New Caledonia - school funding crisis
New Caledonia's Catholic schools say they will run out of money by August unless funds are made available to maintain operations.
To highlight their plight, the territory's 62 Catholic schools won't accept any students in their boarding accommodation next week, and offer no meals.
The management says the budget allocations for this year are $12 million US dollars short of what is needed to cover the cost of having 15-hundred staff.
13,000 children, or about 20 percent of New Caledonia's children, attend Catholic schools, including all in Belep and in the Isle of Pines where there are no alternatives.
The schools depend on allocations from the provincial governments.
New Caledonia - politics
Daniel Goa, a separatist politician, (L) Photo: AFP
The president of New Caledonia's largest pro-independence party Daniel Goa has been referred to the public prosecutor for alleged calls for violence and sedition.
The complaint was lodged by anti-independence parties after his speech at a party meeting at the weekend.
Goa said there was a risk of there being no more provincial elections if the restricted rolls are opened to people who arrived after the signing of the 1998 Noumea Accord.
Under the Accord, voting is restricted to long-term residents and indigenous Kanaks.
The anti-independence parties want Paris to abolish the restrictions by changing the French constitution and granting voting rights to the estimated 40,000 migrants who have settled since the Accord signing.
Goa warned of irreversible solutions in case of such a change.
The anti-independence coalition accused Goa of sedition, after he said his side might turn to foreign powers.
Samoa - China
China's Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries, Qian Bo, has told Samoan media his country has no ulterior motives in the Pacific, or anywhere.
Qian said he has scrutinised the AUKUS security pact recently signed between the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
He noted that China and the US have joint military exercises.
"This region is not exclusive for Australia or New Zealand or for the US," he said.
Qian said these are sovereign states and Samoa has the right to engage with all countries including China, Japan, South Korea and India.
"People talk about the rising presence of China in the region, as I have said, the Chinese are not newcomers and our relationship with the region is a step-by-step approach."
The envoy said his visits to the Pacific would become more regular as China tries to help the island nations within the Pacific develop.
Vanuatu - disaster planning
A Vanuatu chief is urging the Government and official departments to prioritise resilient food practices during times of disaster.
Food crops were severely affected in Vanuatu during twin cyclones in early March.
Chief Albert Ailo, President of Tomaso Council of Chiefs of Paama island, said the frequent cyclones in Vanuatu make it crucial to encourage the development and planting of resilient food crops that can withstand such calamities.
Chief Ailo recommended conducting a study on the islands to identify local foods that can resist disasters.
He cited wild yam as a potential resilient crop, saying he himself has planted it across his island and consumed it all year round.
Vanuatu - health
Vanuatu's Port Vila Central Hospital has undertaken its first-ever surgery for a laparoscopic hernia repair.
It is considered a milestone for the country and Dr Richard Leona said it was undertaken with help from Chinese surgeons.
He said while the hospital has had laparoscopic instruments for some time, they lacked the capacity for this type of surgery, until the arrival of the surgeons.
Dr Leona said the surgery was successful.
Vanuatu - sacked teacher
The board of directors of a well known school in Vanuatu, Malapoa College, has unanimously decided to sack a teacher made pregnant by a Year 13 student.
The Daily Post says news of the pregnancy only reached the school administration this year but the woman became pregnant last year.
The chairman of the College, Fred Samuel, said the board has a zero tolerance policy on sexual relations between staff and students.
Malapoa College was built by the British Administration and called British Secondary School during the colonial era, to educate the children of the British public servants.
In the 43 years since Independence, the school has also taught a number of Vanuatu's prime ministers.
Kiribati/Aotearoa - crime
A 48-year-old Kiribati citizen is set to be deported back to the Pacific island from New Zealand, following a conviction for raping a six-year-old girl.
New Zealand media reports that, despite initially pleading not guilty to the offences, the man changed his plea to guilty on the morning of his trial.
He was convicted of one offence of a male raping a female under 12 and one offence of an indecent act on a girl under 12, in May 2021.
He was sentenced to jail time and set to be deported back to Kiribati, but in August 2022, he appealed his deportation on "humanitarian grounds", arguing that the decision was "unjust and unduly harsh".
However, a tribunal hearing found that the man's deportation was not unjust or unduly harsh "when weighed against the gravity" of his offences, and his appeal was declined.
PNG/Vanuatu - US embassy
The Pacific Affairs Officer at the American Embassy in Papua New Guinea says the US wants better, faster and deeper engagement with Vanuatu.
Currently the US embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, is also responsible for Vanuatu.
But Damian Wampler says the US is planning to open its embassy in Port Vila in order to deepen their engagement with Vanuatu.
He said American people and people of Vanuatu have shared values.
PNG - hydropower
The Edevu Hydropower Project has been launched in Papua New Guinea, along the Brown River area outside Port Moresby.
The private company PNG Hydro Development invested around $US180 million in the project, which is one of Central Province's biggest assets that will supply electricity not only to Port Moresby but the whole Southern region in the near future.
The Post Courier reports the government has given around $US33 million for a 132KV transmission line from Edevu to Port Moresby, which is already under construction.
The Sirinumu Dam and its Rouna 1, 2 and 3 stations are the main suppliers of electricity to Port Moresby and surrounding areas.
However, years of neglect and usage has led to much of the equipment being worn out, resulting in blackouts in Port Moresby.