Our Scans · Christmas Island · Weekly Summary

• The Bali Agency for Meteorology, Climate, and Geophysics forecasts that the entire Island of Bali will be inundated with rain of varying intensities through the Christmas and New Year holidays. Bali Discovery | News on Bali Tourism & Life Since 1998
• The Kiritimati Island also known as the Christmas Island and 10 others mostly uninhabited islands of the central Pacific Ocean were the first to welcome 2024 and will be the first to ring in 2025. Geo News
• Australia Connect will consist of two cable systems: The Bosun submarine cable will connect Darwin, Australia, to Christmas Island with onward connections to Singapore, while a new interlink cable will connect Melbourne, Perth and Christmas Island. Light Reading
• A new interlink cable will connect Melbourne, Perth, and Christmas Island, while in Melbourne, the interlink cable will connect to the Honomoana cable system to create a new interconnection point for services from the US to Asia. Business News Australia
• Last week Google Cloud revealed its Australia Connect project, new cables that will connect Australia with Christmas Island and Fiji, Singapore and the US and Australia also announced it will spend $18m over four years on a cable connectivity and resilience center. Ocean and Coastal Futures
• A new interlink cable will connect Christmas Island, Perth, and Melbourne and into the Honomoana cable system, which extends out to the United States. The Register
• Another interlink cable will connect Melbourne, Perth, and Christmas Island, providing internet services between the U.S. and Asia through Australia. Marine Insight
• Christmas Island, sometimes described as the Galapagos Islands of the Indian Ocean for its biodiversity, could be free of feral cats by 2025. ABC (Australia)
• Kiritimati Island - also known as Christmas Island - and a string of 10 other mostly uninhabited islands in the central Pacific Ocean will be the first to ring in 2023. India TV News
• Bird species that are both morphologically unique and threatened include the Christmas Frigatebird, which nests only on Christmas Island, and the Bristle-thighed Curlew, which migrates from its breeding grounds in Alaska to South Pacific islands every year. ScienceDaily
• Some animals such as the blue-tailed skink are now only known to exist in captivity, while the central rock-rat and Christmas Island flying fox are among mammals considered most at risk of extinction in the next 20 years, largely due to introduced predator species. DW.COM
• Most of the long thick black hair, long dark whisker, and round ear phenotypes of the Christmas Island rat could likely be recreated if genome editing of a Norway rat was attempted. The American Journal of Human Genetics
• At least another five islands - including Bruny, Christmas and French - are all hoping to go cat-free by 2030. Australian Geographic
• The first country - or countries - in the world to mark New Year will actually be the small Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati/Christmas Island. Metro.co.uk
• Millions of red crabs are causing disruption on Christmas Island in Australia. ITV News
• Leading environment groups have welcomed the Australian Government's draft plans for two new marine parks off Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands, saying the proposed parks will be a major step forward for global marine conservation and for the local communities. Sea Save
• Upgraded airfields across Australia's north and even west of Christmas Island - Cocos Keeling Islands - could be home to regional air surveillance flights. ABC (Australia)
• There is almost no justification to hold young people and their parents in immigration detention, and Christmas Island poses real health risks. ABC (Australia)
• Australia should acquire a fleet of six off-the-shelf modified submarines along with a mothership to re-service them that could be based at Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling. Skynews

Last updated: 18 June 2025