Pacific

This month the International Hockey Federation, FIH, announced a new international competition called the Hockey Pro League.

RNZI reports the league will start in 2019 with elite nations like Argentina, the Netherlands, Australia, Great Britain, India and New Zealand all involved.

Oceania's Continental Development Officer Gill Gemming said the Pacific teams are not being left out of the loop.

“This is a landmark moment for the economic future of the Pacific. Pacer Plus will help sustainably develop the countries involved through trade and help raise the standard of living for their people. A more resilient and prosperous Pacific is in all of our interests,” Mr McClay says.

“In the short-term, the Pacific countries who have signed this agreement will benefit economically and socially through the joint NZ Australia $55 million development package. Long-term, trade will help transform their economies by providing reliable income and sustainable growth.”

The Pacific Energy Update 2017 provides a comprehensive overview of ADB’s energy-focused work in the Pacific. The publication highlights the impacts of ADB-supported energy initiatives completed in 2016 and ongoing in 2017, while providing details of what ADB hopes to achieve in the energy sector in the future.

Jane Skeen says she is passionate about getting better staff training and treatment to children in countries such as Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

Dr Skeen said greater collaboration had seen an improvement in recovery rates, saying that about 50 children are now getting treatment in Fiji every year.

And colleagues at Auckland and Christchurch hospitals are also able to assist some children from the Pacific who travel for chemotherapy.

While cherry blossoms were in full bloom, despite bad weather, more than 50,000 visitors attended the fair with more anticipation than last year.

Among them were many enthusiastic divers and travel lovers who were looking for new ocean resorts.

A corner of the main aisle at the fair was almost completely occupied by Pacific islands booths from Palau, Papua New Guinea, Kosrae of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Cook Islands and Marshall Islands, which was a first-time participant on the initiative of tourism authorities and diver groups.

The multi-sport event for athletes over the age of 35 kicks off today.

Held every four years, the World Masters is a global multi-sport event for athletes of masters age and of all fitness levels.

Nearly seven thousand athletes from Auckland will participate in the 2017 World Masters Games and among the lot are Pacific athletes who will represent New Zealand.

A Samoan grandmother will be competing in three sports: athletics, netball and touch rugby.

Agnes Boxall said she had always loved athletics and it was her daughter that got her back on her feet.

An expert on China's foreign aid programme, Denghua Zhang, said the Te Mato Vai project in the Cook Islands was helping China learn about aid delivery and monitoring.

According to his research, about four percent of China's total aid spend goes to Oceania, most of that in soft loans for new roads and other infrastructure.

Mr Zhang said China was increasingly teaming up with traditional donor countries and agencies like the UN Development Programme and it saw the Pacific as a good testing ground for such co-operation.

Whale watching and swimming with the whales are key element of the Tongan tourism package but Aunofo Havea Funaki, one of the founders of the sector, says the number of operators has reached unsustainable levels.

Aunofo said, at times, last year there were up to 20 boats operating in a small area.

She raised this matter of unsustainability at a whale conference in Nuku'alofa earlier this month and is confident that the government will reduce the number of licences issued for the new season, starting in July.

The book is a collection of best work initially published on the digital magazine website, e-Tangata .

As well as Pacific writing, it includes contributions from Maori and Pakeha writers on everything from politics to social issues and popular culture.

Co-editor and journalist Tapu Misa said their aim was to get mainstream New Zealanders accessing more Pacific writers and voices, and so publishing this book, titled The Best of e-Tangata was just one way to do that.

"We'd just like to do more," Ms Misa said.

Presenting during a side show at the ‘Whales in a changing Ocean’ conference at the Tanoa Dateline International Hotel in Nuku’alofa Wednesday, the Trusts rep, Ms Aline Schaffar said their current exhibition at the Tijibaou Gallery in Noumea reflects these important messages.

“The exhibition goes in line with the fact that we are celebrating Year of the Whales and we had artists from New Caledonia and the region come over to Noumea for three weeks and work on getting the messages out in art form,” she said.