Tensions rise as New Zealand freezes millions of dollars in aid to Cook Islands over China deals

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Cook Islands is Chair for Pacific Region’s GEF ISLANDS Project

Halatoa Fua. Photo: Supplied/20102821 The Cook Islands is the chair for the Pacific Region’s Project Steering Committee (PSC), which has the largest portion of the GEF ISLAND fund. GEF ISLANDS is the largest singular project by the Global...

Xi to Luxon: No China-New Zealand conflict, even as Cook Islands pivot raises eyebrows

BEIJING, June 20 — Chinese President Xi Jinping said today that Beijing had “no fundamental conflicts of interest” with New Zealand, as he welcomed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on an official visit. Luxon’s trip comes at a time of tension with...

Decades of climate uncertainty: Cook Islands grower speaks

After more than 30 years of farming on her Takuvaine plantation, Jean Tekura Mason says climate change has disrupted everything she understood about farming. “I’ve been a planter, gardener for over 30 years basically and what I’ve noticed over...

Seabed minerals company inspires future local scientists

CIC Ocean Research staff onboard their research vessel. 25081301/25081539/25081540 The Open Day tour, held by CIC Ocean Research on Tuesday and Friday, introduced locals and visitors to the country’s developing ocean research capabilities and the...

Coral research uncovers exciting new-to-science species hidden in plain sight

From: Queensland Museum An international team of scientists working with Queensland Museum’s CoralBank have made groundbreaking findings that rewrite the family tree of one of the world’s most iconic coral groups and described five new-to-science...

Cook Islands environment group calls on govt to speak out against U.S Trump’s deep seabed mining order

Cook Islands’ leading environmental lobby group is hoping that the Cook Islands government will speak out against the recent executive order from United States President Donald Trump aimed at fast-tracking seabed mining. Te Ipukarea Society (TIS)...

Cook Islands environment group calls on govt to speak out against…

Cook Islands’ leading environmental lobby group is hoping that the Cook Islands government will speak out against the recent executive order from United States President Donald Trump aimed at fast-tracking seabed mining. Te Ipukarea Society (TIS)...

Cook Islands environment group calls on govt to condemn Trump’s seabed mining order

By Losirene Lacanivalu, of the Cook Islands News A leading Cook Islands environmental lobby group is hoping that the Cook Islands government will speak out against the recent executive order from US President Donald Trump aimed at fast-tracking...

Rarotonga resident wins high-tech appliance and entertainment pack

Keren Aviu is the lucky winner of the Vodafone Cook Islands Te Maeva Nui Text-to-Support Campaign, taking home an incredible Samsung prize pack valued at thousands of dollars. Aviu is pictured with her sons, Vodafone Cook Islands CEO Phillip...

Forecasting hope: Climate action for a more resilient Cook Islands

Amidst the Pacific Ocean lies 15 pristine atolls and islands scattered across approximately two million square kilometres of the sea. GCF/25060501 Cook Islanders have a close connection to their land and feel a sense of stewardship to protect it...

Cook Islands calls for ban on harmful chemicals in plastics to protect Pacific

Director of the Cook Islands National Environment Service (NES), Halatoa Fua. SPREP/25043018 The Cook Islands emphasised the need to address chemicals of concern found in plastics, which disproportionately impacts human health and the environment...

Cook Islands formalises diplomatic ties with Azerbaijan

Prime Minister Mark Brown and Mukhtar Babayev, then Azerbaijani Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, who met in August 2024, within the margins of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga. MFAI/25050113 Cook Islands and the...

The Cook Islands declared a dengue outbreak in Rarotonga last week

Berlin Kafoa, director, of the public health division at The Pacific Community (SPC) says*: What is the immediate threat posed by dengue in the Pacific region, and how is this changing? "1. Increasing morbidity due to escalating dengue outbreaks...

Dengue outbreak spurs clean-up campaign in Cook Islands

By Caleb Fotheringham of RNZ Big clean-up campaigns are under way in Rarotonga to try stamp out mosquito breeding grounds. The Cook Islands declared a dengue fever outbreak last Thursday (Friday NZ time). Outbreaks have also been called in Fiji,...

Passion for psychology leads to Cook Islands student’s success

Meilani Payne dedicates her undergraduate degree to her grandmother, Teau Tungane Maara-Tuaine-Kite-Po Teiotu. Victoria University of Wellington/25052303 Cook Islander Meilani Payne came to Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington from a...

Cook Islands WWI research team to visit Atiu

The Cook Islands WWI research team will start on an important mission to Atiu, where they aim to uncover the final resting places of several soldiers who served during the Second World War. Pictured is the cenotaph in Atiu. SUPPLIED/25041618 Cook...

Winston Peters on China, Cook Islands and why he is ruling out Chris Hipkins ‘permanently’

Then, after the interview concluded, Peters invited the Herald back to his office to make his position very clear. “When I ruled out Hipkins in 2023, I ruled him out permanently,” Peters said (he actually ruled out Labour in November 2022, three...

New biology lab to boost marine research

Dr Phoebe Argyle, marine ecologist, senior fisheries officer inside the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) new biology laboratory, Te Ivi Moana –, The Backbone of the Ocean. MELINA ETCHES/25073160 Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources has...

Maggie Boden, cognitive scientist who foresaw the risks and potential of artificial intelligence

Maggie Boden: books included Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man (1977) and her 2006 magnum opus Mind As Machine: A History of Cognitive ScienceProfessor Margaret Boden, who has died aged 88, was instrumental in founding the discipline of...