Kiribati signed with New Zealand a new partnership agreement, signalling a warming of relations that had cooled last year when New Zealand announced a review of its development program on the Pacific island nation

NEC's East Micronesia Cable System EMCS now connects Kiribati with FSM and Nauru; the submarine fiber-optic cable has been handed out to state-owned telecommunications company Bwebweriki Net Limited BNL for local operations

Fuel supplies are enough to keep Kiribati going for three to four months more, Minister for Social Affairs said, as stocks were replenished just before the US attacked Iran; attention focuses on how other Pacific island countries are handling the shortage

Amid a shifting balance of influence on Kiribati between Australia and China, international experts say China would be trying to gain more weight but still has to fully consolidate it, a last minute opportunity for Australia to counter it with new ties