Prime minister Sogavare’s office claims country does not have resources to host Pacific Games and an election at same time, raising outcry from opponents

A bill to delay elections in Solomon Islands has been submitted to its parliament, officials said, prompting concern from opposition politicians.

Manasseh Sogavare’s government has said it wants to extend parliament until after it hosts the Pacific Games in November 2023, for which China has donated seven stadiums and venues that are being built by Chinese companies.

New US ambassador to Australia was in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal

A visit to Solomon Islands by senior US diplomats included a touching personal moment, as Caroline Kennedy, the new US ambassador to Australia, met with the children of two men who saved the life of her father, John F Kennedy, during the second world war.

Caroline Kennedy was in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal, a brutal seven-month land, sea and air fight between allied and Japanese forces that marked a turning point in the war.

All stories are to be approved by the government before broadcast on the SIBC, prompting grave concerns about press freedom

The Solomon Islands’ government has prompted outrage by ordering the censorship of the national broadcaster, forbidding it from publishing material critical of the government, which will vet all stories before broadcast.

On Monday the government announced that the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), a public service broadcaster established in 1976 by an act of parliament, would be brought under government control.