Tonga

New prime minister Lord Fakafanua will take on the police, fire and emergency services portfolios as well as disaster management, climate change and communications.

The Queen of Tonga is putting her support behind the building of a new public library in Nuku'alofa Audio

The money is expected to help boost the growth of women-owned and women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Tonga's Crown Prince has been nominated Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence in the new government.

The Tonga government is reassuring citizens they won't need to worry about running out of fuel over the Christmas period after months of petrol shortages.

Tonga's new Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua says he hopes to have his Cabinet line-up named in the next few days.

He was responding to concerns raised by Tongans locally and abroad about a citizenship by investment proposal touted to earn US$400 million over five years for the government.

Tonga is one of more than 20 countries, predominantly in Africa and the Middle East, included in a new US executive order targeting visa overstayers.

Lord Fakafanua, 40, a member of Tonga's royal family, was elected as Tonga's youngest-ever prime minister on Monday. Audio

Lord Fakafanua has been elected Tonga's next prime minister by his fellow MPs, ousting incumbent prime minister Dr 'Aisake Eke.

The two men vying to be Tonga's next prime minister are Lord Fakafanua and caretaker Prime Mininster Dr 'Aisake Eke.

As of Friday morning, two people have put their hand up for the top job, but these are not publicly known.

There are calls for more efforts to eliminate scabies in Tonga in order to reduce the incidence of rheumatic heart disease in local children.

'Lea Tupu'anga/Mother Tongue' premiered last year and has been shown at 20 international film festivals around the world. Audio