Vote counting starts in Solomon Islands as China, US trade barbs

Honiara (AFP) April 18, 2024

Vote counting was under way Thursday in the South Pacific's Solomon Islands, a contest keenly watched from afar as China's efforts to stamp its mark on the region are tested. Ballots were trucked into a heavily guarded counting centre in the capital Honiara, watched over by international teams of uniformed Fijian soldiers and Australian police. In the outermost reaches of the volcanic a