Tonga

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      Tonga's fishing pigs attract tourists

      Posted by Billbar from UPI

      "They go out at low tide every day," tour guide Joe Naeata told the Monitor. "Perhaps one of the braver pigs went into the sea one day and the rest just followed." The pigs, called "Captain Cookers" after Capt. James Cook, who had pigs with him when he landed in Tonga in the 1770s, have become a favorite attraction of tourists lured to the islands by reduced prices for flights from Australia and New Zealand.

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      Tongan King Tupou IV dies at 88

      Posted by Billbar from BBC News

      King Tupou IV was absolute ruler of the South Pacific island nation for 41 years, making him the world's fourth longest-serving monarch. His son, Crown Prince Tupouto'a, was sworn in as the new king at a brief ceremony on Monday, but it could be at least a year before a full coronation. Correspondents say King Tupou IV was much loved by his people, but his death is likely to fuel calls for greater democracy.

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      Ruritania-on-sea fears 'crooked' heir

      Posted by Billbar from The Independent

      The world's strangest monarchy is about to become a lot more weird. As the King of Tonga lies on what appears to be his deathbed, at the end of a 41-year reign, the first serious rumblings about the man who will succeed him have begun to emerge in this little Ruritania, set in the South Seas. The manager of a Tongan media outlet, who did not wish to be named for fear of losing his licence, said: "King Topou was respected, if not popular. He did seem to care for the welfare of the people. But people are worried about the Crown Prince. The feeling here is that the guy is a crook. He owns the electricity supply and he charges as much as he wants. He gets fat on our cash, and there is no one to complain to except the man who owns it."

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      Tonga Fails to Receive Tsunami Alert

      Posted by Billbar from Yahoo News!

      Though a major tsunami never materialized after Thursday's quake, the communication failure raised troubling questions about the effectiveness of such alerts, which have come under global scrutiny since an earthquake-driven tsunami in the Indian Ocean nearly 18 months ago left at least 216,000 dead or missing.

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