Pacific Beat

Struggling Marshall Islands schools will get a boost this month with the arrival of American teachers from the Harvard University-based WorldTeach Program.

For the first time, Australia is bidding for the top job running the secretariat of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Papua New Guinea's embattled Electoral Commissioner says he'll probably have to seek directions from the PNG judiciary on whether he has the power to call off the elections in seats in two of the country's election strife torn Highlands Provinces.

Now to Solomon Islands where since last night the people of Honiara have had to put up with power and water cuts because of the goverments inability to pay it's bills.

In Papua New Guinea, former Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare appears to be readying for a political comeback, after a strong performance by his party in the polls.

The troubled Solomon Islands economy could soon get a boost from fishing agreements signed by the government with representatives of Taiwanese and South Korean fishing companies.

The famous Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea will be replicated by a new memorial walk to be created at Cascade Gardens, on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

New Zealand police are investigating the death of a man who is believed to have got an infection after a session with a back-street cultural tattooist.

In Solomon Islands, seven thousand workers from an amalgam of unions are threatening to walk off their jobs over non-payment of salaries.

The Government of Niue has condemned what it calls irresponsible talk about the country going bankrupt.

Papua New Guinea's Electoral Commissioner says he won't order fresh elections in the worst trouble spots in the Highlands until peace can be restored and until he can assure people that they can vote without fear.

One of Australia's leading aid agencies has just announced 20,000 US dollars in emergency relief for the people of Chuuk Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The Cook Islands booming fishing industry has prompted authorities there to establish a training school in the country's capital, Avarua to teach young people who are considering a career at sea.

The Pacific Update Conference in Canberra has been told that Solomon Islands is a failed state, with little legitimacy for its own people or international bodies.

Public awareness is very much on the agenda in the lead-up to Tuvalu's general election.

The future of the Papua New Guinea gas pipeline project now hangs in the balance.

In Papua New Guinea's election-strife torn Highlands, there are now real doubts about whether counting in 15 of the 109 seats in the PNG Parliament will ever be completed.

Meanwhile in Sydney, delegates at a conference have been exploring another side of Papua New Guinea - one that's unfortunately faded into the background recently - the countrys' rich and diverse culture.

And to discuss the disastrous situation in the Highlands, and the possibility of fresh elections in some seats, Radio Australia's Pacific Correspondent Sean Dorney joins us live from Port Moresby.