Cook Islands

Efforts are underway in the Cook Islands to eradicate the crown-of-thorns starfish, which has re-appeared on the reef around Rarotonga.

Cook Islanders with concerns about the new Rarotonga/Aitutaki water systems have been told to voice these in new select committee consultations.

The Cook Islands Ministry of Finance has cancelled the wage subsidies to some employers because they failed to pay their staff in full.

The Cook Islands deputy prime minister says he expects to confirm a "travel bridge" with New Zealand in the next week.

The head of the South Pacific Tourism Organisation says any prospect of a tourism rebound this year has been written off.

The Cook Islands government has drawn down on a $US10.3 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to help finance its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are renewed calls in the Cook Islands for an indigenous Māori name to replace the country's colonial era moniker.

The Speaker of the Cook Islands parliament, Nikki Rattle, has decided not to ban journalist, Rashneel Kumar, from reporting parliament.

An advocate for political reform in the Cook Islands says the country's dysfunctional system needs change.

The world's largest organisation of journalists is calling on the Cook Islands government to revoke a motion to ban a local reporter from parliament.

The Cook Islands Speaker of Parliament will determine this week whether a Cook Islands News article was incorrect and unfair and if the newspaper's political editor will be barred from Parliament.