Photo: Vanuatu Daily Post
Vanuatu
Vanuatu's government has vowed to rebuild the fire-destroyed traditional meeting place of the country's chiefs before the country hosts a Melanesian arts festival in July.
The Port Vila structure, known as Malvatumauri Nakamal, caught fire about 1am on January 30, according to information from police, firefighters and residents.
Police have been investigating the cause.
Benar News reports Vanuatu's Minister of Justice saying Malvatumauri Nakamal would be rebuilt before July, when the country hosts a two-week Melanesian Arts Festival which will culminate in Vanuatu's celebrations for its 43rd anniversary of independence.
John Steele Tariqwetu says the reconstruction budget would be determined in early March.
New Caledonia
The French interior minister has added Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna to his itinerary of next month's visit to New Caledonia.
Gerald Darmanin's ministry said he would visit Vanuatu on March 4 and Wallis and Futuna on March 4-5.
The minister is due in Noumea for a week-long visit on March 2 to resume discussions on the future status of New Caledonia, after the rejection of full sovereignty in three referendums under the 1998 Noumea Accord.
The original French post-referendum plan to have a vote on a new statute in June has been abandoned.
New Caledonia
New Caledonia's three-party anti-independence coalition, calling itself the Loyalists, has adopted a common position on the territory's future status.
At a meeting in Paita, the party leaders agreed that New Caledonians expect a coherent vision in the face of the demands of the pro-independence parties.
The Loyalists want New Caledonia's rejection of full sovereignty in three referendums to be recognised in the French constitution.
Given the French constitutional right to self-determination, the Loyalists want a provision that any separation would have to be approved by all three provinces.
The Loyalists also suggest returning some of the powers to France which had been ceded under the Noumea Accord.
Papua New Guinea
The deputy chairman of PNG's National Health Board says that every year, the country registers 25,000 new cases of cancer, and the fatality rate is very high due to poor screening and minimal health care.
Gynecologist Mathias Sapuri told the Post Courier the high annual death rate - about 20,000 - is because they currently have ineffective screening programmes, minimal clinical care services, no radiotherapy, minimal availability of chemotherapy drugs and no cancer prevention vaccination programme.
He said less than three percent of the PNG health service is dedicated to cancer, compared to other developing nations at 15 percent and advanced nations at 80 percent.
Dr Sapuri recommends that all health facilities must screen for all forms of cancers as part of daily routine services.
Niue
The Niue Government has announced that arriving travellers will no longer be required to carry out a covid-19 pre-departure test.
The Government says with weekly flights continuing and active reported cases currently at zero, it has been shown that cases can be managed, and that this requirement can now be lifted.
Travellers will still be required to self-test on day one and get a PCR test on day three.
If the result of either test is positive, the person must isolate immediately.
Climate change
The United States has given $US1.5 million to organisations in Fiji addressing climate adaptation and resilience.
A USAID spokesperson says the grants will help 49 vulnerable communities in Fiji and Samoa.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency Samoa will receive about $US500,000 from the grant, and Live and Learn Environmental Education Fiji will be given close to a million dollars.
USAID deputy development advisor, Patrick Bowers, said the US government is committed to helping the Pacific's most vulnerable communities.
Kiribati
The Kiribati Government has signed a $US6.5 million deal for the purchase of a Twin Otter aircraft.
The deal has been signed with AEVEX Aerospace - IKHANA Aircraft Services.
The US Embassy said the investment promotes mutual economic growth and strengthens the already robust bonds of friendship and people-to-people connections.
Samoa
Samoa's Commissioner of Police and Prisons has defended its decision not to prosecute a 24-year-old woman who stowed away on Fiji Airways on Boxing Day last year, in an effort to get to Australia.
Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo said it recommends instead the security breaches at the international airport be fixed.
The commissioner said they only investigate criminal matters and in his view it's a civil matter for failing security at the airport.
The Samoan woman managed to pass through immigration and airport security, got on the Fiji airways aircraft, and hid in the lavatory.