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Cook Islands Pocket Guide Launches Major Update Following Latest Research Trip

Cook Islands Pocket Guide Launches Major Update Following Latest Research Trip

Cook Islands Pocket Guide, the leading online travel guide for the Cook Islands, has released a major update to its content following an in-depth research trip across Rarotonga, Aitutaki and Atiu. The trip, carried out in March 2025, was made...

Te Ipukarea Society: Tahiti petrels found nesting in the Takuvaine Valley

Te Ipukarea Society: Tahiti petrels found nesting in the Takuvaine Valley

A motion-sensor camera installed in the upper Takuvaine Valley recorded for the first time ever in the Cook Islands an active Tahiti petrel burrow. 25070301/25070302/25070303 A two-year seabird monitoring programme began in March earlier on this...

Letter: Cook Islands sovereignty debate

Letter: Cook Islands sovereignty debate

Dear Editor, Joe T Public’s (JoeTP) (bully-boy tactics letter 20 June) was the clever work of a sophist (a person who peddles a fallacious argument to support a false conclusion) and reads very much like it is Government’s position and coming from...

Cook Islands engages in regional dialogue on social impacts of labour mobility

Cook Islands engages in regional dialogue on social impacts of labour mobility

Cook Islands participated in the Regional Workshop on the Social Impacts of Labour Mobility, held in Apia, Samoa, last week from June 23-26. MFAI/25063025 Cook Islands, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, participated in a...

Juvenile seal found at Muri beach dies

Juvenile seal found at Muri beach dies

A juvenile seal was found stranded at the Muri beach on Thursday morning. SUPPLIED/25070309 /25070310/25070324 A juvenile seal discovered at Muri beach on Thursday passed away after being taken to Te Are Manu Vet Clinic. The Ministry of Marine...

Cook Islands launches first-ever National Awards system: Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki   

Cook Islands launches first-ever National Awards system: Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki   

Prime Minister Mark Brown. SUPPLIED. The Office of the Prime Minister is proud to announce the establishment of Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki: The Cook Islands National Awards, an historic milestone to recognise and honour outstanding service,...

Muri Lagoon cleanup for World Ocean Day

Muri Lagoon cleanup for World Ocean Day

Waste was collected from the Muri Beach coastline, streams, motu and surrounding areas in June 2022. TIS/22061711 Today, Saturday July 5, is World Ocean Day, and Muri Lagoon will once again become the focus of local environmental action as...

Australia-Tuvalu mobility pathway: does it address the climate crisis?

Australia-Tuvalu mobility pathway: does it address the climate crisis?

Tuvalu/Photo courtesy of Jess Marinaccio On June 11, the Tuvaluan and Australian governments issued press releases announcing that the inaugural ballot for the Falepili Mobility Pathway would open on June 16. Part of the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili...

The Tree of Life: Honouring the Coconut Tree's Sacred Place in the Cook Islands Culture

You’ve seen it in nearly every photo of our little paradise — the iconic coconut tree. It’s the unmistakable symbol of tropical life, a mark that you’ve arrived somewhere truly special. But in the Cook Islands, the coconut is more than just a...

Aust-Tuvalu mobility pathway: Does it address climate crisis?

On June 11, the Tuvaluan and Australian governments issued press releases announcing that the inaugural ballot for the Falepili Mobility Pathway would open on June 16. Part of the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union Treaty, the mobility pathway falls...

180,000 visitor forecast

180,000 visitor forecast

The tourism-dependent country is on track to record its highest-ever number of visitor arrivals this year, with a forecast of 180,000 tourists, a 4.8 per cent increase over pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the latest ANZ Research Pacific...

Cook Islands unveils historic National Awards system

Cook Islands unveils historic National Awards system

Prime Minister Mark Brown in Parliament this week. LOSIRENE LACANIVALU/25062316 Cook Islands has established its own national awards system, Te Tango Raumaire o Avaiki, to recognise outstanding service and achievement across all sectors of...

Commentary: Trump’s Mineral Policy Offers Strategic Opportunity in the Pacific

Commentary: Trump’s Mineral Policy Offers Strategic Opportunity in the Pacific

by Wyatt J. Greco In an April 2025 executive order, President Trump affirmed that offshore critical minerals are key to creating supply chains that do not depend on adversaries like the People’s Republic of China. While US leadership on deep-sea...

Team Cook Islands in high spirit

Team Cook Islands in high spirit

The Cook Islands swim team. KIERAN CHAN/ CISNOC-25062710 The young swimming team from the Cook Islands is in Palau, filled with high spirits and ready for the 2025 Pacific Mini Games. Chef de Mission Mark Short says, “We have a very young team in...

Why Flying Can Be Good For Climate Change And Local Economies

Why Flying Can Be Good For Climate Change And Local Economies

Young Asian woman carrying suitcase, walking by the window at airport terminal.getty Has flying become the ultimate climate sin? Air travel is often cast as a scapegoat when it comes to tourism, but the numbers may tell a different story. Only 11%...

Deep sea mining decision already made, Cook Islands opposition leader says

Deep sea mining decision already made, Cook Islands opposition leader says

Cook Islands nodule field - photo taken within Cook Islands EEZ. Photo: Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority The Cook Islands' opposition leader believes the government has already decided it wants to pursue deep sea mining despite the science...

Stat of the week: In 2024, the Cook Islands recorded a negative trade balance of -161,697 USD

Stat of the week: In 2024, the Cook Islands recorded a negative trade balance of -161,697 USD

In 2024, the Cook Islands recorded a negative trade balance of -161,697 USD. This means the value of imports exceeded exports, highlighting ongoing economic pressures and reliance on external goods. As small island economies like the Cook Islands...

Cook Islands Prime Minister slams NZ aid freeze as ‘patronising’

Cook Islands Prime Minister slams NZ aid freeze as ‘patronising’

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand’s decision to pause development aid is patronising and will harm the country’s most vulnerable citizens. In a ministerial statement to Parliament on Thursday (Cook Islands time), Brown...

New Zealand withdraws millions in aid from Cook Islands

New Zealand withdraws millions in aid from Cook Islands

New Zealand has abruptly halted nearly $NZ20 million ($US11 million) in funding to the Cook Islands in retaliation for a partnership agreement the tiny Pacific Island nation concluded with China in February without consulting Wellington. NZ...

Cook Islands seeks to destabilise NZ on eve of China visit

NZ pauses nearly $20m in funding to Cook Islands after China agreements New Zealand has paused nearly $20 million in development assistance to the Cook Islands over its recent dealings with China. New Zealand raised concerns in February, after...

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