Results for tag

Tonga's Foreign Minister, HRH Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala attended the 6th Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers Meeting held this week, 8-9 December, in Seoul, South Korea.

A healthy democracy is often measured by how well it enables citizens to take part in the political process, with voter turnout and participation in civil-society groups serving as key indicators of public engagement. Yet as Tonga’s parliament elects its prime minister on 15 December 2025, democratic gains risk being diluted if executive power consolidates around nobility rather than the people’s representatives. By Ema Ivarature, ‘Akanesi Katoa, Henry Ivarature / EAF.

A Tongan-designed King’s Baton for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games was revealed in Nuku'alofa this week, ready for Tonga to take its turn in the worldwide relay, which leads up the Games opening in July. The relay is associated with a global Clean Ocean Inititiative, which starts next week on Tongatapu.

Siokatame Kupu (28) is serving six months in prison for possession of drugs utensils found on him in a police drugs operation at Matangiake earlier in May. He had just been released from prison before being sent back to prison for this offence.

A former senior customs officer, Mosese Katoa (58), is serving two years in prison on charges that included the importation of  prohibited goods. When firearms concealed in a crate arrived in Tonga in 2023 he also attempted to bribe another Customs Officer to avoid the scanner.

A grant valued at 400 million Japanese Yen (USD$ 2.65 million) for the implementation of solar power systems for the state-owned broadcaster, Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC), was signed today between the Government of Japan and Tonga.

A three-player chess team will represent Tonga at the 2025 Oceania Youth Chess Championship in Brisbane, Australia on 13–17 December.

The Minister of Police, Hon. Paula Piveni Piukala, has been temporarily suspended from all ministerial duties, the Prime Minister's Office announced today. The Prime Minister stated that the suspension would allow an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commissioner into serious allegations against the Cabinet Minister to proceed “in the interest of procedural fairness and institutional propriety.”

About 2,000 combat uniforms and eight surveillance drones for His Majesty’s Armed Forces (HMAF) will be provided through Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) project, signed between HRH Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala, the Interim Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Tonga, HE Inagaki Hisao.