Tonga

About 170 passengers, who had been walking about 100 metres from the airport terminal to the aircraft were unhappy about having to wait in the sun while the passenger was loaded.

Some passengers gave up and breached an order to wait at the foot of the stairway and walked up to the aircraft door.

They were spotted talking to the General Manager of the Airport Terminal Service (ATS), Paul Karalus.

Some passengers were overheard complaining that the staff at the terminal should have made sure there was no issue before releasing them to walk to the aircraft.

Mumuhu Pou’uhila was sentenced on December 14 after it was confirmed he did willfully and without legal justification cause grievous bodily harm to Nelesoni Tu’itavake when he threw a brick that hit his face causing the destruction of his eyeball.

He was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Court documents showed Tu’itavake was drinking with friends when it was noticed that his brother had disappeared.

He and friends located him with a number of young men and he appeared to skirmish with one of them.

As Kaniva News reported earlier, the line-up was expected to be announced before Christmas, but after Pohiva was informed the king would probably appoint him for longer than expected, he cancelled the planned announcement.

He said the Palace office would probably process the appointment ceremony on January 2.

Pohiva said it was normal procedure that the announcement of the new cabinet could be made public after the Prime Minister was appointed by the king.

“It is better to leave it until His Majesty would formally appoint me,” he said.

Siosaia Moehau said it had been very difficult to get government buy in and earlier hopes a Fijian provider would help out, fell through.

He said they are forging ahead anyway and have begun sourcing resources including looking for some land close to the main hospital.

Mr Moehau said they also wish to set up home based dialysis for patients.

"Well we have been struggling for help trying to establish the dialysis treatment here in Tonga and hopefully soon we should have something solid going on," he said.

Judge Charles Cato said although violence was involved there was no evidence that Petelō Tapueluelu punched Kelekōlio Fahiua in the head.

“I consider that this case falls in the lower range,” Judge Cato said.

After considering all the circumstances of the offending as well as Tapueluelu’s character, his cooperation and guilty plea the judge said: “I consider it appropriate to fully suspend his sentence.”

Tapueluelu, 28, admitted he unlawfully punched Fahiua, 18, on 30 December 2016 in Neiafu causing serious injuries to his spine. He died in hospital on arrival.

Justice Minister, Vuna Fa’otusia said the new Cabinet will reflect who the people wanted to be in their government after the snap election.

Pohiva had allowed his Cabinet Ministers to give him their opinions on who they thought should be in the Cabinet.

“It will probably be announced on Friday as we need people to know about it before Christmas,” Fā’otusia told Kaniva News.

Feleti Tu’akalau has been a chef for 22 years.

After moving to New Zealand from Tonga, he met his wife and were both living in Auckland as overstayers.

He says living as an overstayer was like being in prison, locked away from all the opportunities that New Zealand had to offer.

“People look at you as a different person but from my experience, you have to treat people the same. At the end of the day we’re all working for our own lives.”

The financial assistance will help strengthen Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu’s resilience to disasters.

ADB’s assistance will include loans worth US$3.1 million each to Samoa and Tonga. It will also include grants worth US$2.9 million each to Samoa and Tonga and $3 million to Tuvalu. All three grants are financed from the Asian Development Fund, ADB’s grant-based development financing vehicle. An ADB-supported US$2 million technical assistance grant will help the three countries implement priority resilience building activities and share their experiences. 

Mr Pohiva, who was effectively sacked by the King back in August, has returned as leader for a second term.

Mr Pohiva's Democratic Party had won 14 of the 17 Peoples' Representatives seats in the election on 16 November and he won his prime ministerial election on Monday in parliament by the same amount.

The other contender, former deputy prime minister Siaosi Sovaleni, got 12.

Mr Moala said during the election Mr Pohiva was seeking a second chance.

Tahiti is suspended after they boycotted the Vanuatu Mini Games over disagreements on who should represent them in boxing.

Pacific Games Council CEO Andrew Minogue say both decisions reflect the council's mandate for autonomy in sports without political interference.

"We'll go through a process with them in the early part of next year hopefully, to try and reach some agreements around the respective independence and autonomy of the sporting body.

Samoa now has the hosting rights for the 2019 Pacific Games.