Results for Pacific Islands

Sagufta Salma, from Fiji, has won a regional Commonwealth Youth Award and a £3,000 grant for her enterprise in turning waste material into sustainable furniture and home accessories. The awards were presented in London this week.

Last week, New Zealand’s parliament unanimously passed the “Abortion Legislation Bill” by 94 votes to 23. The bill allows pregnant women in the country to have an abortion without the consent of a doctor (except after 20 weeks of pregnancy) and will be determined in a final vote. Among those who voted against the bill were two Tongan born MPs, Jenny Salesa and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki.

Due to increased uncertainty in the Covid-19 outbreak, Air New Zealand has reduced its capacity across domestic and international routes, including a 26% reduction in Asia. Pacific Islands will experience capacity reductions of 6% through June. The airline's shareholders were told today that the financial impact on earnings will be more significant than previously estimated. The airline has implemented hiring freezes and capital expenditure deferrals.

Tongan born academic, Dr Losa Moata‘ane, has been appointed to the role of Associate Dean Pacific at Otago University’s Division of Sciences in Dunedin, New Zealand.

More support in strengthening nursery and midwifery leadership capacity was highlighted at the inaugural Pacific Heads of Nursing & Midwifery Meeting (PHoNM) held on 11th - 14th February in Nadi, Fiji.

Air New Zealand stated today that it will be reducing capacity on its Shanghai route throughout April, and Hong Kong route throughout April and May as a result of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on customer demand.

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.

New Zealand Police believe that there are members of the public who are keeping silent on what they know about the shooting death of a Tongan woman Meliame Fisi’ihoi two weeks ago, and are urging them to speak out.

We can confidently position first settlement in Ha’apai between 825 and 810 BC, only three generations (75 years) after the first Lapita canoes arrived at Fanga ‘Uta Lagoon on Tongatapu. The dates for individual Lapita sites are informative. They not only answer the question of when, but they reflect upon the process by which the expansion was undertaken. Within Ha‘apai, simultaneous settlement, widely dispersed hamlets on different islands, and small groups of people clearly speak to a planned and organized strategy. In its creation of a settlement network northward from Tongatapu, it brilliantly laid title to these islands. By David Burley.