Oceania Kiribati At the 68th Session of the Commission of the Status of Women, Kiribati's Minister of Women, Youth, Sports and Social Affairs Mr. Martin Moretti declared the island nation's dedication to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls
Oceania Fiji The government will provide new harvesting machines to hillside sugarcane farms; Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh will leave for China next week to organize the delivery of the machinery
Oceania Vanuatu The Department of Biosecurity has partnered with New Zealand's AgResearch to release a virus in areas of Efate heavily infested with the coconut rhinoceros beetle, including Devils Point, Bukura, and Ifira
Oceania Marshall Islands "The Republic of the Marshall Islands is facing an unprecedented crisis due to climate change," reads the opening of a document on the Republic of the Marshall Islands' new National Adaptation Plan, released by the Directorate of Climate Change
Oceania Micronesia Ms Jenny Grant-Curnow is the new Australian Australian ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia
Oceania Nauru Dave Kitson has been named Nauru's new national soccer team manager and international ambassador; he has played 81 times in the English Premier League and 155 times in the Championship, scoring a total of 69 goals
Oceania New Zealand The country will record "significantly slower" economic growth in the coming years, the finance minister said, as slowing productivity hampers the economy; the announcement came as New Zealand is about to issue a pre-budget update in two weeks
Oceania Australia Australia will begin funding UNRWA again, after stopping funding in late January, foreign Minister Penny Wong announced
Oceania Papua New Guinea PNG was listed as a very high-risk destination for security in a recent report by the Tourism Promotion Authority, with particular emphasis on concerns for travelers from the United States, Australia and China
Oceania Solomon Islands A Red Cross humanitarian operation has kicked off to assist 5.000 of the nearly 14.000 people affected by the current drought; some atolls and islands reportedly had no rain in the first three months of this year
Oceania Palau Omung, a nongovernmental organization of women who share an interest in horticulture, is using its green thumb to beautify the welcome sign on the hill at Palau International Airport to make it beautiful for "a lasting good impression"
Oceania Tonga The rising star of the Tonga Tala, Tonga's national netball team, is aiming to climb to the No. 8 position in the world's top ten netball teams in international competitions scheduled for 2024
Oceania Samoa After six months of planning and recruitment, the Office of the Election Commission is set to open Samoa's online registration portal on May 6, while manual registration will begin in Aprile