Sources: BBC
The Speaker of the Tongan Parliament, Lord Fakafanua, introduces the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) Bill 2021 for debate in the legislative assembly. The Speaker wants a mandatory death sentence for serious drug offenses. Tonga has a moratorium on the death penalty and has not used it in more than four decades. 2021-08-16
A court in Tonga sentences the former Minister for Infrastructure and Tourism ʻAkosita Lavulavu and her husband to six years in prison after the Supreme Court found them both guilty of obtaining money by false pretenses. 2021-07-2
Tongan Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva, age 78, dies one day after being taken to a New Zealand hospital from his native country. 2019-09-12
From the Diocese of Tonga, Catholic Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is welcomed at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Honolulu, Hawaii. Appointed by Pope Francis, Mafi is the first and youngest cardinal from the small South Pacific nation of Tonga. 2016-01-16
Tonga begins an 11 day coronation ceremony of King Tupou VI. 2015-06-27
An explosion of the Hunga Tonga submerged volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, near Nuku'alofa, Tonga, disrupts air travel and creates a one-kilometer new island. 2015-01-16
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano disrupts flights to and from Tonga. 2015-01-12
The funeral of former King of Tonga George Tupou V is held in Nukuʻalofa with thousands of mourners lining the street. 2012-03-27
King George Tupou V proposes the use of nuclear energy in Tonga. 2010-06-11
Cyclone Rene hammers Tonga with gusts of 160 kilometres an hour, isolating Tongans for several days. Widespread damage is reported in the capital, Nukuʻalofa, and contact is lost with the northern island of Vavaʻu. 2010-02-15