Pacific Solomon Islands

A snap ban on foreign military vessels docking in Solomon Islands applies to "all countries in the world", a spokesman for the Pacific nation's prime minister told AFP Wednesday.

Solomon Islands said Thursday that it had secured a $66 million loan from China to fund tech giant Huawei building 161 telecommunications towers across the Pacific nation.

Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong warned on a visit to Fiji on Friday that there were regional consequences to the Solomon Islands' security pact with China.

Kavachi volcano in the Solomon Islands, which is one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean and most known for its shark inhabitants, is showing increased plumes, as per the American space agency NASA.

Australia's Minister for the Pacific was dispatched to the Solomon Islands on Tuesday over a controversial security pact Western allies fear will enable a Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific.

The White House's top Asia official is set to travel to the Solomon Islands in a rare high-level visit that underscores alarm in Washington over the Pacific nation's security pact with China, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Amid a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said it would not allow a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands nation despite its plans to sign a security pact with Beijing.

The Solomon Islands' prime minister said Tuesday that a contentious security agreement with Beijing was "ready for signing", denying reports that his country had been pressured to allow a Chinese naval base to be built in the Pacific island nation.

The United States plans to re-establish an embassy in the Solomon Islands, a senior State Department official said Saturday, 29 years after downgrading its diplomatic presence there.

Angry riots that left buildings burning in the Solomon Islands capital on Thursday are the latest flare-up in two decades of tensions in the Pacific nation that have often ensnared Chinese businesses.

Australia will deploy more than 100 police and military personnel to aid the Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, as protesters in the Pacific Island nation defied a curfew to protest for a second consecutive day.

The Solomon Islands is reportedly planning to ban Facebook after the government received harsh criticism on the social media platform, sparking outrage among rights groups and opposition figures in the Pacific island nation.

A deadly Pacific storm slammed into Fiji on Wednesday, tearing off roofs and flooding towns, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Four people survived a month adrift in the Pacific by eating coconuts and drinking rainwater in an ordeal that claimed the lives of eight of their companions, including a baby, reports said Wednesday.

A Chinese company signed an agreement to lease an entire island in the Solomon Islands a day after Beijing recruited the Pacific nation as its latest ally in the strategically important region, according to documents obtained by AFP Thursday.

A snap ban on foreign military vessels docking in Solomon Islands applies to "all countries in the world", a spokesman for the Pacific nation's prime minister told AFP Wednesday.

Solomon Islands said Thursday that it had secured a $66 million loan from China to fund tech giant Huawei building 161 telecommunications towers across the Pacific nation.

Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong warned on a visit to Fiji on Friday that there were regional consequences to the Solomon Islands' security pact with China.

Kavachi volcano in the Solomon Islands, which is one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean and most known for its shark inhabitants, is showing increased plumes, as per the American space agency NASA.

Australia's Minister for the Pacific was dispatched to the Solomon Islands on Tuesday over a controversial security pact Western allies fear will enable a Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific.

The White House's top Asia official is set to travel to the Solomon Islands in a rare high-level visit that underscores alarm in Washington over the Pacific nation's security pact with China, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Amid a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said it would not allow a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands nation despite its plans to sign a security pact with Beijing.

The Solomon Islands' prime minister said Tuesday that a contentious security agreement with Beijing was "ready for signing", denying reports that his country had been pressured to allow a Chinese naval base to be built in the Pacific island nation.

The United States plans to re-establish an embassy in the Solomon Islands, a senior State Department official said Saturday, 29 years after downgrading its diplomatic presence there.

Angry riots that left buildings burning in the Solomon Islands capital on Thursday are the latest flare-up in two decades of tensions in the Pacific nation that have often ensnared Chinese businesses.

Australia will deploy more than 100 police and military personnel to aid the Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, as protesters in the Pacific Island nation defied a curfew to protest for a second consecutive day.

The Solomon Islands is reportedly planning to ban Facebook after the government received harsh criticism on the social media platform, sparking outrage among rights groups and opposition figures in the Pacific island nation.

A deadly Pacific storm slammed into Fiji on Wednesday, tearing off roofs and flooding towns, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Four people survived a month adrift in the Pacific by eating coconuts and drinking rainwater in an ordeal that claimed the lives of eight of their companions, including a baby, reports said Wednesday.

A Chinese company signed an agreement to lease an entire island in the Solomon Islands a day after Beijing recruited the Pacific nation as its latest ally in the strategically important region, according to documents obtained by AFP Thursday.