Vanuatu

Ambae's volcano has been erupting since September, but activity increased in April with ash and acid rain ruining crops and contaminating water supplies.

The Daily Post newspaper reports the National Disaster Management Office as saying disaster assistance will wind up for the island at the end of July.

Those who relocate to Maewo will receive government assistance until the end of the year, to help them establish new gardens and crops.

The kumala varieties are high yielding, early maturity, climate resilient and pest/disease resistant.

The field day provided farmers the opportunity to pick up hybrid kumala vines and manioc branches in line with the Government’s policy to achieve food security first followed by improving their livelihoods.

All the hybrid types of kumala are local and mature in three months and can also grow in home plots.

Farmers and other participants were able to ask questions and hear the right answers from the crop experts.

The new cable system will connect Port Villa and Luganville in Vanuatu to Honiara in the Soloman Islands. The 1,632km cable will deliver initial capacity of 200G access to numerous landing sites using SL14-A1 cables and Ciena Submarine Line Terminating equipment (SLTE).

"This submarine cable link is an important part of connectivity for this area of the world," said Sanjay Chowbey, president of TE SubCom. "We are pleased to work with Interchange Limited and apply our expertise and regional knowledge to this project."

The application was filed in Vanuatu's Supreme Court after a second attempt yesterday to deport Mohammed Rizwan despite existing court orders against the action.

Vanuatu's Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Napuat and Police Commissioner Albert Nalpini are among those named in the contempt application.

The contempt application relates to a Supreme Court order preventing implementation of a ministerial order for Rizwan's deportation.

According to the Daily Post, Commissioner Nalpini says the deportation attempt was not in contempt of the court order in question.

An agreement was reached in Togo's capital between Vanuatu's foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, and his Bulgarian counterpart, Ekaterina Zaharieva.

The two ministers are in Lomé, attending the Joint Ministerial Council of the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.

Three years after Principal Paul Fua travelled to Port Vila, Vanuatu in 2015 to help with the clean-up of Cyclone Pam, the school is sending a team of 20 students and teachers to travel to the little village of Sorovanga in Efate in July to continue their support of the village.

Partnering with ADRA, the volunteers will be taking stationery and clothes and some building materials to support the people of Sorovanga.

"We were looking for a village who needed our support, but also that we could bring volunteers to and a project that suited the resources we had,” Mr Fua said.

The veteran politician and MP for the Tanna constituency, was forced to resign from the position after the parliamentary speaker acted on legal advice the government received, that said Mr Natuman was barred from entering parliament.

In March, he was convicted and given a 2-year suspended sentence, after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Mr Natuman has been replaced as deputy Prime Minister by another MP from the Tanna constituency, Bob Loughman, in a move welcomed by the Opposition leader Alotoi Ishmael Kalsakau.

The two medical staff houses in Erakor and Mele and aid post in Eratap were jointly completed by the New Zealand Defence Force, Vanuatu Mobile Force and China’s People’s Liberation Army Engineers.

A petition signed by women leaders from across Vanuatu was last week submitted to government, asking it to enact a fifty per cent quota for women's representation in parliament.

There are currently no female MPs in the 52-seat national parliament, and only five women MPs have been elected since Vanuatu gained independence in 1980.

The head of the National Council for Women Leiasmanu Cullwick said, traditionally, men told their wives who to vote for.

The signing was attended by Tok Tok’s first round of major sponsors including ANZ, Air Vanuatu, Warwick Le Lagon, What to do in Vanuatu, Digicel, Airports Vanuatu , Vanuatu Skills for partnership with supporting partners also including the Department of Tourism, Vanuatu Tour Operators Association, and local mainstream media.

This year 2018 will be Tok Tok’s 15th edition with the theme of “Happiness is letting go”.  Dates are confirmed for August 27th to 31st with exciting programs developed for Tanna, Santo and a new inclusion in this year’s travel itinerary is Malekula.