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Test rugby: All Blacks defeat Argentina 53-3 in Hamilton

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

The All Blacks have bounced back from last week’s loss to comprehensively beat the Pumas 53-3 in a rainy Hamilton tonight.

Jordie Barrett of the All Blacks scores against Argentina in the Rugby Championship match at FMG Waikato Stadium in Hamilton.

Jordie Barrett of the All Blacks scores against Argentina in the Rugby Championship match at FMG Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. Photo: Jeremy Ward / PhotoSport

New Zealand scored seven tries in the game, with one each to Ethan de Groot, Caleb Clarke, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea, Brodie Retallick and Beuden Barrett.

The All Blacks dominated from start to finish, leading 24-3 at half-time.

The win ends a run of three consecutive losses at home and keeps the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship hopes alive ahead of their matches against the Wallabies.

After suffering their first ever home defeat to Argentina in Christchurch a week ago, the All Blacks brought the same starting 15 but a ruthless mindset as they tore the visitors to shreds.

De Groot, Clarke and Ioane crossed early, before Barrett, Savea, Retallick and Barrett added tries after the break to complete the rout.

Richie Mo’unga added 14 points off the tee.

All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane scores his try in the Rugby Championship Rugby match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Argentina Pumas at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.

All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane scores a try. Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship Rugby match – New Zealand All Blacks v Argentina Pumas played at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand on Saturday 3 September 2022. © Copyright photo: Bruce Lim / www.photosport.nz Photo: Bruce Lim / www.photosport.nz

All Blacks captain Sam Cane, under huge pressure after struggling in recent tests, came off to a warm ovation from the rain-soaked crowd after helping set up Jordie Barrett’s 61st minute try.

“This week we were in the game right from the start and were able to turn that into points so it was a pretty enjoyable night,” said Cane.

“I thought our defence was outstanding. We were able to force them into a heck of a lot of errors but on top of that our discipline was really good so we were able to capitalise on that and counter-attack.”

* See how the game unfolded with RNZ’s live blog.

It was a dirty night for Michael Cheika’s Pumas, who racked up handling errors, lost Santiago Carreras to an apparent thigh injury and had lock Tomas Lavanini yellow-carded all in the opening half.

They were scoreless until Emiliano Boffelli knocked over a penalty in the 33rd minute and then shut out after that.

Lavanini dropped a pass deep in defence in the opening minute, paving the way for an early Mo’unga penalty, before prop De Groot thundered over the line from five metres out in the 10th minute.

The All Blacks celebrate after Beauden Barrett's try during the Rugby Championship game against Argentina at FMG Waikato Stadium in Hamilton.

The All Blacks celebrate after Beauden Barrett’s try during the Rugby Championship game against Argentina at FMG Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. Photo: Jeremy Ward / PhotoSport

Ioane sliced through the midfield nine minutes later, dishing off to Clarke who crossed at the left corner to put the home side 17-0 up.

A Samisoni Taukei’aho try was cancelled on review due to a knock-on in the buildup but the All Blacks had their third five-pointer to Ioane two minutes before the break.

With Lavanini yellow-carded for foul play, Cane opted for a five-metre scrum and Ioane burst through under the posts after quick hands from fellow centre David Havili.

Argentina battled to hold back the tide of black jerseys after the break until Barrett and Savea slammed the door shut with a two-try burst from the hour-mark.

Retallick celebrated his comeback from a broken cheek bone by barging over six minutes from the final whistle before Beauden Barrett completed the statement win with their seventh try a few minutes after the siren.

Tonga Health says only ‘seven babies’ dead in July, August contradicting social media death spike fake news

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Ministry of Health says only seven babies had been recorded dead in Tonga in the months of July and August.

Photo/Kaniva Tonga

The Ministry was responding after Facebook fake news posts alleged that there was a spike in newborn babies death since July which some have linked to COVID-19 vaccines. The allegations did not provide any exact numbers and they amplified their claims by using exaggerated Tongan words such as “mate tavale” (died randomly) or “tuva e mate” (died indiscriminately).

But the Ministry said, in July, only three of the recorded deaths were babies.

One was an eight-month-old baby who died from Pneumococcal Meningitis. Another was a two-year-old who died from Sepsis and a third died after he was diagnosed with West Syndrome with Severe Sepsis.

In the month of August, the Ministry said it recorded four deaths as babies.

One was a newborn with a severe respiratory distress from meconium aspiration. Another was a two-year-old with severe multiple injuries from a car accident. A third death was a four-year-old with brain tumour and the fourth died from a left intrathoracic tumor.

The last two deaths were babies referred to Vaiola from Vava’u.

“It is important to note that all the above causes of death are life-threatening conditions with very high fatality rate”, the Ministry said.

“Also the disclosure of information about the causes of death is confidential and only be shared with the parents or guardian”.

“None of the deceased had a positive covid test which are routine for all hospital admissions”.

The update from the Ministry came after its chief executive Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said last week, that there was no evidence to show there was excess deaths among children.

He said the Ministry records showed there was a decline in this year’s death records in the first six month compared to the same time recorded during previous years.

He said he was aware of allegations made on Facebook regarding a surge in death but at the same time he did not receive any complaint from the public.

Tongan mother and daughter pilots fly the Pacific together

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By  Julissa Briseno, khon2.com.

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaiian Airlines operated their very first flight with a mother and daughter pilot on Wednesday, Aug. 31.

Mother, Captain Kamelia Zarka and her daughter, First Officer Maria Zarka took flight over the Pacific.

  • Hawaiian Airlines first mother daughter pilots (Courtesy: Bryan Shirota – Hawaiian Airlines)Read More »
  • Hawaiian Airlines first mother daughter pilots (Courtesy: Bryan Shirota – Hawaiian Airlines)
  • Hawaiian Airlines first mother daughter pilots (Courtesy:Bryan Shirota – Hawaiian Airlines)
  • Hawaiian Airlines first mother daughter pilots (Courtesy: Bryan Shirota – Hawaiian Airlines)
  • Hawaiian Airlines first mother daughter pilots (Courtesy: Bryan Shirota – Hawaiian Airlines)
  • Both pilots flew from neighboring islands in the Boeing 717 aircraft.

According to Hawaiian Airlines, the daughter was hired as a Boeing 717 first officer earlier this year and the mother, a Boeing 717 captain, was the first Tongan woman to captain a commercial airline.

“It was a dream come true. I’ve been so lucky on my aviation career so far but being able to fly right seat with my mom was an unbelievable lifetime experience. Everybody always comes up to me and tells me how amazing my mom is to fly with and today I got to experience that firsthand,” said First Officer Maria Zarka.

The mother and daughter pilot duo is encouraging other young girls to follow their dreams.

Speed, alcohol factors in Tongatapu fatal crash

By
Kaniva Staff
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A woman was killed following a crash on Halaleva’s ‘Alaivahamama’o By-Pass Road this morning Thursday 1.

Tonga Police. Photo/Kalino Lātū

The  20-year-old woman from Pahu, was driving alone in a silver Toyota Rav-4 heading east when the incident happened at 2.42am, Police said.

The car swerved to the side of the road and crashed onto a block fence before hitting an electric pole.

“ Speed and driving under the influence contributed to this fatal incident”, Police said.

Tongatapu District Commander, Chief Superintendent Filipe Fifita warned drivers that “there is only one life”.

“You should always take responsibility for your safety first and foremost. Make sure you do not drink and drive. Arrange for a sober driver or catch a taxi home if you decide to consume alcohol.”

Tonga Police is also reminding the public to comply with the Restrictions Directions especially with the night-time curfew, which has now been reduced to 4 hours from 1:00am– 5:00am.

“Please, let us work together to keep the law and maintain safety on our roads,” Chief Superintendent Fifita urges the public.

This incident has tallied up the total number of road fatalities to eight so far this year.

Father dies while son, two others presumed dead in sea tragedy in Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A body of a man has been recovered while his son and two others are presumed dead at seas between Tongatapu and ‘Eua.

Makisi Tonga and wife Anitema Tonga

Search and rescue crews rescued another man.

Police said six people were sailing to ‘Eua in a seven-metre boat.

The boat capsized at the seas between Niutōua and ‘Eueiki yesterday Tuesday 30 after leaving Afā wharf at around 7pm, it said.

One of the men swam to shore at Niutōua and called police this morning at around 2am.

The search for the missing trio is expected to resume  tomorrow morning.

Reports have identified the deceased as Mākisi Tonga.

Loved ones have issued a tribute to the “devoted and loving father”.

“Makisi was a hero,” they said.

“He was an individual who always gave up his time for others. He was a devoted and loving father and was loved and respected by all who knew him.

Repatriation of precious artefacts taken by Europeans from Tonga begins

By
Kalino Latu
-

The process of repatriating significant artefacts and cultural items taken from Tonga as long ago as three centuries has begun, a Tongan scholar says.

​A 229 years old ngatutā’uli lau nima in the Museo de America museum in Madrid, taken from Vava’u by the Spanish explorer Aljandro Malaspina. Caption/Photo/Prof ’Ōkusitino Māhina.

Anthropologist Professor Tēvita Ka’ili has asked academics who have carried out research in Tonga to return any items they might have taken.

“They can either physically return the objects or share digitised photos of the items on the internet”, he says.​

Ka’ili said he made the move in the wake of a United States law known as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). It provides for the ownership or control of Native American cultural items such as human remains and objects excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal lands.

Ka’ili believes the US law could be applied to Tonga, describing it as a “nga’unu fo’ou” or new development.

He says people had the right to see and keep cultural properties in their local museum.

Items that could be returned included items dating to the 17 th and 18th centuries when European explorers arrived in Tonga. 

Among the items were clubs, baskets, ngatu and fine mats at the national museums in Australia, New Zealand and the UK as well as the royal Palātavake (comb) which was said to have been preserved at the Museo de America museum in Madrid, Spain.

It is understood some international museums were reluctant to release some items.

In 2020, the government of the Netherlands created new guidelines to determine requests for the return of colonial-era artefacts from its former colonies.

The Dutch believed “most of these artefacts are right now the property of a museum”.

“If we value the respect of common principles of our democracies, such as property, we have to have a process to say whether the artefact should be returned or loaned and what the provenance is, because that’s the rule of law.”

Anthropologist Professor Tēvita Ka’ili has asked academics who have carried out research in Tonga to return any items they might have taken.

Ka’ili said he wrote to Professor Richard Michael Moyle of Auckland University, who researched several aspects of Tongan music and cultures in 1970s, and shared his views about the repatriation law.

“I told him he should make a digital repatriation of all the photos he took in Tonga,” Ka’ili said.

“Professor Moyle was really happy to do it.”

The photos shared by Moyle on Facebook were mostly people he interviewed or who posed for photos during events or meetings while he was in Tonga doing his research.

The sharing drew strong compliments from the Tongan online community.

Relatives and close family members of those in the picture shared those photos on their Facebook accounts. Moyle also shared some audio files of Tongan composers talking about how they composed their songs.

Tonga’s consulate in Auckland can now approve, print Tongan passports

By
Kalino Latu
-

This story by Kalino Lātū was first published by Pacific Media Network

Tongan passports can now be approved and issued in New Zealand.

Tonga’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Fekita ‘Utoikamanu. Photo/PMN Tonga (Facebook)

All requirements for a new and renewal passport, or a service related to it, can now be finalised through the consul’s office at ‘Atalanga residence, in Auckland’s Mount Eden.

It is the first time for Tonga to allow the services to be officially conducted outside the country.

The consulate was previously tasked with taking customers’ passport photos and filling their application forms before sending them to Tonga for approval.

The news means, an end to long waits experienced by many in New Zealand before they could get their Tongan passports renewed or replaced in the Kingdom, a process further hindered by Covid travel restrictions. 

Tonga’s Foreign Minister Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu launched the new initiative on Monday.

Pacific Media Network, Tongan presenter Filipo Motulalo says ‘this is a valuable initiative and it saved a lot of time for Tongans wanting to travel after Covid-19’. 

The Tongan passport currently ranks on the 45th place according to the Guide Passport Ranking Index with visa-free access to 127 destinations.

Tongan passport holders have visa-free access and visas on arrival to countries such as Singapore, the United Kingdom, China and the entire European Union.

However, Tongan citizens require a visa to enter about 102 destinations in the world including New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

No tsunami threat after 5.4 quake strikes off Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The Tonga Meteorological services says it is unlikely a tsunami will affect Tonga after a 5.4 magnitude earthquake was felt in Tongatapu this morning.

It said the quake was 214 km deep but no further details provided.  

However, residents have reported feeling the rattles on Facebook.

It came after a number of quakes reported after the January eruption of Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai and the subsequent tidal wave which caused devastation in Tonga and killed people as far away as South America.

The atmospheric shockwave caused by the eruption was felt as far away as the UK.

The caldera of Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai is four kilometres wide and drops to a base 850m below sea level. Before the catastrophic eruption, the base was at a depth of about 150m.

The eruption ejected an enormous amount of material, estimated to be at least 6.5 cubic kilometres.

“If all of Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga, was scraped to sea level, it would fill only two-thirds of the caldera,” Professor Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland said.

Solomon Islands opposition claims PM’s office declined request by US vessel

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By RNZ.co.nz

The Solomon Islands government’s foreign policy ‘friends to all, enemies to none is hypocrisy at its worst’ according to the Solomon Islands opposition leader.

Matthew Wale’s comments follow reports that a US Coast Guard vessel was unable to enter Solomon Islands for a routine port call because the national government declined a request for it to refuel and provision.

The leader of the Solomon Islands' opposition party, Matthew Wale

The leader of the Solomon Islands’ opposition party, Matthew Wale Photo: Supplied

“Friends to all, enemies to none is clearly a joke, the Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, clearly treats the US and its allies as hostile nations. All our friends must be treated equally,” Mr Wale said.

He said he’s aware that the advice came from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mr Wale said this advice reflects the Prime Minister’s apparent dislike for the US and its allies.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare

Manasseh Sogavare Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lice Movono

The vessel, the USCGC Oliver Henry was on patrol for illegal fishing in the Pacific for a regional fisheries agency when it failed to obtain entry to refuel in Honiara.

A U.S. official said the vessel was unable to enter Honiara for a routine port call because the Solomon Islands government did not respond to a request for it to refuel and provision.

A Coast Guard press officer told Reuters that the vessel was diverted to Papua New Guinea instead.

Nurses plan to leave NZ over residency rules: ‘I can’t wait any more’

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Jean Edwards, RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Frustrated New Zealand-trained migrant nurses are planning to leave the country because they cannot find an immediate path to residency, just as the government tries to entice foreigners to fill thousands of jobs in hospitals, aged care and clinics.

No caption

Nurses were controversially excluded from the government’s new straight-to-residence Green List and must instead work in the profession for two years first. Photo: 123rf

Recent graduates working in aged care in Tauranga say they are being forced to abandon their dream home because of an immigration policy that means they must wait another two years for residency.

Sandeep Kaur has spent years separated from her two young sons in India while studying for a nursing degree in New Zealand.

She said she was devastated the profession was excluded from super-fast residency visas under the new immigration Green List, months after her graduation late last year.

“I feel really frustrated, I sometimes cry. I did everything to get a good future here, whatever I save I spend it on my study. I’m separated from my kids, it’s just really heartbreaking,” she said.

Kaur and her husband are preparing to move to Australia where she can gain residency quickly and reunite her family.

“I really don’t want to leave New Zealand because I really love this country. I spent a beautiful six years of my life here.”

Another Tauranga nurse, who did not want to be named, said she planned to leave New Zealand for Australia or Canada where she could apply for residency straight away.

“It was my dream country to come to at the beginning, but at the end of the day, you have to think about your career as well. I’ve had enough now. I’ve waited a long time, I can’t wait any more,” she said.

“I still love New Zealand. If the government makes changes tomorrow I will cancel all my plans, I really, really do want to stay here but unfortunately I have no other options left.”

Navneet Kaur came to New Zealand from India in 2015 and spent $60,000 studying towards her Bachelor of Nursing.

She thought a residency application would be straightforward once she qualified, but is now planning to move to Australia with her husband and four-year-old son.

“It’s a really hard decision to move to Australia. My son was born here in Tauranga.

“We don’t want to leave New Zealand, we are being forced to leave New Zealand. It’s totally unfair.”

All three nurses were on student visas finishing their degrees last September, so could not apply under the one-off 2021 Resident Visa scheme.

The nurses said they craved the certainty and other benefits associated with residency, including home ownership and subsidised study.

They warned the residency rules would only make chronic staff shortages worse, with an estimated 4000 nurse vacancies in the public health system.

Immigration Minister Michael Wood said skilled migrants in work-to-residence occupations could count their two years from 29 September 2021.

“The work-to-residence path requires two years’ work in the role ahead of gaining residence which supports addressing the shortages, whereas a straight-to-residence pathway would not require any time in the role before a worker could potentially leave.

“A two-year period ensures a degree of commitment to the role and to New Zealand.

“I continue to monitor and update my colleagues on progress implementing the rebalance, and I will not be afraid to act before the previously signalled review in 2023 if required.”

The government has repeatedly highlighted retention problems as one of the main reasons nurses should be treated differently under the Green List rules, although just four percent of New Zealand-trained nurses left the profession in 2020.

Figures released to the National Party showed just 18 migrant nurses applied to come to New Zealand in the first six weeks of the new residency visa, compared to a monthly average of 57 under the previous critical purpose visa.

Immigration spokeswoman Erica Standford said nurses should be on the straight-to-residence Green List.

“They look for certainty. They don’t want to be mucking around for two years not knowing if they’re going to be able to get their residence.

“It’s a no-brainer for these nurses and that is why they’re leaving.”

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