Solomon Islands

In their preparations for the event from 7-20 July in Samoa, the team is aiming to participate in as many of the 27 sports as it can.

"For starters, as the next host nation, we are doing our best in getting involved with all the 27 sports in the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games. We don’t have shooting due to gun control back home, badminton, squash, lawn bowls and cricket, but all the other sports we are involved with," said Michael Chan, Chef De Mission of the Solomon Islands.

However, it was shrouded in controversy as 15 MPs abstained from voting.

Mr Sogavare was voted into power this afternoon at Parliament House in Honiara, polling 34 votes over his rival Matthew Wale in the 50 seat Parliament.

This will be Mr Sogavare's fourth prime ministership, his previous stints being in 2000, 2006 and most recently in 2014.

Two out of his last three terms as prime minister were cut short by no-confidence motions.

The governor general, Sir Frank Kabui, announced the date yesterday and also informed MPs that nominations for the top job opened today and would close on Thursday.

Each prime ministerial candidate must be nominated by four MPs.

MPs cast secret ballots in the vote which will start at 9:30am at parliament.

In order to win, a candidate must secure an absolute majority of the 50 votes.

If there are several candidates and an absolute majority cannot be achieved voting will continue by rounds of elimination.

Seven of the ten seats declared overnight were returned to their former occupants.

The only three new MPs so far are former clerk to parliament Clezy Rore, who ousted former finance minister Milner Tozaka for the North Vella La Vella Constituency seat.

The former permanent secretary of the ministry of finance Harry Kuma who ousted former commerce minister Connelly Sandakabatu for the Northwest Choiseul seat and finally Robertson Galokale who ousted Elijah Doromuala for the South Choiseul seat.

All of the ballot boxes from yesterday's poll are being transported to central locations in the provincial capitals for counting. And counting for those areas closer to the capital begins today.

The turnout for the election was strong with some areas reporting 100 percent participation.

But this was marred by reports of some voters not being able to cast their votes because they were unable to locate their polling stations or had the wrong identification.

The group is made up of eminent persons from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Mr Kilman said his team of 15 would travel to several provinces including the capital Honiara and observe the organisation and conduct of the election including the environment in which it is held.

Released last month "Human-crocodile conflict in Solomon Islands" is a report on a nationwide survey conducted by the WorldFish Program in 234 villages across Solomon Islands between April and August last year.

The report documented a total of 225 crocodile attacks on people. One of its authors Jan van der Ploeg says the real number of attacks is likely to be higher, because many villages and indeed whole islands were not visited.

In the 20 year period from 1998 to 2017 a total of 194 attacks were reported.

On November 1^st last year, a panel discussion was hosted by the Catholic Bishops Conference over the health status of asylum seekers and refugees in Manus, and the alarming rate of self-harm and attempted suicide committed in the last five years due to depression.

Air Commodore Tim Walshe said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided the voting screens to the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission.

New Zealand, together with its Pacific partners, contributed to restoring peace and stability in the Solomons in the early 2000s so they are pleased to support the islands again in a tangible way as it prepared for the elections, Mr Walshe said.

The RNZAF Boeing 757 flew to Honiara to deliver the voting equipment, as well as supplies for the Fred Hollows Foundation, an NGO providing eyecare in the region.

The Hekari United Football Club flew in Jerry Sam and his brother to help build the team in preparation for the National Super League competition.  

With a strong background in futsal, Jerry Sam and elder brother and Hekari head coach, Jerry Allen, will use their expertise to further strengthen one of the toughest teams in the country.

Sam, who has 10 years of futsal experience under his belt, believes that this variant of football can be used to develop players to soccer.