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

Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our...

Te Ipukarea Society: Nocturnal beetle a growing problem for Cook Islands crops

The Chinese rose beetle (Adoretus sinicus) has been a common pest in the Cook Islands for many years. TIS/25013101 This week’s article is an expansion on an earlier “Bug of the Week” post informed by Mike Bowie who was working at the Ministry of...

Cook Islands scholar joins science academy

Te Puna Vai Marama’s Merita Tuari’i and Professor Jodie Hunter. 24112212 Cook Islands will benefit from the launch of the Pacific Academy of Sciences, which promotes the study of natural and social science, indigenous knowledge and technology....

Travel in the age of new technologies 

Interview by Anne-Sophie Moreau How has technology changed our relationship with travel? Are we less afraid of distance today? Augustin de Romanet: Modern civil aviation was born in the mid-fifties. In 1960, there were 100 million passengers...

Delving into deep sea: China joins global scientists in exploring hadal zone

HAIKOU, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A pioneering international initiative for hadal zone exploration, led by Chinese scientists, has received official approval from the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). The...

Cook Islands seabed mining consultation criticised

The recent consultation process on seabed mining in the Cook Islands has been intensely scrutinised, with many raising concerns about its effectiveness and inclusivity. Non-government organisations (NGOs), particularly environmental groups, have...

Across China: Delving into deep sea: China joins global scientists in exploring hadal zone

HAIKOU, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A pioneering international initiative for hadal zone exploration, led by Chinese scientists, has received official approval from the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). The...

Cook Islands PM asks partners to get serious about debt and climate financing as economic ministers meet

By Samantha Magick Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says if the region’s donor partners are serious about helping Pacific economies grow and recover, they “have to be serious about looking at changing the rules around financing, and debt...

Te Ipukarea Society: The ‘real science’ around deep seabed mining!

Cook Islands delegation led by Prime Minister Mark Brown after their seabed minerals consultation with the Cok Islands diaspora in Sydney, Australia, this week. FACEBOOK/25053024 The Prime Minister was quoted in the Cook Islands News article on...

Te Ipukarea Society: ‘Embarrassing’ push from Cook Islands venture for deep sea mining regulation

The signatories to the letter from the contractors, including Cook Islands Investment Corporation's Allan Jensen, to the President of the ISA. SUPPLIED/24012450 Last week a group of eight deep seabed mining companies with exploration contracts in...

Cook Islands seek greater investment in USP Cook Islands Campus

MFAI Secretary, Tepaeru Herrmann, met with University of the South Pacific (USP) Vice-Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia, middle, on Friday last week. MFAI/ 24112602 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) Secretary, Tepaeru Herrmann,...

Cook Islands diaspora embrace digital innovation to preserve Te Reo Māori

Endala co-founder Fuemana Ngaro during a recent public event celebrating young Pacific leaders in New Zealand where Endala was presented – 24111420 Two passionate Cook Islanders living in New Zealand have embarked on an ambitious project aimed at...

RC Blog: Who’s willing to pay for sustainability in the Pacific?

Written by Simona Marinescu, Isabella Massa, Guillaume Lafortune After major setbacks to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Pacific needs fairer access to financing as it fights to overcome climate challenges. Crises in climate, geopolitics...

Cook Islands host visits from Chile and Cuba

Cook Islands last week welcomed the formal accreditation of two new ambassadors, with Her Excellency Mrs. Manahi Pakarati, Ambassador of the Republic of Chile, and His Excellency Mr. Luis Rodriguez, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, presenting...

Rivada partners with Vodafone Cook Islands

Rivada Space Networks, which does not yet have a satellite in orbit, has nevertheless signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vodafone’s Cook Islands “powering network expansion and digital transformation in the Oceania region and beyond”....

Vodafone Cook Islands, Rivada Partner for LEO Satellite Connectivity

Vodafone Cook Islands and Rivada have signed an MoU to provide next-generation telecoms connectivity, powering network expansion and digital transformation in the Oceania region and beyond. Vodafone Cook Islands aims to harness Rivada's Outernet...

Rivada Space Networks wins deal to expand Vodafone Cook Islands network

Vodafone Cook Islands and German satellite network provider Rivada Space Networks have signed an MoU to provide space based telecoms connectivity in the Oceania region and beyond. Rivada has a massive 600 satellite LEO constellation called the...

New discoveries add to Cook Islands’ rich biodiversity

On Penrhyn, in April and May, Victor Niukore and Aeata Matara recorded the first Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcans) in the Cook Islands. This Canadian-US gull breeds April-September and then migrates southward to western South America to...

Electric future charged up- CITTI celebrates first EV engineering graduates

The five graduates of the New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Vehicle Automotive Engineering Level 5 with King’s Representative Sir Tom Marsters and Lady Tuaine Marsters at the Cook Islands Tertiary Training Institute (CITTI) graduation ceremony...

Vodafone Cook Islands Partners With Rivada For Network Expansion

(MENAFN- PR Newswire) Like most countries and territories in Oceania, telecommunications in the Cook Islands is limited by geographic isolation. Vodafone Cook Islands aims to harness Rivada's Outernet to deploy resilient connectivity for...