A 33-year-old man of Kāmeli, Vavaʻu was charged after his 29-year-old wife was reported to Police with multiple stab wounds at family home in Talau.
The incident happened last Friday 15.
The accused is due to appear in court today for one charge of assault causing bodily injury while his wife is still in hospital in a critical but stable condition, Vavaʻu Police Superintendent Netane Falakiseni said.
Falakiseni said the accused was drunk while he allegedly stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife.
Three people have died after a car accident on the Talasiu rd this morning.
Deputy Police commissioner Pelenatita Vaisuai has confirmed the accident occurred at about 12 am Monday 18.
“Police have confirmed that alcohol and speeding were contributing factors to the crash”, she said.
She saud Police could not release the identities of the victims as they were trying to contact their next of kins.
She said all victims from Kolonga.
Radio correspondent Faka’osi Maama reported this morning that one of the victims was a Tongan based Auckland resident from Kolonga who arrived in the kingdom recently.
Police investigation is ongoing.
Famed Tongan singer in the United States Dinah Jane Hansen is in Tonga.
Born as Dinah Jane Milika Ilaisaane Hansen Amasio, the 19-year-old is the youngest  member of the Fifth Harmony music group.
The group has 7.5 million certified records sold and it has emerged as the most successful alumni from the X Factor U.S. franchise.
On Friday Dinah took to Twitter and told her 1.79 million followers about her visit to his parents’ homeland.
“Going back to my rootâ€, she tweeted.
She also posted on twitter and said today Sunday 17: “Good morning from Tongaâ€.
This morning photos with captions posted on Facebook showed Dinah attending a church service together with some of the royal family.
Another photo showed she was posing for photos with Prince Ata, Prince TaufaÊ»Ähau and Crown Princess Sinaitakala and others.
Born and raised in Santa Ana, California, Dinah has been regarded as similar to Beyoncé because of her powerful voice.
One source of information said Dinah’s musical idols included Beyoncé, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, and Etta James.
In the 2012 X Factor in the United States Dinah probably would have been put through as a solo singer but this did not happen after she forgot the lyrics of the song, “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger) by Kelly Clarksonâ€, she sang with Diamond White.
Her parents are Gordon from Tefisi Vavaʻu and Milika Hansen from Haʻateiho and Foʻui.
Good morning from Tonga ?? pic.twitter.com/370hGZULxj
— ♕DinahJane (@dinahjane97) July 16, 2016
Tonga back-row forward Viliami Fihaki is relishing a “great adventure” after joining Edinburgh on a two-year contract.
The 29-year-old has moved to the Scottish capital from Sale Sharks where he will team up with a number of familiar faces.
The physical number eight, who can also play blindside flanker, formerly played with New Zealand provincial side North Harbour and has scored two tries in eight internationals.
“I’ve played against a few of the squad – Nasi Manu back in New Zealand and Will Helu in the Premiership, though I’ve also played with him in the Tongan team,” he said.
“Of course I’ve played alongside Fowlesy (Nathan Fowles) at Sale and also with Phil Burleigh in a Chiefs development side.
“The move will be a great adventure for me and my family and I’m looking forward to getting involved.”
Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Alan Solomons said: “We are delighted that Vili has signed for the club. He is a big, powerful ball carrier with international experience.
“I have no doubt that he will add huge value to the team and look forward to working with him.”
Tongan Police were investigating after a brutal attack on a peace corps woman in Sopu this morning Saturday 16.
This has been confirmed by the Nukuʻalofa Police Superintendent Tevita Fifita to Kaniva News.
Fifita released no further information as Police investigation continued.
Kaniva understands the victim is a Peace Corps Voulnteer.
Taimi ʻo Tonga correspondent Tevita Motulalo reported on Facebook the volunteer received serious injuries to her face.
A salesman has been acquitted of charges of theft and embezzlement in the Supreme Court.
Appearing before Lord Chief Justice Paulsen, Kevini Vaifo’ou was acquitted by Lord Chief Justice Paulsen after the charges were unproven.
Vaifo’ou was part of a group of three employees of Leiola Group Ltd who were accused of being engaged in a joint criminal enterprise to steal from the company. The other accused were Katalau Vea’ilu and Lupi Fonua.
The indictment alleged that in 2013 Vaifo’ou, together with Vea’ilu and Fonua embezzled $TP81,401 from Leiola. They were charged with theft of the same amount. The prosecution alleged the money had been taken from 32 cash sales to 23 Chinese stores. The amount involved was later reduced to $TP48,382 and the number of sales and stores involved. A third charge of falsification of accounts was dropped.
Vaifo’ou and Vea’ilu were employed to sell cigarettes and phone cards, mainly to Chinese retail stores. They would visit stores and if the store needed cigarettes or phone cards they would hand over the goods along with an invoice. In most cases they were paid immediately in cash.
In his report on the case, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the money and a copy of the invoice were returned to Leiola’s office and given to Fonua. She would fraudulently enter the transaction in Leiola’s database as a credit sale and distribute the money to herself, Vea’ilu, Vaifo’ou and another employee, Paea Savou.
Fonua, Veaiilu and Savou have already been dealt with by the court.
As far as Leiola was concerned the retail stores owed a debt but in fact they had paid.
Fonua, Vea’ily and Savou had already been dealt with by the court.
Because the company accounts appeared to be balanced out at the end of each month, the losses were not noticed for a long time. Eventually, however, the company’s accountant, Arleen Talavera, began to suspect something was wrong. When she approached retail stores they claimed they had made payments not shown in Leiola’s records. They had also been issued invoices with numbers that did not match Leiola’s records.
Vea’ilu told the court that at the end of each day it was usually Fonua who would prepare the summary of the day’s sales. After it became apparent that the thefts were being investigated, Vea’ilu met with the managing director of Leiola’s parent company, John Paul Chapman and told him that he had lost the money.
Following this the general manager of Leiola, Mr. Viliami Takau, was informed and Vea’ilu was dismissed. Vea’ilu said Chapman was financially supporting Vaifo’ou, who is his cousin. He denied that he had told Chapman that Vaifo’ou was involved because he hoped the managing director would cover up the theft if he thought his relative was involved.
The prosecution relied on proving that a number of sales had involved the theft of cash paid by shop keepers and faked receipts and financial records being kept.
However, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said Talavara’s analysis was intended for internal company purposes and not a criminal prosecution.
“Her enquires were not as thorough as one would expect in a criminal case, but she cannot be criticised for that,” the judge said.
“There should have been independent expert analysis of the accounts.”
Mr Justice Paulsen found that the evidence gathered from store owners was insufficient and that the evidence from the shopkeepers who testified in court was not adequate to support the prosecution’s case.
In his summing up, the judge said he did not accept the evidence presented by Vea’ilu and said the prosecution had failed to prove that Vaifo’ou had been involved in or took any money from the company.
The main points
Uto ʻEnosi Tuipulotu died after fighting a rare form of cancer in Christchurch Hospital, a source close to the family has confirmed.
The cancer was “an unexpected diagnosis after his heart started racing at rugby training a couple of months ago”, Fairfax Media reported.
According to “Akaroa Area School teacher Garry Brittenden, who helped bring Tuipulotu from Tonga to Akaroa in 2012, the rare form of cancer was a soft tissue sarcoma”.
“It’s so rare they [doctors] are saying it’s a new thing for them”, Brittenden told Fairfax.
It was understood ‘Uto’s two brothers arrived in Christchurch with mother Lapulou Hola ʻEnosi this week, while his father, Siaosi, has already been in the city.
Tonga’s Department of Quarantine has sent animal remains believed to be one of the two mongooses still missing in Tonga to New Zealand for analysis and confirmation.
Six mongooses made their way into the kingdom through a container of paints that was shipped from Fiji, Graham Malaʻefoʻou from Quarantine said.
Three of the mammals were found dead and the other three escaped when the container was opened on June 8.
One of the escapees was eventually cornered and recaptured while the other two were still missing.
Malaʻefoʻou said a report from Kolofoʻou led quarantine staff to a spot in the area where they collected an animal’s “lower jaw” and fur. The staff also took photos, he said.
They sent the remains to experts in New Zealand for scientific analysis and to confirm whether or not they belonged to one of the missing mongooses, he said.
Mongoose
Mongooses are not native to Tonga. The mammals were first introduced into the kingdom’s neighbouring country Fiji in 1883 to control rats in sugar cane fields.
According to the National Geographic website mongooses are primarily found in Africa.
They are generally terrestrial mammals, but some are semi-aquatic, and others are at home in the treetops.
Ranging in size from the 7-inch-long (18-centimeter-long) dwarf mongoose to the 2-foot-long (60-centimeter-long) Egyptian mongoose; these sleek mammals have long bodies with short legs and tapered snouts.
They normally have brown or gray grizzled fur, and a number of species sport striped coats or ringed tails.
Mongooses live in burrows and are non discriminatory predators, feeding on small animals such as rodents, birds, reptiles, frogs, insects, and worms. Some species supplement their diet with fruits, nuts, and seeds. Creative hunters, they are known to break open bird eggs by throwing them with their forepaws toward a solid object.
Kaniva News and other Tongan online media helped make New Zealand Tongans important players in the 2014 elections, even though they could not vote.
An article in the latest edition of Pacific Journalism Review, which is published by the Pacific Media Centre at AUT, says that digital media allowed Tongans in Auckland to try to influence the election.
It says Tongan politicians recognised the power and influence of the New Zealand community. Tongan politicians used the Tongan diasporic media to carry their messages to Tongans living outside the kingdom during the election.
Stories and documents were leaked and statements released to the Auckland-based Tongan media were targeted as much as the domestic Tongan media.
The New Zealand Tongan Development Society proposed its own Democratic Party candidates for the election, saying it would support those MPs who were loyal to the Party.
Based on interviews with leading Auckland-based Tongan journalists, including Kaniva News editor Kalino Latu, Sandra Kailahi and John Pulu, the article says that Tongans living in Auckland had a very strong interest in and affect on politics in the kingdom.
The article quotes Pulu as saying social media had become a powerful tool among the dispersed Tongan community. It allowed families to maintain their links to people in Tonga and influence families. He said Tongan politicians were aware of its influence and most politicians were on Facebook.
Kailahi said politicians knew that with the amount of money sent to Tonga from New Zealand, families in New Zealand would probably have an influence on their kainga in Tonga.
Under the Tongan electoral system non-resident Tongans cannot vote. However, if they have maintained a presence on the Tongan electoral role and have lived in the kingdom for three months prior to an election, they may stand for Parliament.
Many Auckland Tongans would like to vote in the Tongan elections and have suggested that they be able to do this either online or by voting at the official Tongan residence in Auckland, ‘Atalanga.
Latu said Tongans in New Zealand had been actively interested in Tonga’s politics since 1990s especially in supporting ‘Akilisi Pohiva and the democrats. That support had grown significantly during the last election. This had led to a growing influence from Tongans in Auckland and attempts to influence their family in Tonga in the way they voted in 2014.
According to the article, Tongans in Auckland felt they had a right to have a say in what was happening in the kingdom. Kaniva News editor Kalino Latu said this was because Tongans in Auckland thought differently about politics to their families in Tonga.
“Tonga’s democracy is still in its early stages while New Zealand had it many decades ago,” Latu said.
“Tongans in Auckland look at politics as one of the avenues that brings them fortune and greater opportunities in New Zealand. In Tonga people look at politics as something that could bring good governance, transparency and accountability to the nation.”
Digital and social media also played an important part in recent elections in the Cook Islands and Fiji. Politicians in those countries also paid attention to overseas populations in the run-up to voting.
In 2014 Fijian coup leader Commodore Bainimarama came to Auckland to speak to Fijians living in Auckland, who are able to vote.
The article, ‘A foreign flower no more: Tongan diasporic media and the 2014 Tongan election,’ was written by Dr Philip Cass, a senior lecturer at Unitec who is a regular contributor to Kaniva News.
The main points
For more information
Lisiate Prescott Sikulu has been named by Police as the driver of the car they believed it hit ʻUnaloto ʻEli, 22, of Haʻateiho on July 9 in Pea.
The driver from Fasimoeafi was released on bail to appear in court for one charge of reckless driving causing death.
Police Communication Officer Telesia Adams said the car headed westbound on Taufaʻāhau Rd when it allegedly hit the victim at about 4am.
