Ana Waalkens spent a week in Auckland City Hospital's intensive care unit after falling ill days after a growing Delta outbreak was discovered in Auckland in August - and before the 38-year-old was eligible to be vaccinated. Waalkens is telling her story because she wants everyone, especially fellow Pasifika - she has Tongan heritage - to get vaccinated so they don't suffer as she and her family had. Waalkens was fighting for her life. "My family and friends all thought I was going to die,” she said. By Cherie Howie, Reporter NZ Herald.
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Results for Tongans Overseas
Sunday 24 October 2021
Auckland, New Zealand
Thursday 7 October 2021
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Retired rugby league star, Manu Vatuvei (35) faces a lengthy prison sentence in New Zealand, after he pleaded guilty yesterday, to the importation of methamphetamine there.
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Wednesday 6 October 2021
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Three Tongan nationals who are in Australia on working visas will appear in court on Wednesday in New South Wales mid-north coast, accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls at a park over the weekend.
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Monday 3 May 2021
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Cleveland, United States
Four college football players of Tongan heritage were included in the 259 players selected in the 2021 NFL draft from 29 April – 1 May to join the NFL’s 32 franchises.
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Thursday 29 April 2021
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Sydney, Australia
The funeral of the late Peter Warner in Ballina, NSW, Australia, yesterday had a special Tongan presence, including two of the original ‘Ata boys – Mano Totau and Tevita Siolala, reports Tonga's Honorary Consul General.
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Wednesday 17 February 2021
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Repatriation flights are scheduled to arrive in Tonga on March 3, from New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.
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Wednesday 10 February 2021
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Wellington, New Zealand
Beautiful Tongan tapa (ngatu) is on display for two-weeks in an exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum and Art Gallery of New Zealand, by a group of Tongan women in Wellington.
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Saturday 12 December 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
There were 8000 Tongans stuck overseas because of the COVID-19 border restrictions and wanting to return home, when the repatriation flights ended this week. They include 13 Tongans stuck in India. The repatriation flights may resume in February next year, Hon. Poasi Tei, the Minister for MEIDECC told parliament. From the House by Pesi Fonua.
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Tuesday 24 November 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
The highly anticipated matchup between heavyweight boxers Uaine Fa Jnr and Joseph Parker, has been officially postponed in a statement released today by organisers of the professional bout - Duco Events.
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Monday 16 November 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
Over 100 Early Childhood Education graduates from the Pacific community, mostly Tongans, received their certificates from an Auckland education provider on November 12.
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Saturday 10 October 2020
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Queensland, Australia
A Tongan fruitpicker died after being bitten by a venomous eastern brown snake on a farm near Dimbulah, west of Cairns, in September, and relatives want his body to be flown home to Tonga.
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Thursday 30 July 2020
Auckland, New Zealand
Frazer Mataitonga, from the ‘Akanesi Mataitonga Trust has won ‘Good as Gold’ recognition from the ASB Bank in New Zealand with an award to help him continue sending aid to Tonga, and other Pacific Island countries.
Thursday 18 June 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Louena, a Tongan mother of two who lives in Japan, is desperate to be reunited with her babies, daughter Kathleen (5) and infant son, who are now in Tonga without her. The sudden border closure caught the family by surprise and has separated them for over three months.
Wednesday 17 June 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The 50 passengers to board the first repatriation flight from Auckland to Tonga will probably be selected next week, confirmed MEIDECC CEO, Paula Ma’u today, 17 June. “If that goes well, it depends on health and their analysis on whether we will increase the number and even the flights.” Otherwise at that rate, with about 7,000 Tongans overseas who want to return to Tonga, it might take years to repatriate everyone and quarantine will be costly. By Eleanor Gee.
Wednesday 10 June 2020
Auckland, New Zealand
Tongan seasonal workers grounded in Australia are making use of relaxed regulations in the country, finding new jobs with different farms and employers. By Finau Fonua.
Tuesday 2 June 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
Thousands of protesters gathered in Auckland CBD yesterday 1 June, to show their solidarity with protests in the United States against police brutality. Among the protests were Samoan and Tongan flag wavers. The protesters attempted to reach the United States Consulate which was closed off by New Zealand police.
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Thursday 21 May 2020
Utah, USA
Hon. Prime Minister: Does my country, Tonga, expect me to break the United States law and be punished by it, because our Tongan government can’t even open up their borders even for a limited period of time for their citizens who are stuck worldwide to come home? What the Tongan country expects me to do, after my visa expires, especially when the US government have made no exceptions to allow us international students to stay in the US longer than we’re supposed to. - Salaetau Tuita
Tuesday 10 March 2020
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Last week, New Zealand’s parliament unanimously passed the “Abortion Legislation Bill” by 94 votes to 23. The bill allows pregnant women in the country to have an abortion without the consent of a doctor (except after 20 weeks of pregnancy) and will be determined in a final vote. Among those who voted against the bill were two Tongan born MPs, Jenny Salesa and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki.
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Wednesday 4 March 2020
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Otago, New Zealand
Tongan born academic, Dr Losa Moata‘ane, has been appointed to the role of Associate Dean Pacific at Otago University’s Division of Sciences in Dunedin, New Zealand.
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Tuesday 4 February 2020
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United States, Scottsdale, Arizona
Tony Finau’s goal for 2020 was to finally return to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour. It’s been four years since his first and only title, at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, but odds were good that he would finally win again this season. The goal still remains elusive.
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Tonga weather forecast from yr.no, delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the NRK. See also Fua'amotu Weather Forecasting Center, Tonga, for latest local weather bulletin.