Vanuatu

China has handed over a massive newly-built presidential palace to Vanuatu days before the Pacific nation's prime minister is expected to visit Beijing.

Blessed with pristine lagoons and coral reefs, New Caledonia was hoping to attract more Australian tourists. After civil unrest struck, businesses are now thinking about survival.

Vanuatu has backed changes in a referendum aiming to end political instability that saw the Pacific nation elect three prime ministers in a month.

The first Pacific Engagement Visas will be granted in late 2024. Experts and community leaders welcome the scheme, but say the government needs to manage it carefully.

The UN maritime court ruled in favour of nine island states who had sought greater protection from the impacts of climate change.

Air Vanuatu's collapse has raised questions about the future of aviation in the Pacific. While experts say the problems are vast, there are glimmers of hope for the region's airlines.

The first ni-Vanuatu workers to join the aged-care sector in Australia have graduated and elderly residents say their carers are "a blessing". 

Experts and observers say the discord in New Caledonia has built amid a deepening economic divide and a prolonged stalemate over the future of its status as a French territory. 

A group of young Rotary volunteers stranded on the Vanuatu island of Tanna will return home in style after P&O cruises offers to pick them up in Port Vila. 

The owner of a house where 40 workers from Vanuatu were living dismisses concerns of fire risk at the property, where Tasmanian authorities found 56 beds and conditions described as "poor and unsafe".

Air Vanuatu's collapse has left teenage volunteers stranded on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu. Members of an Albury-based Rotary club were running health clinics on the island and paid thousands for their initial tickets, but now face additional expenses of $3,000 per person to get the group home.

Ernst & Young confirms it has taken control of the airline after the Vanuatu government appointed it as voluntary liquidator of the company. 

Australian tourists are stranded in Vanuatu after the country's national airline cancelled international flights for four days, while the Vanuatu government considers putting it into voluntary administration.

One young mother alleges she was raped by a medical doctor in Vanuatu while he secretly performed an abortion on her.

Around the world, heated debates about abortion are taking place. But in the Pacific, the topic is so taboo, only a handful of people are willing to talk about it. You’re about to hear from some of them.

Pacific Island nations are looking abroad for workers, and taking control of labour mobility schemes at home, as they look to address labour shortages hitting employers. But experts say it's too early to say whether they're succeeding.

The Jewel casino once stood at the turquoise shores of Vanuatu's Iririki Island — until its new owners shut it down. Their reason? "The house always wins."

Pacific Island nations are preparing to stake their claim to naming rights for kava, as demand for the product grows outside the region.

Para-athletes from Vanuatu travel to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra for 'very rare' classification opportunities ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. 

With the nation's growing dependence on a Pacific Islander workforce, especially in regional areas, attention is shifting towards improving worker welfare and wellbeing.

Three Pacific ministers attend a high-level meeting on police cooperation between China and Pacific Island nations as Beijing continues its push to cement deeper security ties with the region.

Pacific worker and champion shot putter Elie Enock hopes her place at next year's Paralympics in France can inspire other people living with disability to achieve their goals. 

The powerful quake struck off the coast of the Pacific island nation Vanuatu just before midnight, with residents anxiously waiting for initial warnings of hazardous tsunami waves to be lifted. 

The first register of its kind in the South Pacific will identify children living with cerebral palsy to help improve understanding, reduce risk factors and meet their needs. 

Australian officials are increasingly worried about the Pacific's vulnerability to cyber attacks, with the government spending $26 million to set up "rapid assistance" teams made up of experts from the private sector and specialists from intelligence agencies like the Australian Signals Directorate.