Tonga

In 1953 Queen Sālote of Tonga visited England for Queen Elizabeth the Second's Coronation. The visit is remembered in a large black tapa work - a royal Tongan specialty.

Under Tonga's Electoral Act, only in-person voting at polling stations within Tonga is allowed. There are no provisions for postal, absentee, or overseas voting.

Pesi Siale Fonua, a veteran Pacific journalist and the publisher-editor of Tonga's leading news website has died at the age of 78.

Registration of candidates closed in Nuku'alofa on Thursday.

Tongans will go to the polls on 20 November to elect their 17 representatives in the Legislative Assembly.

However, his predecessor denies the allegations, saying audited government accounts for 2022/23 and 2023/24 show no findings of fraud or misappropriation.

The island's electoral office is waiting for the writ of election from King Tupou VI, which is expected to be received on Thursday.

The Metals Company is advancing deep sea mining ambitions with Nauru and Tonga, bypassing UN oversight by leveraging a United States regulatory pathway.

A former solicitor-general and acting attorney-general of Tonga says the change brings "fluidity, certainty [and] clarity". Audio

A team of scientists from the University of Tasmania is doing research on the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano. Audio

During the outbreak, which was declared on 19 February, 907 cases were recorded and three people died.

Tongan Language Week is being celebrated in Aotearoa this week under the theme, 'Our language is a vital strand of our Tongan culture'. Audio

The recent move by Tonga's Legislative Assembly to pass legislation that transfers oversight of two key ministries from democratic control to the King has split opinion among Tongans.