Rugby will use mouthguard technology as part of its efforts to detect brain injuries suffered by players on the field.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the tiny kingdom of Tonga as the United States continues to increase its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific while China’s influence in the region grows.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Tonga, New Zealand and Australia next week as the Biden administration shifts its Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive in part to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

The foreign ministers of Australia and China were both making their final stops Friday on what has become an island-hopping diplomatic duel in the South Pacific.

The first community outbreak of the coronavirus in the Solomon Islands is spreading rapidly through the largely unvaccinated population.

Coronavirus cases continue to rise rapidly in Tonga, and tests have confirmed that the particularly contagious omicron variant is behind the isolated Pacific island nation’s first community outbreak since the start of the pandemic.

Tonga will enter a lockdown Wednesday evening after finding coronavirus infections in two port workers helping distribute aid arriving in the Pacific nation after a volcanic eruption and tsunami.

Peru has declared an environmental emergency after announcing that 21 beaches on the Pacific coast were contaminated by an oil spill at a refinery run by Spain-based Repsol, following surging waves caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga.

An oil spill on the Peruvian coast caused by the waves from an eruption of an undersea volcano in the South Pacific nation of Tonga has prompted dozens of fishermen to protest outside the South American country’s main oil refinery.

It will nearly impossible for Pita Taufatofua to outlast his original claim to fame as “the shirtless flag bearer,” which made him a legend on social media.

The largest cluster of places without the coronavirus can be found in the scattered islands of the South Pacific. Here's a closer look:PACIFIC ISLANDS: The largest cluster of countries without the coronavirus is in the South Pacific. Much of the South Pacific is relatively poor and has basic health systems that would be ill-equipped to deal with major outbreaks. Not everywhere in the South Pacific has been spared, either. ___Associated Press reporters Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Daria Litvinova in Moscow contributed to this report.

David Halaifonua of Tonga is tackled by Anthony Watson and Manu Tuilagi of England during the Rugby World Cup 2019 Group C game between England and Tonga at Sapporo Dome on Sept. 22 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)(CNN) - England began its 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign with a hard-fought 35-3 win over Tonga to fire a warning to the tournament's other top teams. However, Tonga proved it can compete with any team in the world on a physical level, after a crunching tackle on England's Billy Vunipola heated up the affair. The almighty hit seemed to inspire the underdogs who equaled the score with a penalty of their own shortly after. Farrel fired over another penalty shortly after the restart, before Jamie George and Luke-Cowan Dickie charged over the line to put the game to bed.