Results for politics

Hon. Sitiveni Rabuka (74), was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Fiji this afternoon, after narrowly winning a secret ballot in parliament, getting 28 votes to the incumbent Frank Bainimarama's 27.

Mele Teusiva ‘Amanaki was awarded $50,000 in damages by the Supreme Court, after winning a long and winding defamation lawsuit against Tonga Weekly newspaper and its former editor Faka'osi Maama, who published articles and a photograph on three occasions back in 2014. The Lord Chief Justice had no hesitation in finding that both defendants were actuated by malice.

New York Times reporting: New Zealand unveiled a plan Thursday to eventually ban all sales of cigarettes in the country, a decades-long effort unique in the world to prevent young people from taking up smoking. The proposal, expected to become law next year, would raise the smoking age year by year until it covers the entire population

New York Times Reporting by Yan Zhuang: After days of riots in the Solomon Islands during which protesters called for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to resign, set buildings ablaze and looted stores, authorities on Saturday said they had found the bodies of three people in a burned-out building of a store in the Chinatown district. They are the first reported deaths after days of violent protests in Honiara, the nation’s capital. Australia sent around 100 police officers and soldiers Thursday and Friday to help stabilize the situation, and Papua New Guinea sent 35 police and correctional service personnel Friday.

It’s only six paragraphs long, but the response from parliament to King Tupou VI's confronting speech of 6 May, has taken a committee of nine MPs 11 days to prepare. When the draft letter was presented to the House on 18 May for approval, they went to the dark side of the moon – silencing live radio broadcasting of the debate, to prevent an inquisitive public listening to what members had to say about it. From the House by Pesi Fonua

The following information is to correct any misinformation regarding the Ministry’s partnership with the Beijing Machinery Repair Company Limited.... Oku tuku atu ‘a e ngaahi fakamatala ko eni koe’uhi ke fakatonutonu ‘a e ngaahi fakamatala hala fekau’aki pea mo e fengaue’aki ‘a e Potungaue pea mo e Beijing Machinery Repair Company Limited.... Media Statement from the Tonga Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests (MAFF).

New York Times reporting: A digitally savvy nation, Australia woke up Thursday to a shock on Facebook: the news was gone. The social network’s decision to block journalism rather than pay for it erased more than expected, leaving many outraged and debating what should happen next.

Tongan politics are in turmoil after a letter for a motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, Hon. Dr Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, was tabled into parliament a day before the House closed its 2020 session on 10 December. Details of the letter have emerged, raising seven concerns. From the House by Pesi Fonua.

New York Times reporting: After eight years of talks, China and 14 other nations from Japan to New Zealand to Myanmar on Sunday formally signed one of the world’s largest regional free trade agreements, a pact shaped by Beijing partly as a counterweight to U.S. influence in the region.