Tonga

Tonga Police arrest suspect in shooting incident

Police arrested the suspect at his home in Pahu on Sunday morning.

A 23-year-old man from Kolonga is admitted at Vaiola Hospital and remains in a stable condition.

He was allegedly shot at several times during a brawl at Kolonga.

The victim received five gunshot wounds.

The suspect is in Police custody while an investigation continues.

     

Australia to expand labour scheme to all Pacific countries

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and foreign minister Marise Payne say the current cap of 2-thousand places will be lifted, although the new limit is not a given.

Talks to allow Papua New Guinea to join the scheme have also been confirmed.

Australia will also establish a new Pacific office within its foreign ministry.

Nuku’alofa Network Upgrade Project groundbreaking ceremony

The five years Project is funded by the New Zealand Government in partnership with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a combined total of $30.8 million NZD.

Minister for MEIDECC, Poasi Tei said, the ground breaking ceremony marks not only a significant milestone in the life and commencement of this project but also tangible progress towards the Government’s overall energy target to reach 50% renewable energy by 2020.

League Oceania Cup 'exactly what is needed' - Tonga coach

Mate Ma'a Tonga will go head to head with Australia and New Zealand next year in the competition's top tier, with Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea contesting the other group.

Kristian Woolf said a guaranteed slate of top level test matches gives the Pacific Island teams certainty and something to look forward to.

"The organisation and having something that's planned and something that's to plan for in the future is a real positive," he said.

Mate Ma'a Tonga and Kangaroos to compete in newly-unveiled Oceanic Cup next year

Under the plan that will be put to players associations on both sides of the globe for consultation, Great Britain will tour the southern hemisphere next year and face the Pacific nations and New Zealand, but not Australia.

The Kangaroos will then take a tour of Great Britain at the end of 2020 in a bid to ramp up interest ahead of the 2021 World Cup there the following year.

Tonga, PNG qualify for World 7s Series

The Kingdom defeated the Cook Islands 29-12 on Saturday to finish as the top placed non core team, qualifying them for the Hamilton and Sydney legs of the World Series, while both teams will compete in the Hong Kong World Series Qualifier.

onga last featured on the World Series in the 2013/14 season when they competed in the Gold Coast and Wellington events, finishing winless in ten games.

The Kingom did qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco earlier this year but were beaten by Kenya in the preliminary round.

'Ikale Tahi looking to maintain momentum

The Kingdom open their campaign against a French Barbarians team in Bordeaux, before tests against Wales and Georgia.

The 'Ikale Tahi ended the June window with back-to-back wins over Samoa and Fiji.

Captain Siale Pitau said they want to build on that momentum.

"There was a lot of hard work put in the couple of tours ... so I think we're just trying to build obviously our way into the World Cup, we're just trying to build on all these performances that we've been putting through," he said.

Tonga's parliament extended to deal with impeachment call

Parliament had been scheduled to end on 31 October but Matangi Tonga reports Speaker Lord Fakafanua has scheduled a sitting for Tuesday evening where he will announce plans to deal with the over 3,000 strong signature petition.

Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva has said the final decision on how the House will proceed with the impeachment, rests with Lord Fakafanua.

The petition calls for an urgent audit of specific expenditures over the last three years regarding seven Cabinet Ministers, including Mr Pohiva.

Tonga Supreme Court finds man guilty of rape

Summarising the case, Lord Chief Justice O.G Paulsen said it had been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Tu’ifua “had sexual intercourse with the woman knowing that she was in a state of insensibility.”

Kaniva News reports the sexual assault occurred following a drinking session on November 11 last year.

The victim had been with a group of people she knew and after a night of consuming alcohol she was taken to a hut by Tu’ifua.

Eventually she passed out.

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2 cyclones likely to affect Tonga

This means that there is a 75% chance of at least 2 cyclones to occur during the cyclone season.

Although historical records indicate there could be a low chance of severe tropical cyclones occurring this season, Tongans are being advised to expect the likelihood of at least one severe cyclone occurring due to climate variability brought about by global warning.