Viliame Gavoka says Fiji's HIV emergency should not alarm tourists from countries such as Australia and New Zealand, as health researchers and community groups call for stronger response.

The Niue Ocean Wide Trust has been announced as one of the finalists in the Earthshot Prize.

A Tongan New Zealander shares insights from his te reo Māori journey

Tonga finished the week-long competition undefeated.

With an election looming and political parties in campaign mode, the Fijian government has hinted that a new constitution could be in place by Christmas Eve.

Party pledges to "make NZ healthy" with illness prevention policies designed to help overwhelmed hospitals.

On one day in September, the 15-bed department reached 253 percent capacity - equivalent to about 50 patients in the department at one time.

Singer-songwriter Moana Maniapoto will write a waiata for this year's winner, which will be announced on Monday.

Specialist paramedics will be able to prescribe medicines covering common infections and treatments needed in urgent and community care, and issue repeat prescriptions for long-term conditions.

The region's firefighting capabilities have been weakened even further, a senior firefighter says, with no spare truck available to replace the one lost on Saturday night.