Tonga

Australian officials are increasingly worried about the Pacific's vulnerability to cyber attacks, with the government spending $26 million to set up "rapid assistance" teams made up of experts from the private sector and specialists from intelligence agencies like the Australian Signals Directorate.

Pacific leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will descend on the beautiful island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands this week for the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting. And the two "big Cs" will be on the agenda.

Six Pacific Island countries have voted with Israel to oppose the UN resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. For many nations in the region, the connection to Israel runs deep.   

A leading think tank is warning the Australian government to be careful not to overload Pacific countries with debt in China's absence. 

Australia will meet New Zealand for Pacific Nations rugby league championship honours after the Kiwis crush Samoa to book their place in the final.

Tonga's illegal gun trade is fuelling criminal behaviour. Fijian Prime Minister calls for peace in the Pacific as he visits Canberra and the Pacific games kick off in Solomon Islands.

The Pacific Engagement Visa will give to opportunity to 3,000 people from the region each year to permanently settle in Australia. 

Guns are not a common sight in Tonga — but that is changing. An increase in crime and drug use in the small island nation is causing many to arm themselves, both legally and illegally.

A critic says the commercialisation of the drug is potentially dangerous and culturally insensitive, but others say the "great alternative to alcohol" has never been hard to source in the west.

The Kingdom of Tonga looks like paradise, but its lush coconut palms nurse a hidden problem. Now, the country is preparing to deal with this car-sized problem, before it's too late.

A near-record number of Pacific Islanders are in Australia working on farms and abattoirs. The workforce has kept Australia's agricultural economy afloat and transformed the lives of thousands — but it comes at a cost.

Debris was pushed at a speed of 122 kilometres an hour, re-shaping the seafloor and damaging Tonga's telecommunication cables. Emily Lane from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research explains the explosive blast.

In January 2022, a mega explosion from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano generated a coast-battering tsunami and vivid sunsets. Now we know the extent of the eruption's devastation below the waves.

Europe and parts of north and south America are in the middle of a vicious heatwave, and the world recorded its hottest July on record — but in the Pacific, puffer jackets are becoming the norm as Tonga shivered through its second-coldest temperature on record.

Despite a nervous start, the Diamonds brought Tala's 21-game winning streak to an end in the first meeting between the sides at the World Cup, writes Brittany Carter.

The United States is continuing to ramp up its campaign for influence in the Pacific to match China's intensifying efforts but with ever more outside players clamouring for a spot in the region, the margin for error grows narrower, writes Stephen Dziedzic.

Richard Marles says the government is "very keen" to help Solomon Islands establish a defence force, with experts saying Canberra wants to stop any military cooperation between Beijing and Honiara.

China hopes to be seen as "as a responsible big country" during its ninth "Harmony Mission" undertaken by its military-run hospital ship.

Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have all announced their first squads ahead of the men's Rugby World Cup — take a deep dive into the data behind each position to see how the teams have evolved through each campaign and what's likely to come.

Tonga looks set to become the first Pacific country to experiment with wave technology when work commences on a power wave park later this year. 

Women of migrant backgrounds are more at risk of developing some pregnancy complications, which can limit their choices for their pregnancy care and lead to more medical interventions during birth.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption last year was so powerful it created a "super plasma bubble" in the upper atmosphere over northern Australia, likely disrupting precise GPS for hours.

Tonga's national netball team beats top-ranked Malawi to extend its unbeaten streak to 20 matches, as the Tonga Tala clinch a third consecutive PacificAus Sports Netball title. 

Brisbane 2032 was built on a promise of being an Olympic Games for the entire Pacific region, but Oceania nations know the risks that "legacy 2032" will be a hollowed-out exercise in short-term political spin.

There are warnings that millions of children in the Pacific risk losing access to education due to natural disasters and emergencies.