Dateline Pacific evening edition for 2 August 20216

Tensions remain high in the tourist town of Alotau in PNG; youth are being targeted in the Cook Islands to fight an epidemic of lifestyle diseases; anti-nuclear campaigners in French Polynesia not convinced by high level pledges on compensation; an investigation is underway into arson at a hospital in Solomon Islands; a Chinese mining company has been given the green light to resume mining and logging in PNG; a warning that Pacific research needs to contribute more towards the region.