Oceania

Pre-polling stations have been opened for the elderly and the members of the disabled community, making sure they can exercise their right to vote ahead of the general election scheduled for tomorrow 29 August

Vanuatu Teachers Union has issued a nationwide call for all teachers in government schools to stay away from classrooms at the start of Term 3 saying the government hasn't given evidence of its announcement that 94% of teachers’ claims have been paid

PM Feletei Teo may pull Tuvalu out of the region’s top political meeting next month, after host nation Solomon Islands, a Beijing ally, told parliament that non-Pacific dialogue partners, attending the forum since 1989, wouldn't be invited

Nationwide ban on use of private mobile phone for early childcare workers will be discussed at ministry level, with other measures for child protection: a National Educator Register, tougher penalties for noncompliance, mandatory safety training for staff

The country's first five coronary bypass graft surgeries have been successfully performed at Port Moresby general hospital by a mixed team of PNG and Singapore doctors from 15 to 19 August

The Building Act will allow councils to merge their building consent functions, with private operators doing more consenting work instead of current liability regime; changes to the system will be the largest in decades and clear the way for more building

Movie 'Bati' was screened at Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival: it is the first ever Fijian feature film selected for NZIFF, filmed in Suva and the highlands of Namosi, with a Fijian cast and crew

The new Revenue Management System has been launched: it is a major national milestone supported by the World Bank, designed to modernize collection and management of public revenue to improve service delivery, transparency, and trust in institutions

Andrew John Fakaua Ponton, a Tuvaluan film director, has made his debut at the Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival with 'Bati', a boxing drama set in Fiji, bringing to the screen the voices of Pacific culture

Dengue cases have increased significantly across the Pacific this year, with Kiribati seeing an outbreak peak

President Hilda Heine in her keynote speech opening National Ocean Symposium underlined the importance of individual participation and of taking personal and community-level actions to keep the ocean environment healthy

Millions of Kina have been lost in the past two weeks due to power blackouts and internet failures, says the PNG Manufacturing Council, adding that it is not a problem of capacity but of poorly run grids and mismanaged maintenance