Minister for Women, who last year defended the fact that women should be elected on merit, has had a change of heart and now supports special seats for women in parliament: sitting at decision-making tables would accelerate much-needed changes

A blue alert for rotavirus remains in effect, especially in Betio, accounting for the most cases, as well as a blue alert for DENV-1 and DENV-2, with most cases counted in South Tarawa but a transmission rate still contained

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