Results for Pacific Islands

Over 13,000 kg of electronic waste in Tonga was collected to be transported to Auckland and recycled, under the Swire Shipping’s Moana Taka Partnership Initiative, helped by Samsung New Zealand.

Moana Pasifika has named their team to play the Western Force this Saturday, 15 February, launching their 2025 DHL Super Rugby Pacific season in Perth, Australia.

The Solomon Islands government has launched an investigation into activities of the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant (MPIP) judges, following fraud allegations made during the crowning of the Miss Pacific Islands in Honiara on Saturday, 8 February. "Despite the withdrawal of the Stop notice, the investigations are continuing. Formal charges will be made upon determination of the facts presented through the investigations," the Solomon Islands government stated today.

Tonga hosted the Australia-Tonga High Level Consultations on 11 February, bringing senior officials from both Governments together to discuss past, ongoing and future cooperation. This year’s talks in Nuku'alofa involved over a dozen ministries across both countries.

Legal experts from New Zealand are in Tonga for a two-and-a-half-day workshop, providing local lawyers with skills and tips in the art of cross-examination. The workshop opens today, 12 February, until Friday.

Miss Tonga, Racheal Guttenbeil, placed first runner-up in the Miss Pacific Islands pageant, on Saturday at Friendship Hall, in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Racheal won the “People’s Choice Award”, with over 130K online votes and the "Best Traditional Attire category". This year the new Miss Pacific Islands is Miss Samoa, Litara Ieremia-Allan.

Although the Trump administration is now attempting to walk back some of the most obviously murderous aspects of its aid freeze, its ramifications remain: the damage already done, the effects on work still covered by the freeze, the apparent demise of USAID, the sheer capriciousness of the decision. While impacts on other parts of the world have dominated the headlines, the decision is going to be felt in the Pacific too. The region is the world’s most aid-dependent. - Terence Wood.

In Tonga, there are at least four cases of stage 3-4 cervical cancer every year. In these stages, patients cannot be treated..."they will die," said Obstetrics and Gynaecology Specialist, Dr. Ma’ake Tupou. The Ministry of Health is conducting a campaign to protect women from cervical cancer with the HPV vaccine.

The first Vice Chancellor for the Tonga National University (TNU), Dr Giulio Masasso Tu’ikolongahau Pāunga, was appointed by the council in Nuku’alofa, recently.