Transformative Resilient Pasifiki: Exploring the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting theme

The theme for the 53rd Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting is Transformative Resilient Pasifiki: Build Better Now. And this week that theme prompted Tongan journalists who were undergoing training in preparation for

Read More

Outgoing Forum Chair Mark Brown reflects on challenging times

“We’ve been mindful that our region is of great interest from a geopolitical perspective over the last few years or so,” says Prime Minister of Cook Islands Mark Brown. “But the security issues that are seen by

Read More

Pacific Civil Society Forum to launch during 53rd Leaders Meeting

The Pacific Civil Society Forum will host a Pacific People’s Forum alongside the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga from 26 – 30 August, with its theme “Pikipiki Hama Kae Vaevae Manava.”.

Read More

The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting: Why does it matter?

The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM53) kicks off next week in Nukualofa, and it has some Tongans asking what is its purpose, and what are the benefits of this annual event? Director for Governance and

Read More

UN Secretary-General Guterres to start Pacific swing

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is making his first visit to the Pacific in five years, taking in Samoa, New Zealand, Tonga and East Timor. The centrepiece of Guterres’ mission will be the

Read More

Starlink rollout slowly gains momentum

Starlink’s rollout in the region continues in fits and starts. The satellite technology company last month announced two authorised resellers in Fiji - Lightspeed Pacific and Telecom Fiji. Telecom Fiji CEO, Charles

Read More

PRF expresses grave concerns following discovery of needles and syringes amidst rising drug cases

PRF Expresses Grave Concerns Following Discovery of Needles and Syringes Amidst Rising Drug Cases Amidst the rise in drug cases in Fiji, Pacific Recycling Foundation is issuing an urgent appeal, expressing deep concern

Read More

Pacific ports at a crossroads

Enhancing climate resilience and cybersecurity The Pacific region stands at a pivotal point in its quest to strengthen maritime infrastructure against climate change and bolster cybersecurity measures. As rising sea

Read More

Elon Musk invited to Pacific Island Leaders meeting amid Tonga’s internet crisis

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, has been invited to attend the 53rd Pacific Island Leaders Meeting, scheduled from 26-30 August, 2024. The invitation reportedly comes from the Tongan government,

Read More

Some Islanders don’t want to leave homelands despite climate closing in – research

A Tongan researcher from the University of Waikato found that in the Pacific region, particularly in Tonga and Samoa, people don’t want to move despite what she calls the “stigma” associated with

Read More

Tonga’s fibre optic cable repair underway despite ‘data glitch’

The Cable Ship Lodbrog located the northern end of Tonga’s damaged domestic fibre optic cable on Sunday and is now searching for the southern end attached to Tongatapu.  The repair is expected to be completed by this

Read More

Pacific Heads of Maritime Forces meet in Tonga, sharing knowledge for security

The South West Pacific Heads of Maritime Forces (SWPHMF) met Wednesday in an exclusive meeting in Nuku’alofa, held at the Leadership Centre, Masefield Naval Base.  “This meeting is a chance for the heads of

Read More

Vava’u and Ha’apai communications services survive on backup satellites as cable awaits repair

Tonga’s local telephone and internet service providers, Tonga Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) and Digicel are using satellite links to restore their services to the two outer islands groups, with hopes that

Read More

Tonga’s outer islands to continue facing internet issues as repair vessel breaks down in Fiji

Nearly a third of Tonga’s population still has no internet and is unlikely to have access until mid-August.  Work on damaged cables in two of the Kingdom’s outlying islands was delayed after a special

Read More

Tonga grants Starlink “provisional temporary permit” to offer local services

Starlink has been granted a “provisional temporary permit” to operate in Tonga, MEIDECC announced Friday, 19 July. This was in response to a “significant amount” of public concern after the Tonga government

Read More

Chatham Airlines begins flying in Tonga amid Lulutai’s ongoing flight disruptions

Chatham Airlines begins servicing Tonga’s domestic flight services this week. The announcement comes a month after Kaniva News reported that Lulutai contacted the New Zealand airlines to assist with its

Read More

Green Climate Fund approves US$23.92 million for Tonga Coastal Resilience Project

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has approved a US$22.66 million grant for Tonga’s Coastal Resilience Project, supplemented by US$1.2 million in co-financing from the Government of Tonga and US$63,000 from the UN

Read More

Regulator disrupts Starlink services during Tonga’s ongoing communications crisis

The Tonga government considers that Starlink‘s roaming network services linked to personal satellite antennas, to be illegal in Tonga, even when they are on ships and yachts passing through Tongan waters and on

Read More

Spain makes Manu Samoa work for 34-30 win, Italy wins on its first visit to Tonga to end drought in Pacific islands

Spain makes Manu Samoa work for 34-30 win Manu Samoa beat a spirited Spain 34-30 in rainy and muddy conditions at Apia Park on Saturday.  Spain made Manu Samoa work for the win and while the wet conditions made things

Read More

Waqa takes the wheel at the Forum

Nearing the end of his term as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna travelled to Rarotonga in May and was feted by Mark Brown, Prime Minister of Cook Islands and the current Forum Chair. As the

Read More

The perils of underinsurance

Underinsurance and the unawareness of insurance remain significant challenges say insurance providers in Fiji and the Pacific. Chief Executive Officer of Capital Insurance in Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu, David Ariff Chan,

Read More

Tongan trailblazer Ofa Aki is off to the Olympics

Tonga’s first female athlete to compete in the Olympics boxing competition, Fe’ofa’aki ‘Epenisa, is excited to represent her Pacific heritage in Paris this month. “I just feel honored and proud. I know

Read More

Repair ship on its way, but Tongan internet users still struggling to stay connected

With a cable repair ship still nine days away from Tonga, internet customers in Vava’u and Ha’apai are struggling to keep connected. And customers have been warned that satellites may not be the answer, even as Elon

Read More

Superannuation is sitting in Australia as PALM workers report barriers, delays in claiming their money

Tevita Kofutu’a has plans for the $10,000 in superannuation he earned over five years of seasonal work in Australia. He’ll use it to buy a vehicle and pay a deposit on some land in Tonga where he and his

Read More