Results for Pacific Islands

Strike notices that threatened to disrupt travel for 120,000 Air New Zealand customers over the three busiest travel days of the year, have been lifted after an agreement was reached with the the unions representing its aircraft maintenance and logistics workers, air New Zealand stated last night.

Dr Geoff Neal, lead veterinarian for South Pacific Animal Welfare (SPAW) is currently in Tongatapu with his team of volunteers offering much needed vet treatment for the island's animals. They say Tonga has the greatest need in the Pacific because vet care is not easily accessible here.

Dr Viliami Fakava has relocated to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Budapest, Hungary.

A study into the source and transmission of typhoid fever, which has been increasing in Pacific countries such as Fiji over the past decade, has revealed that poor sanitation is a major source of Salmonella Typhi, the cause of the disease. Professor Crump, who led the study says the research also highlights the serious concern that Oceania has fallen behind both Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to become the region with the lowest coverage of improved drinking water and improved sanitation.

Australia’s Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells – who visited Tonga in 2016 to sign the ‘Tonga-Australia Aid Partnership’ – is facing a formal complaint by China’s Foreign Ministry. The complaint responds to scathing remarks that Fierravanti-Wells made yesterday in a prominent Australian newspaper ‘The Australian’ where she berated China’s development aid projects in Pacific Island countries.

A new Tropical Tunas Bridging Measure was adopted in the early hours of this morning, after a marathon session by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in the Philippines this week. The Chair and the Executive Director today issued a joint statement on the outcomes of the 14th annual meeting of the Commission, which also include a Conservation and Management Measure on Pacific Bluefin, bycatch mitigation strategies and conservation measures on marine pollution.

Over the last few weeks there has been ample amounts of negative media attention given to Mate Ma'a Tonga fans. I in no way support fans fighting or being aggressive and it is worrying. However, what I am most concerned about is the amount of negative articles that have been circulated by some media outlets. The constant reporting of a few incidents where a minority group of fans were fighting has dominated the media and has painted all Mate Ma'a Tonga fans as being out of control. - Jean Allen

While Tonga argues over its protocol for signing the PACER Plus Trade Agreement, the other signatories and donor partners Australia and New Zealand say it is a matter for the Kingdom to sort out.

A new study has found that 96 percent of women of childbearing age living in four Pacific Island countries who were sampled have elevated levels of mercury in their bodies.