Results for Tonga

Donations of food, clothing and building materials continue to flow in for the people of Ha'apai, in Tonga, whose homes were destroyed by Cyclone Ian in January. The Tongan community in Hilo, Hawaii this week shipped a container of goods.

“Foul” is the only way to describe a container-load of around 10 tonnes of rotten chicken, dumped onto a picnic spot on Tongatapu’s scenic Hufangalupe coastline last week. The maggoty mess has disgusted locals and remained a stinking issue this morning.

Twenty Tongan nurses, who are the first to be trained in Non-Communicable Diseases, graduated last week and will be on the frontline of treating NCDs, which have accounted for 74 percent of all deaths in Tonga in 2008.

Tropical Cyclone Kofi brought heavy rain and gusts of up to 48 knots (90kmph) to Tongatapu early this morning as the system moved to the southwest of Tonga. The Fua‘amotu Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre has downgraded the cyclone warning this morning, while a gales warning remains in force for Tonga waters, with an extreme high tide advisory continuing for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

A Tropical Cyclone Warning is now in force for Vava‘u, Ha‘apai, Tongatapu and 'Eua as Tropical Depression 15F approaches Tonga and is forecast to become a Category 1- 2 cyclone as it moves through southern Tonga on Saturday and Sunday. On its current track and if the depression continues to intensify, the centre is expected to lie about 290km west-northwest of Nomuka or 265km northwest of Nuku'alofa at 7:00pm this evening. Latest forecast at 9:00am from Fua'amotu TCWC.

No arrest has been made in relation to the death of Dao Zin He (31), the Chinese shopkeeper who died in a suspected homicide a week ago, on February 21.

The heads of fisheries from the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu held talks this week with the Overseas Fishery Cooperation Foundation (OFCF) of Japan in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The 2013 Session of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga will resume on Monday, March 24 after it was adjourned from October last year.

Creative Tongans are realizing that they can make a livelihood from handicrafts, after receiving training in cultural tourism awareness, says Sione Loseli who ran workshops in Vava‘u last week, under a Handicrafts and Cultural Tourism Support Program.