Tonga >>

George Tupou V known to outside world for eccentricities including penchant for wearing top hat has died in Hong Kong The king of Tonga, George Tupou V, who was credited with introducing democracy to the South Pacific archipelago after riots following his ascension in 2006, died in a Hong Kong hospital on Sunday. His younger brother, Crown Prince Tupouto'a Lavaka, who is heir to the throne, was with...

Thousands watched across Tonga as the funeral cortege of George Tupou V made its way from the Royal Palace King George Tupou V of Tonga, who ushered in democracy to the South Pacific archipelago, has been buried in a ceremony that mixed traditional Polynesian ritual with Christian hymn singing. The king, 63, died suddenly in Hong Kong on 18 March and had lain in state for just a day after being flown...

Cannons were fired and church bells rang out as the King of Tonga was crowned yesterday in a ceremony on the South Pacific Island attended by royalty and political leaders from around the world. Dressed in crimson robes trimmed with white ermine, King George Tupou V sat on a gilt throne in a 100-year-old church in the capital, Nuku'alofa, while a 300-strong choir performed Handel's coronation anthem,...

A powerful earthquake struck off the south Pacific island of Tonga, generating a tsunami capable of causing severe damage to the area, the US Pacific Tsunami warning centre has reported. There were no immediate reports of damage. ...

The powerful underwater volcano that erupted in the south Pacific this week has created a new island off the coast of Tonga. The eruption, about 39 miles north-west of the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, began on Monday, shooting rocks, steam and ash thousands of feet into the air. Tonga's chief geologist, Kelepi Mafi, said the volcano had two vents, one on a small uninhabited island and another about...

Authorities trying to assess casualties and damage across chain of south Pacific islands after biggest storm in decades ...

Tongan authorities discover approximately $116m AUD (£75m) of cocaine and a decomposed body on a shipwrecked yacht bound for Australia ...

The Royal New Zealand Air Force have spotted a raft of floating volcanic rock in the South Pacific, covering 10,000 sq miles of ocean north of New Zealand ...

s diamond jubilee. The first beacon was lit in the town of Blenheim in Marlborough on the northernmost tip of New Zealand's South Island. In Tonga it was Boy Scouts and Girl Guides who lit the torches while in Canberra the honour went to Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, who lit a beacon at Parliament house. Other beacon sites included the Treetops hotel in Kenya, where the then Princess...

ahau Tupou IV , crown prince for more than 40 years before succeeding to the throne. A pragmatic ruler, he accelerated democratic reforms in the South Pacific archipelago of more than 170 islands to the north-east of New Zealand, around 50 of them inhabited by a total population of 106,000. When, in 2006, George Tupou became king, he inherited a troubled and impoverished state. Few expected that he...

s first ever competitor at a winter Olympic games. In doing so, went the story, he was fulfilling the wish of the Tongan Princess Royal, Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita, whose life's ambition was to see a citizen from her sun-drenched isles triumph among the ice and snow of the world's premier cold weather sporting contest. When Banani, whose catchphrase was "coconut powered", was unveiled to the German...

s travels, but also the story of their discovery. In 1909 Father Otto Meyer picked up a shard of pottery decorated with angular patterns on a Papua New Guinea beach. Then, in 1950 a French geologist compared Meyer's shards with recent finds from the Isle of Pines, south of New Caledonia , and realised that they belonged to the same tradition. The term "Lapita" was coined in 1952: an American, Edwin...

s president, Michelle Bachelet, declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile . "It was a catastrophe of devastating consequences," she said. International leaders were quick to offer their assistance to the Chilean authorities. Gordon Brown said Britain "stands ready to help", while Barack Obama promised that the US "will be there" if Chile asks for aid. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton...

609 people confirmed dead in Indonesia alone A coalition of charities is today launching a major fundraising appeal to help those left destitute by the devastating earthquakes and typhoons in south-east Asia. Celebrities Myleene Klass and Christine Bleakley are to front TV and radio adverts for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The appeal is being set up to help those affected by Typhoon Ketsana,...

s north-western island of Savai'i with five companions. "All of a sudden the water went real weird, it kind of glassed off and got real lumpy, then we started moving real quick, getting sucked out to sea," Nel said. "It was pretty scary looking back and seeing the reef completely dried up. It looked like a volcanic riverbed – it was just gone." A big spurt of water then hit the shore, Nel told the...

t care about the material things. All that mattered was my life. I survived because I ran to the coconut tree, climbed up and hung on for life." His brother survived and saved their mother by clinging on to their house, but many died while trying to rescue others. As aid workers and army personnel arrived from Australia, New Zealand and the US to assist with the aftermath, hospitals and their staff...

s 65,000 people. Officials in Tonga, to the south-west of the Samoas, confirmed at least six dead. New Zealand said it was worried about a possible higher number of casualties in Tonga after a 4-metre wave hit the northern edge of the archipelago. New Zealand's acting prime minister, Bill English, said the situation in Tonga could "look worse rather than better" in the coming hours. "There are a considerable...

What are tsunamis and what causes them? The tsunami that killed dozens of people in the Pacific islands of Samoa and American Samoa, and sent smaller waves to the east coast of Japan almost 5,000 miles away, was caused by a huge subsea earthquake. A tsunami – literally "harbour wave" in Japanese – is typically caused by seismic activity under the seafloor that sends fast-travelling waves to shore,...

s northernmost point were 40cm higher. Officials in Hawaii took precautions against flooding, but these were cancelled after the tsunami threat subsided, although Hawaiian residents were warned sea-level changes and strong currents could occur along Hawaii's coasts and asked to keep out of the water. Small tsunami waves reached Japan , about 4,700 miles north-west of Samoa, according to the country...

m so shocked, so saddened by all the loss." Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was destroyed. "Thankfully, the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said. "But not everyone escaped." In Washington, Barack Obama declared the situation a disaster, making federal funds available to victims in American Samoa – a US territory of about 65,000 people. A US coastguard...