Results for Tonga

The Australian Government will provide an estimated T$55.67 million (AUD32.2m) in development assistance to Tonga in 2013-14, the Australian High Commission announced today, 4 June.

Two accommodation providers in Tonga have been awarded certificates of excellence from a popular travel website after guests posted good reviews of the hospitality they received at the locations. The Blue Banana Beach House at Kanokupolu was was rated the best B&B and Inn on Tongatapu.

A strong 7.4Mw tremor rattled Nuku'alofa before dawn for over a minute starting at 6:19am. Two aftershocks, including 6.6Mw were felt in Nuku'alofa after 10:00am. The first 7.4Mw earthquake was centred south of Fiji and Tonga at a depth of about 170km-208km in an area of the Tonga-Kermadec arc that has frequent moderate to large deep earthquakes. The deep earthquakes are generally less hazardous than shallow earthquakes.

An increasing number of Tonga's youth are found to have diabetes, a disease that is incurable, and many of them have contracted diabetes because they eat the wrong foods. A Tonga Youth Diabetes Study Report 2013, released last week recommends a national screening of youths for the disease along with a national awareness campaign.

Tonga has a high level of vulnerability to climate hazards and over the next five years will start planning to be better prepared to cope with the increased risks of climate change. Tonga is one of only three Pacific countries chosen to pilot a Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) under a global climate change initiative. By Linny Folau

Combating human trafficking in the Pacific islands was the focus of a three day regional workshop held from April 23-25 in Nadi, Fiji. The workshop was organised by the United States Embassy based in Suva who invited the participation of 27 legal officials, prosecutors, customs and immigration officers from Tonga, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Tonga’s new Family Protection Bill 2013 will provide protection orders that will quickly and firmly stop a significant crime in Tonga - a crime that has killed four women and left others hospitalized due to severe beatings from either their partners or husbands. By Linny Folau.

Tonga's Chief Justice Hon. Michael Scott is to decide whether the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to review the internal proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga, in an application brought by Tonga's former Prime Minister Lord Sevele and Paul Karalus, a former Minister of Transport, who are claiming that their reputations were damaged by the Report of a Parliamentary Select Committee.

A new leadership program to assist and train promising young women in implementing community projects is in need of more applicants.