Results for Tonga

Wednesday 14 November will be a day to mark in your calendar as solar eclipse watch day. The moon will shift in front of the sun, blocking out part of its light. For Tonga it will be only a partial eclipse, not so interesting, but we will not get anything better than that for a long time, so you better watch. - Firitia Velt.

A baby whale, found stranded on the beach at Nuku Namu Island in Ha'apai on Friday, September 14, was rescued and released into the high tide after an eight-hour effort by the owners and guests at the Matafonua Lodge and local Tongans.

A revelation by 'Akilisi Pohiva yesterday afternoon that he had told the Prime Minister to dismiss his two appointed ministers, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Justice, and that 'Akilisi wanted to be the Minister of Education, presented a new dimension to the deliberation in the House over a Motion for a Vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister signed by 10 People's Representatives. From the House by Pesi Fonua.

Three local girls have joined the Miss Heilala Pageant, bringing the number of contestants this year to five, but more are expected to join before the beauty pageant starts on July 23.

Late Island's coastline is rugged for landing by large boats, but a dinghy could find a suitable landing place on the northern shorelines. I was stranded on Late Island for a week with two Vava'u strangers as guides when I was 18 years old. - Sione Ake-mei-hakau Mokofisi.

A project to reduce the cost of sending remittances from New Zealand and Australia to Tonga and seven other Pacific islands is succeeding, Kim Hailwood and Jonathan Capal of Developing Markets Associates Ltd, said in Tonga on Wednesday, June 13.

Three years ago today, Tonga's King George Tupou V passed away in Hong Kong.

The opening date for the new Vuna Wharf, reconstructed at a cost of $30 million and scheduled for early 2012, remains uncertain, with work still to be done around the wharf site before it can open for business. Mosese Lavemai, the CEO of the Nuku'alofa Port Authority, said on February 1, that although the reconstruction of the actual wharf was completed ahead of schedule in December 2011, additional work needed to be completed around the wharf before a date is set for an opening.

On February 17 the World Bank and the Government of Tonga signed a US$27 million grant to make air travel safer and more efficient for people travelling to and from Tonga. The investment is part of the World Bank's regional Pacific Aviation Investment Program, and will support rehabilitation of Fua'amotu International Airport and Vava'u Airport to ensure both meet minimum international safety and security standards.