The Latest Breaking News from Pacific Islands Forum

The office of the Kiribati president says it had decided to return to the forum after a "fruitful, positive and successful bilateral meeting" with newly elected Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka this month.

Washington has renewed its focus in the Pacific because of China’s engagement in the region and is expected to send a senior official to the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands later this year, writes Emma Ricketts

Mr Albanese said he was trying to “take politics off the front pages”.

As the COP27 climate talks got underway in Egypt this week, climate and energy minister Chris Bowen announced Australia would bid to co-host the annual United Nations climate summit with Pacific island nations in 2026.

The government of Guam rejects suggestions Washington is behind the United States territory's bid to join the Pacific's peak diplomatic body.

The United States and Pacific nations unveil a joint partnership declaration, backed by 14 island states, vowing to strengthen ties amid growing concerns of China's role in the region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Pacific Island nations have agreed to a "new partnership" with the United States on day one of the leaders' summit and suggests all 12 countries are onboard to sign a historic US-Pacific declaration.

New Zealand's foreign minister said on Thursday that the United States and China should engage with the Pacific through the Pacific Islands Forum, and work to address the needs of the region.

The Solomon Islands has told Pacific nations invited to a White House meeting with President Joe Biden it won't sign the summit declaration, according to a note seen by Reuters, prompting concern over the islands' ties to China.

The US is elevating its engagement with the Pacific as Beijing increases its presence in the region.

If you are trying to find traces of the United States’ long and layered ties with the Pacific Islands in Washington D.C., you need to look hard. Apart from the names of iconic battles chiselled into the Washington Mall’s second world war memorial, evidence of America’s complex Pacific history stretching…