In many Tongan households in Aotearoa where the children have lost their Tongan reo, it is likely to be because the parents, despite their fluency in the reo, do not use it with their children at home. But Tongan is never irrelevant because it carries thoughts and feelings, knowledge and understanding, world-views and identities, dreams and aspirations – and what it means to be a Tongan human being. By Dr Melenaite Taumoefolau for Tongan Language Week 6 – 12 September 2020.
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Wednesday 9 September 2020
Auckland, New Zealand
Tuesday 8 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Ma’ata Pouono (46) was sentenced today to one-year six-months imprisonment, which was fully suspended, for possession of methamphetamine and bribery of a police officer, at Lapaha in 2018. Police seized the methamphetamine hidden inside a diaper in a rubbish bag at the accused's home as well as $1,366 cash found in her wallet.

Tuesday 8 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Fishing boats, yachts and the inter-island domestic vessels can now complete their underwater surveys in Tonga after a $700,000 upgraded slipway at Queen Salote Wharf was reopened yesterday, 7 September.

Tuesday 8 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Only two out of 33 earthquakes that occurred in Tonga during the month of August were felt, according to the new Tonga Geological Services Seismic Bulletin of 4 September. The number of earthquakes was not unusual for Tonga, which is located within the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Tuesday 8 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tongan Parliament resumed its 2020 -2021 session yesterday, Monday 7 September, after deferring parliament several times since it passed the Annual Budget on 18 June. From the House by Pesi Fonua

Monday 7 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Twenty-six passengers repatriated from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu on Saturday, 5 September, tested negative for CoViD-19 confirmed Ministry of Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola today.

Monday 7 September 2020
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NSW, Australia
The Oceania Rugby Men’s and Women’s Championship scheduled to take place in November this year has been cancelled due to CoViD-19.

Saturday 5 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Cheeping chicks are free for distribution at the Livestock Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forests and Fisheries, under a year-long national program that aims to distribute 100,000 chicks to Tongan homes.

Friday 4 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An appeal by Lord Tu’ivakano against his conviction by a jury, will be heard on September 22 by Tonga’s Appeal Court in Nuku’alofa.

Friday 4 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An application by ‘Anisi Kulufeinga Bloomfield for leave to appeal against his extradition to Fiji under the Extradition Act was refused by Lord Chief Justice Whitten, in a ruling from the Supreme Court on 2 September. The extraordinary circumstances of the case, and contradictory letters from the Prime Minister, required an affidavit from the Prime Minister to be considered in the ruling.

Friday 4 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
All 45 passengers repatriated from Fiji and Kiribati on Wednesday have tested negative for CoViD-19 confirmed MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma'u this afternoon. Only 38 passengers were repatriated from Fiji out of the 56 that had registered to return to Tonga because of issues with obtaining tests and the cost of the tickets.

Friday 4 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
“Be catalysts of change in a future made uncertain by COVID-19”, said Prime Minister Hon Dr Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, when congratulating Tonga's recent Australia awards graduates.

Thursday 3 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG) has called on Australia to rethink its current approach to trade and investment with the Pacific Islands and instead promote genuine avenues for development.

Thursday 3 September 2020
Zurich, Switzerland
Proponents of digital identification see the COVID-19 pandemic as a once-in-a-century opportunity, with a potential “jackpot market” of nearly eight billion people. In these dangerous times, using digital IDs to help control the spread of the virus and eventually to manage the distribution of a vaccine is often deemed appropriate and necessary. But there are ethical pitfalls. Rather than submitting people to a data-driven and AI-directed system that relies on surveillance and control through digital IDs, we should create more decentralized participatory frameworks. Collaborative approaches, based on the power of civil society, form the backbone of a strategy that uses our social talent to achieve humanity’s collective goals. By Dirk Helbing and Peter Seele.
Thursday 3 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A second trial for students to learn from home for one day on 8 September has been organized by the Ministry of Education and Training, to prepare students for school closures should CoViD-19 reach Tonga.

Thursday 3 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A core group of 10 young women took part in a programme to develop young women's safety and protection priorities during disasters and humanitarian crises.

Thursday 3 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
New directors for the Tonga Government's 12 Public Enterprises have been appointed from September 1 for one-year, the government announced.

Thursday 3 September 2020
Canberra, Australia
Tonga’s High Commissioner to Australia, Princess Angelika Latufuipeka Tuku’aho is looking for creative artwork or photos and stories that symbolise and celebrate Tonga's 50 years relationship with Australia - and three cash prizes are offered for the top submissions.
Wednesday 2 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Two flights arriving in Tonga today repatriated around 56 passengers from Nadi, Fiji. Seven more passengers arrived from Tarawa, Kiribati, with the repatriation of a deceased person. A third flight arrived today from Tahiti for a fuel stop.

Wednesday 2 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tevita Talia’uli Fatongiatau (33) was sentenced at the Supreme Court last week to two-years six-months imprisonment for possession of illicit drugs. He was a guest at a motel in Nuku'alofa, when he flushed some of the drugs in the toilet when Police apprehended him.
