People first arrived in Vava‘u between 850 and 810 BC, establishing themselves on the south central islands offshore of ‘Uta Vava’u. The earliest sites at Ofu, Pangaimotu and Otea are all but identical in their age, and they are coincidental with the oldest sites in Ha’apai. Bird remains aside, excavations of other types of food remains at these sites have an unexpected story to tell: one of scarcity. Fish remains were shockingly limited! Shellfish counts and species diversity are similarly impoverished, illustrating limited productivity, or at least limited sustainability, for reef foraging efforts. By David V. Burley.
You are here
Results for Pacific Islands
Thursday 23 January 2020
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s national Men's and Women's teams secured silver and bronze medals at the the South Pacific Darts Championships (SPDC) in Niue, which concluded on Saturday 18 January after four days of hard competition.
Premium content
Thursday 16 January 2020
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A Tropical Cyclone Alert remains in force for Tonga today, as Tropical Depression (TD 04F) in the Western Pacific, moving toward Fiji and Tonga, is expected to bring strong gale force winds to the Niuas starting tomorrow morning, with storm force winds over southern Tonga during the weekend. Fua'amotu Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre issued a weather warning at 6:00pm Thursday 16 January 2020.
Premium content
Thursday 9 January 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An Otago University study is proposing that malaria in the past may have shaped the genome of Pacific people today, resulting in a genetic predisposition to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and gout. The elevated levels of uric acids, which can strengthen the immune response to the mosquito-borne disease are also what causes the inflammatory reactions in gout. “Pacific people have their own genetic variants,” says Dr Ana Gosling.
Friday 3 January 2020
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The installation of new weather stations and sea level monitoring equipment throughout Tonga has been a huge logistical exercise, six months in the planning and another year in the implementation. Tonga welcomes 2020 with 21 new weather stations and two sea level monitoring stations.
Premium content
Saturday 28 December 2019
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
UPDATED 8:00PM: Tonga remains on alert this weekend, with strong wind and heavy rain warnings in force for all Tonga land areas, as Tropical Cyclone Sarai (Category 2) continues to move toward Tongan waters. Mariners of small fishing boats are advised not to go out to the sea for all of Tonga coastal waters.
Thursday 26 December 2019
Premium content
Apia, Samoa
Health services for over half a million people in four Pacific countries, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, will benefit from a project that is helping to improve overall immunization coverage rates and support greater efficiency of primary health care.
Premium content
Monday 16 December 2019
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tongatapu was a far different place 3000 years ago, one few of us can imagine today. The sea was higher, almost 1.4 m higher. Much of the land on which the city of Nuku‘alofa now sits was not land at all. It was about 900 BC when voyaging canoes first arrived from a homeland to the west. These kalia carried a small group of people and all of the necessities they would need to settle new found islands. They were the first Tongans. By David Burley
Tuesday 26 November 2019
Apia, Samoa
Measles continues to plague Samoa with 32 deaths now confirmed by the nation’s Government today. Samoa’s Ministry of Health reports the death of two teenagers and 243 measles cases recorded in the last 24 hours.
Wednesday 6 November 2019
Suva, Fiji
The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will act to undermine American influence and credibility in the Pacific, a disappointed Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Hon Kausea Natano, warned today, 6 November 2019.
Wednesday 6 November 2019
Suva, Fiji
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF are calling on Pacific communities to vaccinate against measles in response to recent outbreaks of measles in Tonga and Samoa.
Tuesday 8 October 2019
1 comment
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The October Fishing Competition of the Nuku’alofa Fishing Club ended with a few surprises. The heaviest catch of the day, half-a-marlin weighing 69kg caught by Charles Sullivan on the boat Taipuha, could not be entered in the competition after a shark snapped off its tail.
Premium content
Saturday 17 August 2019
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The final day of deliberations by Pacific Islands Forum leaders ended in a disagreement on how they might tackle the issue of climate change. Tonga's PM caught media attention for Tonga’s participation when he was reported to be in tears during tense exchanges between the Tuvalu PM, Hon. Enele Sosene Sopoaga and the Australian Prime Minister, Hon. Scott Morrison.
Premium content
Friday 16 August 2019
Premium content
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Five contestants of Pacific Island heritage, including Tongans are taking part in the 2019 Miss South Pacific Plus Australia (MSPPA) Beauty Pageant to be held in Sydney, on September 13.
Premium content
Thursday 15 August 2019
Premium content
Glasgow, United Kingdom
A world-class and historic collection of barkcloth from the Pacific Ocean is highlighted in a new exhibition opening at the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum on August 29. “Barkcloth: Revealing Pacific Craft” is the result of a major three-year research project.
Premium content
Monday 12 August 2019
London, United Kingdom
On the eve of the 50th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting taking place in Tuvalu this week, the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland recognises the existential threat which climate change poses to Pacific Islanders. She calls on governments across the globe to urgently meet the terms of the Paris climate change agreement, if we are to save our Pacific Islands, as the rising sea levels could literally engulf thousands of islands in the region by 2100.
Thursday 1 August 2019
Nadi, Fiji
A ‘climate crisis’ has been declared by Pacific Island States, including Tonga, after signing the Nadi Bay Declaration earlier this week, calling on developed countries to urgently address climate change including phasing out coal mining and fossil fuel use and production.
Wednesday 10 July 2019
Suva, Fiji
The big development issues facing the Pacific region will be debated in a new discussion series called ‘Future Pasifika’, with the first panel on healthy oceans set for July 15, broadcast worldwide from the University of the South Pacific Suva campus in partnership with the World Bank Group.
Friday 28 June 2019
Auckland, New Zealand
The importance of geospatial intelligence (identifying the features of the geographic location) in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) work has been underlined at a course at Devonport Naval Base in Auckland, attended by government and military personnel from New Zealand, Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Monday 10 June 2019
Bangkok, Thailand
After decades as an unconsidered backwater, the South Pacific Islands have become a strategic frontline in a multi-nation contest for power and influence in Greater Asia. A report this week by the British-based global risk assessment company, Oxford Analytica, says China has four objectives in extending its reach into the South Pacific. By Jonathan Manthorpe.
