Solomon Islands

Police motorcades, personal protection for VIPs and police with rifles in military uniform: Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Honiara looked very un-Pacific with high level of security around leaders and limited police presence on the streets

Only Australian media were allowed to cover the press conference of Australia's PM Albanese speaking aside the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Honiara; Solomon journalists called on their association to take a stand on banning Pacific Media

For the first time in almost 35 years a Constituency Development Fund shipment landed at Lambete Jetty in Munda; residents called it a 'historic achievement' and dozens of young men helped unload supplies as baking ovens, fiberglass boats, outboard motors

Due to unprecedented increase in the number of bodies being stored at the morgue in National Referral Hospital in Honiara, relatives of deceased patients have been advised to collect their loved ones’ bodies within 48 hours

Students and teachers from Gawa School in the Reef Islands have voluntarily cleaned up the runaway in Lomlom Airport to avoid isolation across Temotu Province, after Solomon Airlines suspended all flights as overgrowth compromised safety of the airstrip

The first Tikopean New Testament Bible lhas been presented to the Tikopian community: the awaited edition, known as Te Rongo Laoi - which means “The Good News” in Tikopean - has been celebrated with a ceremony at St. Francis Anglican Church

About eight people die daily in the Solomons as a result of the increasing prevalence of Non-Communicable Disease related sickness; the figure was issued by one of the country’s top surgeon Dr Chester Kuma

Landowners from Kakau and Lakuili Tribes in Variana and Hoilava, West Guadalcanal, have issued a public appeal to mining authorities urging them to exclude their customary land from a tenement granted to Ever Prosperous Mining and to revoke its licence

The traditional chief of Bava Island on Vella has voiced strong opposition to mining operations on the island due to mining’s potential destruction of ancestral land, environmental degradation, and threats to the livelihoods of local communities

Increasing malaria cases (over 900 in Gizo hospital), a shortage of drugs and rising numbers in Malaita Province pushed the Vector-Borne Disease Office to tour various communities to conduct malaria awareness campaigns and distribute bed nets

Consultations with key stakeholders continue on the project to improve urban transport management capacity in Honiara; the initiative is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency

The press conference of the Aelan Riddim Music Festival announced the highly anticipated presence of trending Solomon Island performers and introduced the five headlining guest artists from Papua New Guinea who will be hosted in Honiara this year

A Solomon Islands delegation is attending the first General Assembly of the International Organisation for Aid to Navigation; the team is led by Manasseh Maelanga, Minister of Infrastructure Development