Oceania

The newly crowned Miss Pacific Islands, Miss Samoa Litara Ieremia-Allan, has pledged to support Miss Kiribati, Kimberly Tokanang, in raising awareness and promoting climate change action in the Pacific region

The Central Cement and Limestone project took a step forward with the presentation of the initial draft of the community development agreement in Port Moresby with local landowners, the Mineral Resources Authority and Mayur Resources Limited

Samoa consolidated its place in the history of the Miss Pacific Islands pageant, emerging as the country with the most crowns since the regional competition began in 1987, as Miss Samoa Litara Ieremia-Allan won at 38th Miss Pacific Islands pageant

The demand for technical and vocational education in Vanuatu is gaining popularity; in the programmes approved by the Vanuatu Qualifications Authority there are about 1.000 students enrolled, many of whom attend the Vanuatu Institute of Technology

A campaign to protect women from cervical cancer is being conducted by the Ministry of Health; at least four cases of stage 3-4 cervical cancer occur each year in Tonga

Kiribati have signed an agreement with Nauru to strengthen the aviation sector through the exchange of information, expansion of transport services and improvement of safety and infrastructure for citizens

A newly introduced bill allocates $1,4 million in social assistance funds with a one-time payment of $450 for retirees who have no other source of earned income and for individuals receiving disability insurance benefits

Efforts are underway to further strengthen and promote kava exports to the US and the entire North American region; new import tariffs introduced or planned by President Trump are a pending variable

Sir Julius Chan, one of Papua New Guinea's founding fathers, has died at the age of 85; Papua New Guineans had nicknamed him 'the last man standing', as he was the last of the founding members of the independence-era parliament

Aimeliik primary school students have now access to a music and dance programme, German-funded, that provides teaching, tools and practical training