Sources: ABC Australia
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, causing tsunami warnings in Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and other countries in the South Pacific, and generating a 60 cm tsunami in Lenakel, Vanuatu. 2023-05-19
Tonga reports its first case of COVID-19 in a person who travelled from Christchurch, New Zealand to Nukuʻalofa and is now in isolation. 2021-10-29
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
Tonga refuses entry to four cruise ships due to health warnings following the pandemic. 2020-02-12
Tongan authorities contact their New Zealand counterparts to warn them of death threats against Tongan Prime Minister Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa on social media. 2019-11-20
A passenger bus carrying 46 people, mostly school groups from Tonga, crashes in the Gisborne Region of New Zealand, approximately 30 kilometers south of the city of Gisborne. Two people died while several were injured, with some still hospitalized. 2016-12-24
The Polynesian state of Tonga declares a Zika virus epidemic with two confirmed cases and 265 suspected cases. 2016-02-4
The government of Tonga reveals a proposal to trade the disputed Minerva Reefs to Fiji in exchange for the Lau Islands, in an effort to settle a decades old territorial dispute between the two Pacific countries. 2014-07-3
Tonga's Attorney-General suddenly resigns amidst allegations the government is trying to take over his judiciary. 2010-04-30