Tourism Support: Te Pa’ata, a new digital support programme, is being promoted to help Cook Islands holiday home owners strengthen resilience with practical info, expert advice and business tools. Youth & Culture: A young Cook Islander is urging traditional leaders to reconnect with youth, saying culture survives only when the next generation understands and carries forward leadership roles. Public Finance Scrutiny: A letter to the editor challenges “budget blind spots”, arguing for clearer constitutional accountability around spending public money. Travel Rules Eased: PM Mark Brown says Cook Islands travel requirements are loosening for arrivals from New Zealand, with supervised rapid antigen tests replacing PCR, MIQ no longer required, and shorter isolation rules for positive cases. Deep-Sea Mining Debate: Pacific groups are calling for public submissions on a U.S.-backed deep-sea exploration proposal involving the Cook Islands, while the ISA has again failed to adopt a mining code, leaving rules and safeguards unresolved. Local Business & Payments: Bank of the Cook Islands Trade Days opens with a record 111 vendors, and BSP upgrades EFTPoS terminals for faster transactions. Water Tariffs Misinformation: To Tatou Vai warns social media tariff documents are outdated; the residential rate remains $1.40 per cubic metre for the coming year.