Solomon Times Online

A joint report by Pacific Trade Invest Australia and the Pacific Tourism Organisation finds 47 per cent of Pacific tourism operators grew revenue in the past year, with air connectivity the leading constraint.

The OFC Beach Soccer Men's Nations Cup is played at Aorai Tini Hau in Pirae, Tahiti, from 24 to 31 October, with the winner qualifying for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2027.

About 381 critically endangered leatherback turtles nest on four community-guarded beaches, a new study estimates.

Papua New Guinea's non-resource economy has grown by an average 2.3 per cent a person a year since 2022, close to the 2.8 per cent of the boom years, Stephen Howes, Rubayat Chowdhury and Dorothy Kaupa wrote on the Devpolicy Blog.

Fifty-three water tanks and a community hall at Foubaba Community High School have been delivered in West Kwaio constituency under the Solomon Islands-Australia Community Partnerships programme.

The National Disaster Management Office says an emergency mission is delivering water to drought-hit communities in Rennell and Bellona Province until 25 October 2026.

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force says it is looking into a video shared online in which boys calling themselves the "Nine Six Gang" allegedly attack a student at Tuvaruhu.

The Solomon Islands Meteorological Service says sea levels in parts of the country are running well below normal in a pattern consistent with El Niño.

Dr Caleb Panapa Marsters of the University of Auckland said the Pacific flags flying across Auckland during the Rugby League World Cup show the ties diaspora communities keep with their homelands, and singled out Papua New Guinea's passion for the game.

The voice in Deep Forest's 1992 hit Sweet Lullaby is Afunakwa, a Baegu woman from Malaita, singing a lullaby about two orphans.

Rower Arie Rasmussen Magasiva, 23, received the Major Pasifika Award at the 2026 Blues Awards of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, on 2 October.

Aziel Orihao of Solomon Islands has won the Pacific Youth second prize in the interactive category of the 2026 Pacific Dataviz Challenge for Ripple, a visualisation of six tropical cyclones between 2015 and 2024.

The University of Auckland says Sir Collin Tukuitonga, co-director of Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, has spent the past year arguing the Pacific offers solutions on climate and health.

Approximately 128 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and around 47 die of it, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services said as it launched Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2026.

A record 50 Solomon Islanders have completed pre-departure training before starting Australia Awards scholarships in Australia in 2027, the Australian High Commission said.

Leader of the Official Opposition Manasseh Damukana Sogavare has extended condolences on behalf of the Opposition Group in Parliament on the passing of Hon David Gina, MP for South New Georgia, Rendova and Tetepari.

Helma Sikekolo delivered a healthy baby boy weighing 3.2 kilograms at 12:40am on 8 October at the new Naha Birthing Centre, the first birth there since the centre officially opened.

Australia has handed over 19 community infrastructure projects in Gizo and Noro under phase two of the Community Access and Urban Services Enhancement Project, which is jointly financed with the World Bank.

The European Investment Bank said projects it financed in 2025 are expected to improve water supplies for nearly eight million people in Asia and the Pacific, including climate-resilient transport infrastructure in Kiribati.

A copra and cocoa storage and buying centre funded under the China-backed Rural Sustainable Development Programme was handed over to the Kaevanga Community Development Association in Isabel Province on 7 October 2026.

Six Solomon Islands Chevening Scholars have returned after completing one-year master's degrees at UK universities, the British High Commission in Honiara said on 15 October.

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said its patrol boat RSIPV Gizo was diverted from Operation Kurukuru 2026 duties to assist MV AWKA after the vessel lost engine power off Temotu Province.

The Government Communication Unit said Mr Dick Stanley Pirione took his Oaths of Office and Allegiance before Governor General Sir David Tiva Kapu on 14 October.

International visitor arrivals reached 2,941 in July 2026, up 25.9 per cent on July 2025 and above the 2,865 recorded in July 2012, figures from the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office show.

The University of the South Pacific said its representatives contributed to sessions on climate science, finance and youth at the Pacific pre-COP31 programme in Nadi, Fiji, which ended on 9 October.

Australian High Commissioner Jeff Roach said three women students from Solomon Islands National University have completed a six-week internship with contractor Hatanga on the new Seghe Market, now more than 75 per cent complete.

The Naha Birthing and Urban Health Centre in Honiara has moved to round-the-clock birthing and primary medical care, six weeks after it opened, the Australian High Commission said.

Australian Army Private Jerome Leong, who spent much of his childhood in Honiara's Chinatown, has returned to Solomon Islands as a volleyball coach with the Australian Defence Force's International Sports Program.

The Australian Defence Force has presented new working uniforms to members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Maritime Department and Explosive Ordnance Department, the Australian High Commission said.

The Solomon Islands Immigration Division says it has briefed the Diplomatic Corps in Honiara on the Government's new Border Management System, e-Visa regime and online payment gateway.

Remittances reached 43 per cent of people in the poorest fifth of Solomon Islands households in 2005 while state assistance reached 2 per cent, development economist Emilia Tjernstrom wrote on the Devpolicy Blog.

A 27-member Pacific delegation, including work from Solomon Islands on faith- and sport-based prevention, is presenting 16 sessions on preventing violence against women and girls at the SVRI Forum 2026 in Bangkok from 5 to 9 October.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development said the trial at Dodo Creek, run with the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences of China and JQY, is testing whether rice can be produced in Solomon Islands.

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands says a credit reporting system is being set up through the Credit & Data Bureau Solomon Islands, with existing customer records to be uploaded without consumer consent.

The National Disaster Council says SB$75 million has been allocated to rebuild homes lost to tropical cyclone Maila in Western and Choiseul Provinces.

Three economists write on the Devpolicy Blog that Papua New Guinea's removal of tax from ten basic foods has cost close to half a billion kina, with stores and wholesalers keeping 36 toea in every kina given up.

The Oceania Football Confederation has released the fixtures for the second season of the OFC Pro League, with Solomon Islands hosting the finals series from 25 May to 6 June 2027.

Estee Aiolupotea, who was born in Samoa and raised in South Auckland, graduated from the University of Auckland on 24 September with a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts, the university said.

Kiribati's Minister for Women, Youth, Sport and Social Affairs has set out a proposal for an ex-post reimbursement window in multilateral climate funds, in an article published on the Devpolicy Blog.

Pacific leaders and academics meeting at the University of the South Pacific called for faster climate action, better access to climate finance and recognition of island realities as pre-COP31 began in Fiji on 5 October.

Solomon Water said it gave three tanks to the Ziata landowning community at Noro, Western Province, in recognition of the community's support.

The Ministry of Communication and Aviation said the new complex at Honiara International Airport was opened and handed over on 30 September 2026.

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said its National Traffic Department is examining a crash at King George VI market in the early hours of 3 October 2026 in which a driver died.

Teuila Hughes, a doctoral candidate in Dance Studies at the University of Auckland, said her childhood in Fiji laid the foundations for her research into Siva Samoa, the university said.

In a commentary released by the University of Auckland, Professor Sir Collin Tukuitonga said the Pacific offers solutions, not only stories of vulnerability, as leaders meet in Fiji for pre-COP31 talks on climate and health.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources said the beche-de-mer fishery will be closed from Saturday, 31 October 2026.

Ahead of the pre-COP in Fiji from 5 to 8 October, Transparency International said Pacific governments should push for independent ethics oversight, conflict-of-interest rules and disclosure of fossil fuel ties at COP31.

British High Commissioner Paul Turner and Central Bank Governor Dr Luke Forau launched the new Solomon Islands 50 cent coin bearing King Charles III's effigy on 1 October in Honiara.

The second Exercise Coastwatchers for 2026 has ended with 173 Royal Solomon Islands Police Force personnel completing 22 courses across nine training categories, the Australian High Commission said.

The National Consumer Price Index stood at 136.6 in August 2026 after a 1.3 percent increase, according to a statement published on the Solomon Islands Government portal.