Tonga

'Akilisi Pohiva attended his first Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Port Moresby last week.

Mr Pohiva says it was a good chance to observe regionalism at work.

However he says greater cooperation is also needed when it comes to the airways of the Pacific.

It is estimated there have been 1,000 school drop outs in Tonga every year since 2008, with many of them never getting the help they need to get back into the education system.

The one-year project is being supported by the aid organisation, International Needs.

Its executive director, Gradon Harvey, says as part of the first phase of the project, the National Youth Congress has been speaking to school principals and students to find out how it can help.

The NRL has now been operational in Tonga for two months and is making huge strides through the education and sports divisions of the Tongan Government due to its professional and fully inclusive approach.

Accompanied by the NRL Tonga's newly appointed part-time staff member Nehumi Vanisi, who is currently studying business at the University the South Pacific, the boys and girls undertook skills lessons involving passing, catching and evasion. 

In 2011 he was a teenager who had left Tonga's Ha'apai islands the previous year to take up a scholarship at Wesley College in Pukekohe.

Though he was already dreaming of following in the footsteps of Wesley's most famous Tongan rugby player Jonah Lomu, Fekitoa said it was the 2011 World Cup that cemented his goal to become an All Black.

"I couldn't afford tickets to the games, but I still watched every game," Fekitoa said on Monday.

Fiji is on its best unbeaten run in this century, Tonga is enjoying its best string of results in a dozen years, and the Samoa players have peace of mind.

The way the Fijians dismantled Canada in their last warm-up match even has some believing Fiji is a threat in the toughest of the groups, featuring top-five teams Australia, England, and Wales.

“We can shock the world,” winger Nemani Nadolo says seriously.

Tonga have great depth in the outside backs with Konrad Hurrell, Mahe Fonua and Solomone Kata all set to provide a huge chance at a 2017 Rugby League World Cup berth. Another of Tonga’s strong positions is hooker where they hold a plethora of NRL-quality players such as Pat Politoni, Joel Luani, Nafe Seluini and future Kiwis hooker Sione Katoa.

The Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva and Public Enterprises Minister Poasi Tei, are reported to have begged Lady Eseta Fusi'tua to give up the post.

The Ministry of Public Enterprises has said it also wants two other directors to resign voluntarily but the Radio Tonga reports the Public Relations Commission, saying the contracts of all three are valid for three years.

Lady Fusitu'a says she is not going and she says forcing directors to resign seems unlawful.

The ministry has suspended the Pacific Christian School's registration from the start of next term, the first time it has ever done so to a private school.

The school came under scrutiny last year, when an 11 year old stabbed another child with a pair of scissors.

Su'a has been dealing with the school, and says the move has come as a shock.

He says the sad outcome is the loss of the school's special character, as it is the only one which provides Tongan bilingual teaching.

It will focuse on ‘Making Space for Women’ in the country’s democratic institutions, particularly in local representative positions.

“International Day of Democracy is an excellent opportunity for the men and women of Tonga and other countries to recognize the universal value we call democracy, and to celebrate the country’s important strides to strengthen democratic processes and institutions” said Osnat Lubrani, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative.

49 medical specialists volunteering for Open Heart International are working at Nuku'alofa's Vaiola Hospital, treating people suffering from rheumatic and congenital heart defects.

The project coordinator, John Wallace, says the team took over three tonnes of equipment with them to perform procedures that cannot normally be performed in Tonga.

He says the procedures are life-changing.