A car has flipped onto its roof following a collision with another vehicle on Vuna Road in Nuku’alofa.
According to a witness who wished not to be named the vehicle hit a stationary vehicle, causing it to flip on its top.
The driver of the car was taken to hospital, the witness said.
The incident happened right in front of the Chinese Embassy.
Their Majesties King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipauʻu attended a 60th birthday on February 29 in Queenstown, Australia.
It was the birthday of Louise Waterhouse the Sydney-based honorary consul for Tonga.
She is the daughter of Bill Waterhouse who’s been the Tongan -Australian honorary consul general for 40 years.
Their Majesties were reminded during the celebration of how the Waterhouse family came into contact with the Tongan royals.
“Our families go back three-quarters of a century from when your father studied at Sydney University at the same time as my father, and your father was the first Tongan to get a tertiary education,” the birthday girl Louise Waterhouse told the king. .
Louise added: “My real passion in life is my role with Tonga … and I feel very privileged to be in a position through that role where I can make just a small difference to this wonderful island nation.”
“Louise told Monday’s gathering at Jack’s Point that she was “deeply, deeply touched and honoured” that King Tupou VI, crowned last year, and Queen Nanasipau’u attended”.
Tongan Police are likely to lay more charges against a man already in custody after he has been charged with 27 charges of incest and sexual touching against his own two daughters.
Police said they immediately arrested the 42-year-old man from Folaha after receiving a complaint on Monday, Radio Tonga news report says.
Police said the daughters are 17 and 18 years old and their mother is still alive.
Police have released no further details about the inicident.
The offence is punishable by a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
The accused will appear in court next Monday.
Police in Tonga are investigating the discovery of a bag containing human bones at sea near Ha’atafu whether they are human remains.
Nukunuku Police said the bag was found by a local diver near the navigational beacon on reefs at Ha’atafu.
The diver reportedly told police there were several bags in the area, Radio Tonga news reported.
Police theorised the bones were perhaps dug up from graves and dumped into the sea or they were just human bodies laid there undiscovered for sometimes.
Further details were not provided.
Stick with Kaniva News for updates.
Four Australian Volunteers arrived in Tonga last week had been urged to learn more about Tongan culture and history.
The volunteers will work at some of the government’s public services including Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Justice, Tonga Netball Association and Ministry of Revenue and Customs for six to twelve months.
They were part of the Australian Volunteers International Development (AVID) program, an Australian Government initiative funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which provides an opportunity for Australians to contribute to the development of Tonga.
The volunteers met with the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency Andrew Ford.
“I’m delighted to welcome these exemplary Australians to Tonga,” HE Andrew Ford said. “I also strongly encourage them to make the most of the opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of one of our closest neighbours.”
The volunteers were taking induction program before commencing their assignments later this month.
A traditional medicine practitioner from Fāhefa was arrested and charged with rape and sexual touching it has been reported today. He appeared in court last Friday.
Tonga Police said the complainant was a 30-year-old woman from Pahu who sought medical assistance from the male practitioner.
Police said the accused sexually assaulted the victim in a gardening allotment.
The accused provided traditional medicine treatments to a number of Tongans, Nukuʻalofa Central Police Superintendent Tēvita Fifita told Radio Tonga news.
He said Police have not received any further complaints from the public since the accused was arrested.
Police have yet to obtain the man’s personal records including whether he was married or not, Fifita said.
The accused remained in police custody and he appeared in court last Friday 26. He was then bailed out to reappear in court next week.
Police investigation continues.
His Majesty’s Armed Forces’ petrol boat VOEA Pangai has arrived in Fiji with relief supplies from Tonga after Cyclone Winston ripped through the South Pacific country last month, Fiji Sun said.
The VOEA was about to unload 200 tents, 1500 litres of drinking water, six tonnes of flour, four tonnes of rice, two tonnes of sugar and a desalination machine in Vanuabalavu in Lau Group today.
Meanwhile Fiji government said some schools opened this week while officials were working closely with the Education Ministry to put in place plans to get all students back into classrooms.
One report said 134 schools have been destroyed, severely damaged or are being used as evacuation centres. The death toll remains at 43.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund tens of thousands of people in Fiji are living in evacuation centres.
“There are still some pieces of the picture missing but we do know that approximately 7.2% (62,400) of Fiji’s population are in 875 evacuation centres, with many staying with relatives or in other places away from home,” Unicef New Zealand’s executive director, Vivien Maidaborn, said in a statement.
Tonga has become the 187th member state of the International Labour Organization (ILO) effective from February 24, 2016.
ILO said it received a letter from the Kingdom saying it “formally accepts the obligations of the Constitution of the ILO”.
Tonga is the eighth Pacific island nation to join the Organization in the past 15 years.
“The ILO was founded in 1919 and is a tripartite structured Organization which gives equal voice to workers, employers and government, to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labour standards and in shaping policies and programmes”, a statement from Tonga government said.
It said Tonga now is in the process of consultation with its key stakeholders before ratifying the convention.
“By becoming a member of the ILO, Tonga is indicating its commitment to decent work principles and the progressive realization of international labour standards. Through this work agenda, Tonga commits to encouraging decent employment opportunities, enhancing social protection and strengthening dialogue on work-related issues”.
The Kingdom of Tonga will be represented at the Rio Olympic in August by Pita Nikolas Taufatofua who has become the first Tongan taekwondo athlete to be qualified after he won a gold medal in the Taekwondo Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The 33-year-old’s golden achievement was the largest upset during last month’s  Oceania qualifier tournament in Port Moresby on Saturday 27 at the final of the men’s +80kg where he defeated New Zealand’s Dafydd Sanders in the finals.
Taufatofua’s success was welcomed by friends and family on social media.
“amazing work Pita!!! Go hard!” wrote Shannon Small on Facebook. Â
“Congrats bro!……Good job well done!…God is good!” Ilisapeti Milika Feleti Lono.Â
“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength” Phillipians 4:13A lifetime of pain but it was worth every moment!! We qualified to Rio I Am An Olympian!#DreamsDoComeTrue #TaekwondoTonga
Posted by Pita Taufatofua on Saturday, February 27, 2016
A new committee known as Vavaʻu Cruise Boat Steering Committee has been elected to improve and encourage Vavaʻu tourism.
As the Fiji new air services are expected to give Vavaʻu tourism a substantial lift starting next month, the new steering committee has been given the duty of finding ways to increase the number of cruise ships coming to Vavaʻu.
Chairman of Tonga Tourism Authority Tomifa Paea said: “The Cruise Boat arrival into Vava’u has declined in the last 3 years as no such committee was in charge to make sure the Cruise Boat arrival is secure, safe, clean” and visitors are warmly welcomed.
He said Tonga Tourism Authority (TTA) has planned that for the next two to three years any cruise ships coming to Tongatapu would have to call at Vavaʻu.
This year only eight cruise liners out of 19 scheduled for Nukuʻalofa would visit Neiafu.
Paea said he “was happy to see the energy and enthusiasm from the operator wanting to do something to help build tourism in Vava’u”.
“With the Fiji Airways new international flight route Nadi/Vava’u this opens up Vavaʻu to the rest of the world”, he said.
The newly elected Vava’u Tourism Association Executive Officers:
1. President – Mr. Calvin Schumaker ( Aquarium Cafe )
2. Vice Pres. – Ms. Amber Bowe ( Mounu Resort )
3. Secretary – Mrs. Beth Black ( Mafana Island Beach BPkers. )
4. Treasurer – Mrs. Caryl Jones ( Jones Business Services )
Other members
1. Mrs. Sandy Cieslinski ( Vava’u Adventures )
2. Mrs. Vaasi Kupu ( Hill-top Hotel )
3. Charles ( South Pacific Sea Adventures )
4. Mrs. Tupou Tua ( ‘Utulei my Tongan home )
5. Mrs. Brenda Cox. ( Endangered Encounters )
6. Mrs. Setima Hanif ( C’scape Adventures )
7. Mr. Allan Morey ( Vava’u Boat-yard )
