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Faleu Tailoni Mafi was found guilty of serious housebreaking and serious indecent assault committed on a woman, who was asleep at her residence in Tokomololo.

For over a century, the size and role of the state has been a hotly debated issue, and is so once again in the wake of COVID-19. With the world reeling from the pandemic and struggling to address complex systemic issues such as climate change, it is vital that we return to the fundamental question of politics: how a government should be. If we don’t ask it – and ask it often – we risk ending up with a government we would never choose. By Jaideep Prabhu

With 28,150 people vaccinated to date, only 40 vials (less than 480 doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine remain to be administered before the batch expires on 31 May, the Ministry of Health said today.

The 247 passengers repatriated to Tonga from Auckland, Pagopago, and Apia earlier this month tested negative for COVID-19, confirmed Ministry of Health Acting CEO, Dr Reynold ‘Ofanoa this morning.

New York Times reporting: More than 50,000 New Zealanders have flocked home during the pandemic, offering the country a rare opportunity to win back some of its best and brightest. The question is how long the edge will last. The Ardern government has announced no specific measures aimed at retaining citizens who return. But it is using its border shutdown as a moment to “reset” its immigration priorities, saying last week that it would loosen controls for wealthy investors while curtailing temporary visas for the migrants the country has long relied on as citizens moved away.

Tupou Saulala Haupeakui (27) was sentenced today to a suspended sentence of nine-months imprisonment for possessing 0.46 grams of methamphetamine, seized at Kolomotu'a in 2020. The judge said the producers, suppliers and dealers of the drugs needed “young foolish persons like you to sell the drugs for them”.

New York Times reporting: Fiame Naomi Mata’afa walked toward Samoa’s beehive-shaped Parliament House on Monday morning intending to be sworn in as the first female prime minister in the Pacific Island nation’s 56-year history. What she and her fellow party members found instead were locked doors. The speaker of parliament had issued orders to keep them out. And so deepened a constitutional crisis that has convulsed this long-stable nation and thrown into doubt whether Mata’afa, whose party won the April 9 election, would actually take office.

A National Budget of $618.3 million pa'anga, an increase of $28.7 million on the previous year, was tabled into parliament, by the Tonga government this morning, 24 May. The PM said they have only three weeks to pass the budget before they go away to 'Eua for the opening of a military camp, church conferences and feasting. From the House by Pesi Fonua.

Viliami Na’a was sentenced to serve one-month imprisonment for possession of 0.99 grams of cannabis. He is currently serving six-years nine-months imprisonment for grievous bodily harm.