Oceania Vanuatu Local agricultural scientists have presented the Golden Hybrid Yam, a new super climate-resistant yam that can be harvested year-round dramatically increasing food access; it took more than a decade to develop it
Oceania Micronesia The US is expanding its military presence in the country as part of a strategy for control capacity in the region, confirmed by recent talks between President David Panuelo and the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command
Oceania New Zealand Fossilised remains of an unusual long-legged giant penguin found by children on a field trip in 2006 belong to a previously unknown 1,4 mt tall species aged between 27,3 and 34,6 million years, according to a new 3D scanning analysis of the bones
Oceania Australia The eastern barred bandicoot population, after 30 years of conservation efforts, has returned to around 1.500 animals; it is the first time the country has changed the status of an animal from 'extinct in the wild' to 'endangered' instead of the other way
Oceania Marshall Islands The SSG Solomon Sam sports court at College of the Marshall Islands is closed until further notice due to severe corrosion of the roof structure; funding for the work is uncertain as the public budget is heavily impacted by the pandemic
Oceania Kiribati Kiribati President Taneti Maamau said he plans to reopen borders for international travel not before January 2022
Oceania Nauru President Aingimea has accused Fiji of being divisive over its refusal to pay its share of funding for the 12-nation South Pacific Regional University, saying the institution needs every member country to pay its contribution
Oceania Fiji Musicians raised more than US$20.000 through concert aimed at helping musicians across the country who have been left without work due to the pandemic's effects on tourism and the food industry
Oceania Samoa Elected members of the opposition Human Rights Protection Party have been banned from attending the session of Parliament scheduled for today in Mulinuu, the first since the April general election
Oceania Solomon Islands The oil spill of the MV Haura, stranded along the Peochakuri coast since 20 August 2021, has become a major environmental concern for locals who are unable to catch fish, their main source of protein
Oceania Palau As the Belau National Hospital is at risk because of the impacts of climate change, a committee has been set up to examine a suitable location for a new hospital building
Oceania Australia The UN's top climate adviser joins those calling on the country to rapidly phase out coal, still used so largely as to produce about 80% of the nation's electricity
Oceania Marshall Islands Tuna fishermen from purse seiners have been vaccinated against Covid-19; the Ministry of Health and Human Services administered 757 vaccines to commercial fishing crews in the past 3 months