Each week we bring you a round-up of news, analysis & commentary from and about the Pacific island region:
- Recent changes to the Electoral Decree in Fiji creating a minimum residency requirement have led to two candidates being disqualified.
- New financial products enable more rural businesses in Pacific island countries to gain access to commercial credit.
- On Devpolicy, Jon Fraenkel highlights some of the key messages of a review of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands that was presented at the Pacific Islands Forum last week, amid heightened tensions following the burning of houses in a squatter settlement. US Secretary of State John Kerry will include Solomon Islands in a six-day Southeast Asia and Pacific tour, and there is talk that the US president will visit the region later in the year.
- The government of Nauru has appointed a new chief justice and two other judges, including the first female appointment to the bench. The appointments have been greeted with cautious optimism by the previous chief justice and suspended members of the parliamentary opposition.
- Check out this interactive presentation of new policy proposals in Vanuatu, designed to bring budget documents to life and keep citizens informed.
- There is a wealth of archeological finds that tell us a lot about early Polynesian settlement of Tonga, but no museum in which it can be displayed.
- The Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting has concluded in Palau. Jenny Hayward-Jones and Roman Grynberg analyse what was (and was not) achieved.
- Fourteen Pacific island countries have been invited to attend the inaugural Thailand-Pacific island Forum; Australia and New Zealand are attending as observers.
- Earlier this year, the World Bank Praxis series looked at poverty and hardship in the Pacific island region: