know first-hand why his writing meant so much to queer readers

When I was 19 years old, I visited New York for ten days on the way to London. I was flying from New Zealand, that small island nation in the South Pacific where all sexual acts between men were still illegal. My body was naive and innocent, but my mind…

The Conversation

In the crosshairs of stiff US tariffs, tiny coral islands in the South Pacific and Arctic outposts

The Trump administration appears to be leaving no stone unturned with its sweeping tariffs around the globe, from rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic to tiny tropical islands to a former British penal colony

The Independent UK

In search of the South Pacific fugitive who crowned himself king

Noah Musingku made a fortune with a Ponzi scheme and then retreated to a remote armed compound in the jungle, where he still commands the loyalty of his Bougainville subjects

The Guardian - UK

Three tropical cyclones are swirling in the South Pacific

Three tropical cyclones are spinning in the South Pacific, an occurrence that scientists say is unusual

The Independent UK

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International Business Times

US Aid Freeze Stops Crucial Pacific Projects

Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze has halted vital projects in the South Pacific, aid workers and analysts say, risking lives and hurting US efforts to woo the region.

The Independent UK

Why a deal with China has strained New Zealand’s ties with the Cook Islands

Beijing’s growing influence in the South Pacific has hit the close relationship between Wellington and the Cook Islands

The Independent UK

China says a visit by Cook Islands' prime minister isn't meant to antagonize others in South Pacific

China says a visit this week by the Cook Islands' prime minister to Beijing was not meant to conspire against anyone in the South Pacific, despite the trip stirring up a diplomatic spat between the tiny nation and its chief benefactor, New Zealand

The Independent UK

Papua New Guinea gains a team in Australian rugby league in diplomatic push aimed at curbing China

Papua New Guinea will gain its own team in Australia’s rugby league in a soft diplomacy deal linked to limiting Chinese influence in the South Pacific

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The Independent UK

Taiwan's president departs for Pacific visit with a two-day stop in the US. China isn't happy

Taiwan’s president departed for his trip to the South Pacific that will include a two-day transit in the U.S., his first since assuming office, though few details about his itinerary are public

The Independent UK

Taiwan president will stop over in Hawaii and Guam during his upcoming trip to the South Pacific

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will stop over in Hawaii and Guam on his trip to the South Pacific, in a move expected to draw objection from China

The Independent UK

Taiwan president will visit allies in South Pacific as rival China seeks inroads

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will visit the self-governing island’s allies in the South Pacific, where rival China has been seeking diplomatic inroads

LiveScience

Watch extremely rare footage of a bigfin squid 'walking' on long, spindly arms deep in the South Pacific

While exploring the Tonga Trench in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean, researchers captured extremely rare footage of a Magnapinna squid with arms several times the length of its body.

WhatToWatch

New Lifetime movie Murder Below Deck is a pleasure cruise turned nightmare sail

A luxury yacht trip in the South Pacific takes a dark turn in Murder Below Deck, Lifetime's new thriller premiering tonight

The Independent UK

Pope to meet Papua New Guinea Catholics who embrace both Christianity and Indigenous beliefs

Pope Francis’s visit to Papua New Guinea will take him to a remote part of the South Pacific island nation where Christianity is a recent addition to traditional spiritual beliefs developed over millenia that remain deeply ingrained