Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman have been aggressively promoting the idea that everyone – children included – should form relationships with AI “friends” or “companions.” Meanwhile, multinational tech companies are pushing the concept of “AI agents” designed to assist us in our personal and professional lives, handle routine tasks, and guide decision-making. But the reality is that AI systems are not, and never will be, friends, companions, or agents. They are, and will always remain, machines. The most deceptive term of all is “artificial intelligence”. By Peter G. Kirchschläger
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Results for Tonga
Thursday 31 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
No damage has been reported from a tsunami wave that passed through Tongan waters last night. A tsunami warning was cancelled at midnight after the wave was recorded at 30cm in the Niuas and 5-10 cms for the rest of Tonga.
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Wednesday 30 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s National U16 women’s football team, Young Mataliki will compete in OFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2025 in Samoa from 1-14 August.
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Wednesday 30 July 2025
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
UPDATE: 31 July 2025: This Tsunami warning for Tonga was cancelled at midnight on 30 July 2025. A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation alerts across the Pacific region. Public who were in the tsunami threat area were advised to prepare to evacuate.
Tuesday 29 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Scammers who targeted a Tongan Public Enterprise have succeeded in taking $270,000 panga, Tonga's Minister of Public Enterprises, Hon. Piveni Piukala has revealed.
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Tuesday 29 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A man and a woman from Halaleva in Tongatapu were arrested yesterday during a police investigation into housebreaking and the theft of Tongan koloa valued at $20,300 pa'anga. The accused remain in police custody and were scheduled to appear in court on 4 August 2025.
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Monday 28 July 2025
Alofi, Niue
After 20 years of negotiations, Fisheries Ministers unanimously endorsed the agreement on proportional allocation of South Pacific Albacore (SPA) among FFA Members, during the 24th Forum Fisheries Committee Ministerial in Niue last week.
Monday 28 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An arsonist, Taniela Matangi (38) will serve seven years imprisonment, for serious housebreaking and stealing tapa and mats from a church minister's home in Longolongo. The charges included serious arson after he set fire to a bedroom at the home. Three others were jailed for receiving the stolen property.
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Monday 28 July 2025
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The first Cyber Security Bootcamp for high school students, hosted by Tonga Women in ICT (TWICT) recently, attracted over 90 students from Tongatapu secondary schools and university. “Tonga, like many Pacific nations, has been facing a surge in scams and cyber threats — affecting both individuals and institutions. This bootcamp served as a critical step toward raising awareness, building digital resilience, and planting the seeds of cyber safety culture among young people,” TWICT stated today.
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The suspension of Lulutai Airline’s engineering licence on 19 July was due to a "misunderstanding between the Civil Aviation Office and Lulutai regarding the hangar.” the Acting Prime Minister, Dr. Taniela Fusimalohi, told a media briefing today. MPE Minister Piukala said he received multiple complaints from whale watching companies, businesses, private individuals, and also Ministers over the suspension of flights to outer islands for several days earlier this week.
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Saturday 26 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An informal educational program for young adults, called ‘Family Life Education Out of School’ was launched in Nuku'alofa today, 25 July 2025. The program delivered by the Talitha Project in partnership with UNFPA, aims to help young people learn how to make better decisions.
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Friday 25 July 2025
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Washington D.C., U.S.A
A former US mormon missionary, who served in Tonga, was arrested yesterday, 24 July, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on charges related to the exploitation of minors who had been entrusted to his care. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation so far has identified 14 minor victims throughout Tonga in offending that began in 2017. William James Purdy of West Valley, Utah, was arrested by Tonga Police in October 2022 but fled the kingdom before his scheduled trial.
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Thursday 24 July 2025
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
In its first-ever ruling on climate, the International Court of Justice (the “World Court”) makes it clear that States have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions and act with due diligence and cooperation to fulfill this obligation. The legal initiative taken by Vanuatu to the ICJ was inspired by its youth. "This is a victory for our planet, for climate justice and for the power of young people to make a difference," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Thursday 24 July 2025
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
‘Oku fiefia ‘a e Poate Vai ‘o Tonga ke fakahoko atu kuo tali ‘e he Poate ‘a e Kau Talēkita´ ke holoki ‘a e totongi mo’ua vai´ ‘aki ‘a e pēseti ‘e 9 ‘o e vai ngaue’aki ki he kau ma’uvai´ ‘i he ngaahi ‘api nofo’anga, kamata ia ‘i he ‘aho 1 ‘o Siulai 2025.
Thursday 24 July 2025
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga Water Board is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved a 9% discount on water usage for all active residential customers (domestic only), effective from 1 July 2025.
Thursday 24 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
“Good governance is a gift we pass on to our children, like a precious family heirloom, leaving them a nation built on a strong foundation,” said the Head of the Commonwealth’s Rule of Law Section, Dr. Elizabeth Macharia, in Nuku'alofa, Tonga yesterday, at the opening of the Latimer House Dialogues for Tonga's executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
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Wednesday 23 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Royal Tonga Police Band won best ‘Overall Performance’ in the first-ever Pacific Police Band Tattoo, held in Papua New Guinea yesterday, 22 July 2025.
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Wednesday 23 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
‘Aisea Pese Havea (42) is serving one year and eight months in prison for cultivation of cannabis plants seized at a home in Ha’ateiho by police officers, who were led there by a student who was reported to be in possession at Tonga College.
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Wednesday 23 July 2025
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Lulutai Airlines Y12 and Twin Otter aircraft flights to Ha'apai and other islands resumed, under a temporary lifting of a suspension by the Civil Aviation Office today, 23 July. However, the lifting of the 3-day old suspension is provisional and the compliance will be closely monitored, the Civil Aviation Office noted.
Tuesday 22 July 2025
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's Civil Aviation Office announced via Facebook this morning, its suspension of the Lulutai Airlines Ltd's Part 145 Maintenance Certificate, stating it was due to "confirmed breaches of the Civil Aviation Rules."
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