Pacific Fashion & Creative Industries: New Zealand Fashion Week Kahuria’s day five spotlighted Pacific talent, with an off-site Zambesi show at Ōkahu Bay and a big closing run by Pacific Fusion at Shed 10, featuring Cook Islands ura dancers, bold Pacific styling, and a community-packed crowd that helped push Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian designers into the main roster. Critical Minerals & Regional Policy: A new US defense supply-chain push under President Trump’s critical minerals Executive Order is raising pressure for domestic and allied mineral sources, and American Samoa’s “No” stance is framed as a way to influence where investment and exploration attention lands, with knock-on effects for ports, jobs, training, and partnerships. Climate Summit Spending & Politics: Australia’s A$20m bill to host a UN climate pre-summit in Fiji (Pre-COP31) has triggered a Canberra political fight, with the government defending regional leadership while the Opposition argues taxpayers shouldn’t pay amid cost-of-living strain.