Nuclear waste dump in Marshall Islands deemed safe by US government; PNG laws to stop violence against women need enforcement, NGO's; Released Balikpapan Seven member says he will keep speaking out about injustice; Spotlight on Samoa corrections system after one inmate was found to have been kept in jail for nearly five years longer than he should have been; ILO works with unions and employers to support redundant workers in Fiji;New Zealand robotics firm X-craft is trialling an autonomous seacraft to police the Pacific's fisheries; The first ever Pacific art gallery space has officially opened this week in New Zealand.

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Lives on the line for observers of the lucrative Pacific fishery; a humanitarian crisis emerging in Fiji due to the pandemic; Unlocking the potential for off-field roles for Pasifika in NZ rugby; Fiji govt targets growing drug threat; Canadian company touts seabed as path to green transition; Te Papa appoints first Pasifika head of Pacific/NZ cultures and histories; Bougainville elections could bring fresh impetus to post-referendum process.

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Fiji attempts to frontfoot a Pacific travel bubble with it's own Bula Bubble - but the reaction's been mixed; A group of absconding Air Force personnel upset Guam's progress in eliminating coronavirus; Tonga announces it's largest ever deficit; Slow progress in tackling racism towards Papuans; A three-horse race to become secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum.

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Coronavirus setback dampens enthusiasam for a New Zealand travel bubble into the Pacific; NZ covid-19 border slip-up highlights 'unfair' system for Pasifika; The struggle for Marshallese to cope with Covid in the US; Suspension controversy comes to a head at the University of the South Pacific; Fiji's police and the culture of fear under the spotlight; Crucial identity and immigration reckoning for the Cook Islands; Court convicts Papuans for treason after anti-racism protests; Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna announces he will stand down in September; Solomons police probe amid Malaita stoush with Honiara over China ties; A rising Hip Hop star launches a new track to highlight gambling issues in the Pasifika community.

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Anger that Australia is in line for a New Zealand travel bubble before the Cook Islands, whose people are New Zealand citizens. Crisis at the University of the South Pacific: A vice-chancellor is suspended, students protest, and governments accuse Fiji of a takeover. A PNG athlete shares her story of domestic violence; The Polynesian Panthers speak on Black Lives matter, and the latest from the race for the Bougainville presidency.

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A dire warning from Tuvalu's prime minister, who says that without more international help,some Pacific economies may collapse; We hear about the ordeal faced by two Marshall Islands fisherman who spent 42 days adrift at sea; And, we check in on a wild political week in Papua New Guinea, Bougainville and Fiji - where benches have been shuffled, parties ousted and careers ended.

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With many Pacific countries having had no cases of Covid-19, just how likely is a travel bubble with New Zealand? Fiji's main opposition is suspended for three months; A raft of constitutional reform bills before Samoa's parliament sparks a backlash; And, both Niue and Kiribati have upcoming elections.

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This week the threat from Covid-19 came closer to home in the Pacific, with the first confirmed cases reported in French Polynesia; the West Papua National Liberation Army has been launching attacks against the operations of a major gold and copper mine, run by US company Freeport McMoran, in its war against the Indonesian state; the Cook Islands will host its first pride day this weekend, as the country's LGBT community gears up for battle to have homosexuality removed from the Crimes Act; the Norfolk Island administrator is stressing the island will not run out of food as it struggles with shipping issues; Niue has become the world's first Dark Sky Place following the International Dark-Sky Association's approval of the island's application for the protection of its sky, land and sea; the practice of traditional tattooing is seen by many in the Pacific as the sole domain of men - but that's not the case everywhere; The first full season of Global Rapid Rugby kicks off this weekend with teams from Fiji and Samoa hoping the competition can be a springboard for players hoping to push for higher honours.

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The Covid-19 global outbreak is hurting economies in the Pacific; New Zealand's government to focus on supporting democracy in Fiji elections; where to next for the American Samoa caucus after Michael Bloomberg's withdrawal from the US Democratic Presidential Candidate race; Maori and Pacific babies bigger but leaner; jailbreaks and disease outbreak reflect dire state of PNG prisons; Solomon Islands launches new guidelines for counsellors moving to curb social media abuse.

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Papua New Guinea's prime minister warns against rushing into the Bougainville independence process; Bougainville's president keeps trying for a third term; The once immovable Gaston Flosse's bid for a political comeback in French Polynesia appears to be over; The latest on coronavirus measures from around the Pacific; Growing concern about drug trafficking, getting more indigenous voices into climate change discussions, And, making tatau safer.

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