President Joko Widodo (foreground, second from right), flanked by then Vice President Jusuf Kalla, welcomes Afghan and Pakistani mullahs to the Trilateral Ulema Conference held at Bogor Palace in West Java, Indonesia.
Wahyu Putro A/Antara Foto
Scientists had been uncertain about why killer whales are dying in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. A new study takes an in-depth look and provides the tools to help prevent additional deaths in the future.
The pandemic is an important moment for regional partners to show their commitment to the Pacific. And so far, China hasn’t matched its pledges with enough action.
While Pacific communities need robust public health reporting, local media face harassment and arrest while covering the crisis.
‘Death of Captain Cook’ by George Carter. 1781. Oil on canvas. The painting depicts the killing of Cook during a skirmish with Hawaiians on his third Pacific voyage in 1779.
National Library of Australia collection
Over the course of his three voyages, Cook was frustrated by the refusal of Indigenous people to embrace Western ways. He grew increasingly punitive, embodying the ‘savagery’ he ostensibly despised.
Interviews in three Pacific nations revealed concerns over a lack of balance in the Australia-Pacific relationship and a certain level of racism and disrespect directed towards islanders.
The number of Māori and Pasifika students is growing, but they do not see themselves represented among the people who teach them.
from www.shutterstock.com
New research shows that Māori and Pasifika scholars are significantly under-represented in New Zealand’s universities, making up only 5% and 1.7% of the academic workforce, respectively.
A customer waits for the world’s longest flight from Singapore to Newark.
AP Photo/Wong Maye-E
The day and a half it takes to get from New York to Singapore and back offers plenty of time to ponder the economics of ultra-long-haul flights – and wonder why we’d want to make it any longer.
The tattoo tools from Tonga (left to right) made from bird, human, bird and human bone respectively.
Author provided
Soft power is a country’s ability to gain influence through attraction. Australia’s soft power in the Pacific began waning when it axed the Australia Network in 2014. And China is filling the gap.
The Australian funded Blackrock base in Fiji will be a regional hub for training of defence and security personnel.
DAN HIMBRECHTS/AAP
Scott Morrison stepped up Australia’s engagement with the Pacific by visiting Vanuatu and Fiji last week and announcing a bilateral partnership with the latter. Here’s what he achieved.
Australia aims to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
DAN HIMBRECHTS
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s historic visit to Vanuatu is centred around security. This fits a pattern shifting the focus from development to militarisation in Australia’s Pacific foreign policy.
Relationships with China, the Middle East, India and the Pacific will be ones to watch in 2019.
AAP/The Conversation
Australia’s international relationships were tested in 2018. And the coming year may prove to be even more challenging.
After a positive start, Morrison’s relations with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, cooled off after he suggested moving the Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a busy summit season ahead of him. After early foreign policy stumbles, it’s important he reads his briefs, listens to the diplomats and stays humble.
Fiji’s Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama speaking at a trade forum in Brisbane in July last year.
Fijians go to the polls this week in only the second general election since a 2006 coup in which the current prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, seized power. He won an election in 2014.