- The Solomon Islands’ plans to use a subsidiary of the Chinese company Huawei to install an undersea cable to Australia have raised security concerns in Canberra as Huawei was banned from participating in Australia's National Broadband Network. There are also questions around the tender process and allegations of corruption have been levelled at the Solomon Islands ruling party over the deal.
- Marshallese political leader and climate change advocate Tony de Brum passed away on Monday. He was instrumental in his country’s independence and spoke out on nuclear disarmament and the threat his people faced from rising sea levels on the global stage.
- Papua New Guinea’s 10th parliament has officially opened. Prime Minister O’Neill’s address highlighted the government’s plans for the APEC summit in 2018.
- On Devpolicy, Michael Wesley writes on the historical significance of the Australia-PNG relationship for both countries and explains its role in Australia’s earliest independent foreign policy development.
- Fiona Hukula delivered a fantastic speech at the PNG Update that’s now available online, reflecting on the issues of gender, culture and development in the wake of the elections. She ended on an optimistic note, calling for increased understanding of the strengths of Papua New Guinea like the focus on the community.
- This photo story from the UNDP shows the recovery efforts that are still underway in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam in 2015. The traditional knowledge and skills of ni-Vanuatu people have been central to their resilience.
- Biosecurity doesn’t get a lot of attention in the Pacific but it has come to the fore recently in Solomon Islands where people are struggling to deal with the Giant African Snail’s impact on livelihoods and the environment.
- The UNDP in PNG has coordinated a two-day dialogue with women leaders to discuss the lack of women’s political representation. There are no women in PNG 's new parliament.
