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The Fua'amotu Tropical Cyclone Center was deactivated at 1:00pm today, as Tropical Cyclone Yasa weakened and was downgraded into a tropical low as it moved to the south-southwest, further away from Tongatapu and 'Eua this morning.

A repeated drug offender Vainikolo Selu has been jailed for two-years nine-months at Hu'atolitoli Prison.

Peter Latu was the sole 2020 graduate of the School of Surveying BSurv (Hons) programme, at the University of Otago on December 19.

Tonga Navy's new patrol boat, the VOEA Ngahau Siliva which arrived from Australia on December 16, remains quarantined with 22-crew at the Nuku'alofa harbour.

An extremely powerful Tropical Cyclone “Yasa”, is threatening Fiji today, where Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned people to prepare and evacuate low lying areas. Forecasters warned that wave heights around the eye of the storm could approach 14 meters (45 feet), with momentary gusts of up to 195 knots (390km/hr). TC Yasa threatens to cause damage on the scale of Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016. Meanwhile, a Tropical Cyclone Alert is now in force for Tonga.

The New Zealand Government will purchase COVID-19 vaccines from pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novavax, meaning every New Zealander will be able to be vaccinated, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “We have secured more than enough doses to cover our entire population plus the Pacific,” she said. Vaccinations for the public are on track to start in mid-2021.

New York Times reporting: While many poor nations may be able to vaccinate at most 20% of their populations in 2021, some of the world’s richest countries have reserved enough doses to immunize their own multiple times over. “The high-income countries have gotten to the front of the line and cleared the shelves,” said Andrea Taylor, a Duke researcher who is studying the coronavirus vaccines contracts. But the outlook for most of the developing world is dire. Because of manufacturing limits, it could take until 2024 for many low-income countries to obtain enough vaccines to fully immunize their populations.

As Fiji braces for severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa (Cat. 5), Tonga Met. Director ‘Ofa Fa’anunu advises that Tonga should prepare too for a potentially severe cyclone over the weekend. Meanwhile, TC Zazu has moved away from Tonga.

Petroleum and LP gas prices have increased starting today, 16 December, as approved by the Tonga Competent Authority.