Solomon Islands

Edmond Sikua's arrest came after police accused him of awarding Government tenders worth over 630,000 Solomon Islands dollars ($630,436.50) or $US80,000, to Beeds Investment, a company registered and owned by his two daughters.

Mr Sikua appeared in the Honiara Magistrate's Court this week on seven counts of official corruption and was released on a bail of 2,000 Solomon Islands dollars or $US 256, with strict conditions.

Solomon Star reports Mr Sikua was first appointed permanent secretary in 2012.

The match is declared to be forfeited and awarded 3-0 in favour of Tahiti, with the SIFF also receiving a fine of CHF 6,000 after the FIFA Disciplinary Committee considered the SIFF liable for having breached art. 55 par. 1 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and art. 8 of the Regulations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

The sanction relates to the player Henry Luito’o Samuel Fa’arodo failing to serve the automatic one-match suspension imposed on him following two cautions received in two different matches (art. 17 par. 3 of the FDC).

Foster, who played with Lae City Dweller in the PNG Football Association’s 2015-2016 Telikom National Soccer League (NSL), says the S-League was a good competition.

He has been a stand out player for Malaita Kings Football Club at the semi-professional league competition.

“It has been a good and new experience for me playing abroad for the first time in this competition,” Foster said.

In his final match with Malaita Kingz last week, Foster scored their only goal, while fellow countryman Tommy Semmy scored a hat trick for Marist FC, who won the match 3-1.

RNZ reports disaster authorities said around 200 buildings had been destroyed or damaged in the provinces of Makira & Ulawa, Malaita and Guadalcanal.

Among them were 11 schools and a medical clinic.

Some dwellings were also hit by waves generated by Friday's 7-point-8 magnitude quake and Saturday's 6-point-9 aftershock.

The country director for World Vision Solomon Islands Janes Ginting said the tremors had left communities very nervous.

The centre issued warnings for Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and Kosrae.

It said people near impacted coastal areas should stay alert and exercise normal caution near the sea.

American Samoa had issued a tsunami watch following the earthquake but that was later cancelled.

The quake, which hit just before 5am local time on Friday morning, was initially reported to be of magnitude 8 by the US Geological Service but was downgraded shortly afterwards.

The earthquake hit less than 30 kilometers off the island of Makira -- and 70 kilometers southwest of the island's city of Kirakira -- about 4:38 a.m. local time Friday (12:38 p.m. ET Thursday), the US Geological Survey said.

A number of tsunami warnings issued not long after the quake have been canceled, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The largest observed wave, according to sea level gauges, was only 0.12 meters near Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal, some 200 kilometers northwest of the epicenter

The pageant week begins with a church service and over the course of the week will assess each contestants through various activities planned.

Contestants representing eight Pacific Islands - American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga have all gathered in Apia, Samoa.

Contestants and their teams started arriving in Samoa last week for the 30^th anniversary of the Miss Pacific Islands.

Fiji's Defence Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola has invited his Indonesian counterpart General Ryamizard Ryacudu to an official visit to Fiji.

This follows a meeting between the two in Jakarta on Saturday when their two governments reaffirmed development ties and discussed defence co-operation.

The Fiji Times reports that areas of strategic interest, including peacekeeping and counter terrorism, were discussed.

In a meeting with prime minister Manasseh Sogavare on Friday, premiers of the nine provinces and the mayor of the capital Honiara signed an agreement to pursue the introduction of a federal system of government.

The idea for a federal constitution and a new system of government has been supported by successive Solomon Islands governments for almost a decade now.

But Mr Sogavare's administration is the first to make its adoption a priority.

This was during his Solomon Islands National Soccer League season opener with the Malaita Kingz Football Club.

Foster added the PNG flavour into a creamed Vanuatu and Solomon football club as he starred in the Malaita Kingz 3 nil victory over F.C Guadalcanal.

In his first game yesterday, Foster played a key role in all 3 goals, which was a jaw-dropping moment for the crowd.

He also got on the scoreboard with a screamer of a shot from outside the 18 yard box that flashed through the goal mouth.