Hundreds of supporters of a local parliament member who was voted out of office went on a rampage yesterday, smashing a polling station with rocks and damaging nearby buildings in a remote province of the Solomon Islands.
Local police officers were unable to suppress the early morning riot by supporters of Patterson Oti. The large crowd stormed a counting station, threw rocks and damaged shops and offices in the provincial center of Lata.
NO CASUALTIES
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
“The situation this morning is tense and we are helpless to stop the rampage because we do not have adequate officers and resources,” a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said by telephone.
Election results have often sparked unrest between supporters of rival politicians, resulting in deaths and property damage in the South Pacific nation of about 600,000 people scattered across 1,000 islands.
SECURITY
Foreign peacekeepers stepped up security in Honiara, the nation’s capital, during the elections on Wednesday as well as the continuing vote counting, however, no extra forces were sent to remote centers like Lata.
An Australian-led international security force, Regional Assistance Mission in Solomon Islands (RAMSI), has attempted to maintain peace in the Solomons since 2003, after hundreds were killed in ethnic violence that drove at least 20,000 people from their homes.
“Authorities in Honiara failed to deploy RAMSI soldiers to help us in unexpected situations like this and I am disappointed,” the police officer said.
CANDIDATES
A record 509 candidates are seeking election to the nation’s 50-seat parliament.
Vote counting in most constituencies is expected to be completed tomorrow, although voting in the remote outer regions of Ontong Java and Sikiana will take place on Monday because of transportation difficulties.
Foreign election observers were pleased overall with the polling and the Electoral Commission has said it has found no evidence of fraud.
In the latest results, former prime ministers Manasseh Sogavare and Snyder Rini were among the parliament members who have retained their seats.
Derek Sikua, who became prime minister in 2007, is also seeking re-election.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS