WASHINGTON—The United States has opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands after a 30-year absence as it seeks to boost diplomatic relations in the Pacific as a counter to China. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced plans to open a diplomatic mission in the Pacific island nation during a visit to the region last year. […]
MADRID—Heavy rain caused by a tropical storm hit several regions in Spain, leaving one person dead and widespread damage, authorities and national media said Monday. A 62-year-old man was found dead in the southeastern Murcia region after a sudden downpour flooded his house late Sunday, local authorities said. The Canary Islands off northwest Africa have […]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico/SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic—Hurricane Fiona bore down on Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday as a powerful Category 3 storm, slamming the Caribbean archipelago with heavy rains and life-threatening flooding after cutting a path of destruction through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. U.S. officials said on Tuesday the storm had claimed […]
The United States raised concern Tuesday over the “vague deals” signed between the Solomon Islands and China, citing the “unspecified nature” of the agreement. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare announced Wednesday that his government has formally signed the security pact with China based on “a sovereign decision” to broaden its security cooperation with more […]
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON—All the homes on one of Tonga’s small outer islands were destroyed in the massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, with three people so far confirmed dead, the government said on Tuesday in its first update since the disaster hit. With communications severely hampered by an undersea cable being severed, information on the scale of the […]
The Solomon Islands’ decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing has been blamed for arson and looting in the national capital Honiara, where protesters are demanding the prime minister’s resignation. Australian police, troops, and diplomats are helping local police restore peace and order while trying to keep out of the domestic political […]
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck the South Sandwich Islands region, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on Monday. The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), EMSC said. The quake occurred in the middle of the south Atlantic ocean, 2,960 km (1,839 miles) east-north-east of Punta Arenas, Chile, EMSC added. There […]
BARCELONA, Spain—Four people died, one of them a child, when a migrant boat believed to be carrying 45 passengers capsized near Spain’s Canary Islands, Spanish authorities said Friday. The boat was approaching Órzola on the island of Lanzarote on Thursday night when it flipped over a few meters (yards) from shore, throwing the passengers into […]
Beijing is hard at work in the South China Sea. New satellite images show fresh construction is underway on the Paracel Islands, north of the Spratly Islands, which are the major focus of a heated territory dispute between several Asian countries. The construction work is happening on North Island—part of a reef, which acts as […]
