Oceania Solomon Islands Temotu Vatud constituents will benefit from a $300.000 fishing and transportation project thanks to a donation of outboard motors from Fleet Solomons, a local company
Oceania Papua New Guinea The country has no woman sitting in Parliament while the world average is 23%; only other 4 have no female representation in Parliament: Yemen, Qatar, Micronesia, Vanuatu
Oceania Australia Sha Lang has set up a "stick library" on Mulambin Beach near Yeppoon in central Queensland, where there is a collection of sticks for dogs to play with and - hopefully - return or leave one of their own
Oceania Fiji People's Alliance Party leader Sitiveni Rabuka announced that 55 candidates will contest the upcoming general election under the party's banner and hinted that other members of the Social Democratic Liberal Party will join his party
Oceania Palau President Whipps Jr. announced that, in consultation with US climate change envoy John Kerry, the country has decided to reschedule the Our Ocean conference for April, with the aim of attracting many people to attend
Oceania Micronesia Arnold&PorterKayeScholer, legal firm assisting the country, extended its contract with a higher fee as Micronesia approaches the final year of its free association pact with the US: its growing geopolitical importance will require longer negotiations
Oceania Solomon Islands The governor-general said consideration should be given to making also secondary and tertiary education more accessible
Oceania Nauru The Taiwanese technical mission team organized a charity event, with 10.000 eggs on sale; the proceedings will go towards worthy causes in education, environment and social welfare
Oceania Marshall Islands The Marshallese version of the Olympic Games is the jepta biit Christmas dance, an event full of competition and insults, part of the jepta performances since time immemorial
Oceania Kiribati The citizens welcomed the New Year first after the 1994 presidential candidate promised, if he won, that the locals would celebrate the New Year first; the country is divided into three time zones and the easternmost region actually now celebrates first
Oceania Vanuatu Vila Central Hospital (VCH) recorded a record number of 3.000 births last year, with a steady increase every month compared to previous years
Oceania Tonga The Ports Authority Tonga (PAT) will partner with a new company to import ferronickel slag from New Caledonia for major infrastructure projects
Oceania New Zealand Conservation officials are concerned about a sudden increase in poaching from the Hikurangi marine reserve, after dozens of people spotted taking pāua from a South Island reserve where it is illegal to take them