Tonga

Samoa win OFC Women’s Nations Cup 2022 opener 2-0 over Tonga

The game at Suva’s HFC Bank Stadium represented a return to international football for many after years of disruption. The magnitude of the occasion was made evident by powerful scenes as both Samoa and Tonga players sung their respective national anthems.

While Samoa looked to control the game in hope of unleashing their main threat in striker Torijan Lyne-Lewis, Tonga were comfortable playing on the the counter-attack with Laveni Vaka’s endeavour causing disruption.

Fijian soldiers arrive in Tonga to assist with rehabilitation efforts

RFMF Commander, Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai said the contingent has been divided into two groups.

The first group comprising 32 soldiers were airlifted on a C117 aircraft from Brisbane to Tongatapu.

The soldiers flew to Brisbane last month where they completed quarantine requirements.

Kalouniwai said the other 19 personnel will be maintained as the rear party and will depart on the HMAS Canberra over the next few days to hand over with the HMAS Adelaide that is currently in Tonga.

Digicel restores intermittent internet connection in Tonga

Digicel Tonga CEO, Anthony Seuseu, said; “We are thrilled to get internet connectivity back up in the Kingdom. Apart from our prepaid customers, we also managed to connect some business customers - ANZ, BSP and the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, Tonga Power, Lulutai Airlines, Air New Zealand and the Western Union.”

ANZ Bank Tonga’s Senior IT Support Officer, Maikolo Pifeleti thanked the Digicel team for their hard work and resilience during this difficult time.

Tonga: Survivor tells of sea escape from tsunami-struck island

The volcanic eruption and tsunami hit the island nation on Saturday, sweeping Atata local Lisala Folau out to sea.

Mr Folau told the BBC that he held on to a floating log during his 27-hour ordeal at sea, before finally reaching the shore again.

Tonga has confirmed three deaths though the extent of damage is still unknown.

Mr Folau, 57, told the BBC's Newsday programme he was scared when he saw the wave approach, but "I had my faith in God he would save me".

Digicel continues to improve connectivity in Tonga

The service was restored following the set-up of a satellite link which had capacity limitations.

Digicel Regional CEO, Shally Jannif, said; “As soon as the link was opened up and international calls got restored last night, we saw an influx of callers as there were up to 200 simultaneous calls. We know that a lot of people tried to call their loved ones in Tonga but were having issues with connection. Today, our technical team did further upgrades on the link and we are pleased to announce that now 400 calls can be done at a time.”

Tonga volcano: New images reveal scale of damage after tsunami

They show the Pacific islands blanketed in a layer of volcanic ash, while in coastal areas the waves have torn down trees and ripped buildings apart.

Saturday's tsunami left at least three dead - including a British national - and crippled communications.

International phone links are said to have been restored but a severed undersea cable may take weeks to fix.

That means Tonga remains largely cut off from the outside world, with little known about the scale of destruction.

Digicel working round the clock to establish international communication with Tonga

Our domestic network in Tongatapu is active and we are working to restore international connectivity. Digicel’s engineers and the technical team are working on the issues and hope to have them resolved in the shortest time possible.

PM expresses concern for Tonga

He says the Government is closely monitoring the situation and will assist where it can.

“I am greatly concerned about the situation in Tonga where an undersea volcano erupted, sending large tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground,” Marape said.

“I join in with all the people of Papua New Guinea in sending our thoughts and prayers to the people of Tonga at this time.

“Tonga and PNG have close Government and people-to-people relations as Pacific 'wan solwara'.

Tonga tsunami: Communications 'may be down for two weeks'

Some of the islands' communications and power have now been restored, but the internet may be out for a while longer because of damage to an undersea cable.

After the eruption, Tonga's main island was blanketed in ash and its western coastline is said to be devastated.

"We're getting sketchy information, but it looks like the cable has been cut," the Southern Cross Cable Network's networks director Dean Veverka told the AFP news agency.

PIF reaches out to Tonga following devastation by volcano and tsunami

Puna said like the rest of the Forum family, he is shocked by the volcanic eruptions in Tonga.

“Even from the relative safety of Suva, we could feel and hear the eruptions which rocked the Kingdom and large parts of the region to its core.”

Puna said he is anxious about the safety and welfare of the people of Tonga and pledge the resources of the Pacific Islands Forum to Tonga.

He will try and speak with the Prime Minister once communications have been restored.