Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare did not attend a weekend dawn service for a key World War II battle organized by the US, with local media reporting it as a “snub.”
The Solomon Star News said Sogavare was due to give a speech at a memorial service that was attended by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and ministers and officials from Australia, Japan and New Zealand on Sunday, but he did not appear.
Sherman later told a news conference she was sorry that the prime minister had missed a great opportunity to build a new partnership between the US and the Solomon Islands, the Solomon Star News reported yesterday.
Photo: AP
Sogavare’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sherman met with Sogavare later on Sunday to discuss US aid programs, a statement from the prime minister’s office said yesterday.
At a ceremony yesterday, Sherman praised the role of Solomon Islanders in assisting the US in World War II.
Photo: AFP / Mannar Levo
A Japanese Navy sailor was stabbed during the service at Bloody Ridge, a spokesman at the Japanese embassy in the Solomon Islands said.
The motivation for the attack was unknown, the spokesman added.
Radio New Zealand spoke with medics who said the sailor would require stitches, but was doing well. Bloody Ridge community chief Wesley Ramo said the suspect was from a neighboring community, was under the influence and mentally unstable.
Also attending the ceremony were Japanese State Minister of Defense Makoto Oniki and New Zealand Minister of Defence Peeni Henare.
The suspect reportedly tackled the sailor to the ground during the attack before locals and US military personnel stepped in and detained him. Police then took him away and the ceremony resumed after a short break.
Additional reporting by AP
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, in the clearest sign yet Beijing is advancing toward producing the nation’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents provided to The Associated Press. There have long been rumors that China is planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the research by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California is the first to confirm it is working on a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship. Why is China’s pursuit of nuclear-powered carriers significant? China’s navy is already
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a US$1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent. With China’s demand for agricultural goods and metals from Latin America growing, Xi will participate in the APEC summit in Lima then head to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, where he will also make a state visit to Brazil. Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte participated on Thursday by video link in the opening
IT’S A DEAL? Including the phrase ‘overlapping claims’ in a Chinese-Indonesian joint statement over the weekend puts Jakarta’s national interests at risk, critics say Indonesia yesterday said it does not recognize China’s claims over the South China Sea, despite signing a maritime development deal with Beijing, as some analysts warned the pact risked compromising its sovereign rights. Beijing has long clashed with Southeast Asian neighbors over the South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety, based on a “nine-dash line” on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of several countries. Joint agreements with China in the strategic waterway have been sensitive for years, with some nations wary of deals they fear could be interpreted as legitimizing Beijing’s vast claims. In 2016,
RSS