Results for Tonga

Two keynote speakers at the opening of a National Dialogue on "Green Growth" today agreed that Tongans need to consider how they can balance economic development with care for their natural environment. They urged participants to turn discussions over the next few days into lasting action.

Tonga's Parliament struggled to make decisions on two important issues before its 2016 session closed on Thursday, 27 October. The House was trying to establish new procedures for a parliamentary Vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The other difficult issue was who will hold the ultimate power to appoint an Anti-corruption Commissioner for Tonga. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.

Valerie Kasanita Adams, a two–time Olympic gold medalist arrived in Tonga on Monday, October 31 on her first assignment in her role as New Zealand’s Pacific Sports Ambassador to promote and encourage healthy lifestyle and sports participation in the Pacific.

Live Tongan dance performances at Tonga’s exhibition were a hit with visitors to the 2016 Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo in Dongguan, China.

Two young Tongan swimmers, Finau ‘Ohuafi (15) and Noelani Day (13) brought home a total of 16 medals between them, including 9 gold and 7 silver after competing in the SC Central Region Age Group Invitational 2016 in Suva, Fiji.

A Tongan cultural group was among performers from three countries opening the show at the Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo on 27 October, a four-day event that has attracted over 40 countries with more than 2000 booths and over 100,000 people at Dongguan City, People's Republic of China.

A four-day regional training workshop to support school readiness and reading for Pacific children and teachers, is underway in Nuku’alofa this week with 50 participants from eight Pacific Island countries and development partners including practitioners attending. The workshop is part of the Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning (PEARL) Program funded through the Global Partnership for Education and led by the World Bank.

Tonga has decided to adopt daylight saving and will advance its clock one hour ahead on Sunday, November 6 for two-months, in order to allow more daylight hours in the evening during the longer summer days. The change will put Tonga 14 hours ahead of UTC during the summer.

Tonga, Fiji and New Caledonia will have the option of accessing faster international broadband connectivity as part of a 14,000km submarine cable project run by the Hawaiki company between the United States, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand scheduled to be completed in mid-2018. The system promises to deliver more than 30 terrabytes per second of capacity.