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By Kirsty Needham, Reuters Sixty percent of Tuvalu residents live on an atoll that scientists predict will be half submerged by tides by 2050. Photo: AFP In a boost for Pacific Islands such as Tuvalu under threat from rising seas, Commonwealth nations agreed on Saturday that a nation's maritime boundaries should remain fixed even if climate change causes small island states to be submerged. The 56 countries with roots in Britain's empire issued the Commonwealth's first Ocean Declaration at the end of a summit of the group in Samoa. The declaration says the Commonwealth leaders "affirm that members can maintain their maritime zones" under the law of the sea and that the rights that flow from them continue to apply, regardless of physical changes connected to climate change related sea...

Etania Schools founder Dr Kathryn Rivai with teacher Norsiya Amil and some of their students. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Mythen "Education is so important for every single child," says a New Zealand woman who calls Malaysia home. "No exceptions." For the last 15 years, Dr Kathryn Rivai has been on a mission to ensure all children in Malaysia can access basic education. Because in Malaysia, there are exceptions. "Our government only supports Malaysian ethnicity or Malaysian children that have documents," said Rivai, who lives in Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia. Those who are undocumented or stateless are not allowed to attend school. "It's different from other countries like New Zealand," Rivai said. "If you live in New Zealand, you have to go to school. But not here." Under international law, a...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has shared some friendly rugby banter with Australian and Pacific colleagues at an event highlighting the Pacific Policing Initiative. New Zealand sent the largest police contingent in support of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, with Luxon saying nearly 120 officers - mostly of Samoan heritage - have been providing security and safety. Other Pacific countries also provided police in support of CHOGM, including Australia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and Fiji. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, left, next to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Samoan Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, right. Photo: RNZ / Russel Palmer Reverend Siaosi Salesulu opened the event with a prayer - noting his nephew Patrick Tuipulotu is set to lea...

By Ulysse Bellier, AFP Photo: RNZ The US political world was stunned in 2016 when Donald Trump won despite pre-election polls showing him behind, and in 2020 Joe Biden's winning margin wound up slimmer than polling suggested. Have pollsters learned enough from their mistakes to be more accurate this year? With just days to go, Democrat Kamala Harris and Trump seem locked neck-and-neck. But if polls are once again underestimating the Republican vote, the ex-president could well be ahead. The heart of the problem hasn't changed since Trump's dramatic 2016 upset, experts said, with a chunk of his electorate refusing to respond to polls. "We haven't found a silver bullet," Courtney Kennedy, vice president of methods and innovation at the Pew Research Center, told AFP. In the meantime, e...

By Hadas Gold and Brian Stelter, CNN Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. Photo: AFP For the first time in decades, the Washington Post will not endorse a candidate in this year's presidential election, the newspaper's publisher announced Friday, a decision that sparked widespread outrage among the paper's staffers. "The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election," Post publisher Will Lewis said in a statement. "We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates." The Post reported the decision not to endorse was made by the newspaper's billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, citing two sources briefed on the matter. The Post's editorial page staffers had drafted an end...