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SYDNEY — Solomon Islands incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said he would not be a candidate when lawmakers vote next week for a new prime minister, and his political party would instead back former Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele. The two major opposition parties in the Solomon Islands struck a coalition deal on Saturday as they vie with Sogavare's party to form a government after an election delivered no clear winner. Last week's election was the first since Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022, inviting Chinese police into the Pacific Islands archipelago and drawing the nation closer to Beijing. The election is being watched by China, the U.S. and neighboring Australia because of the potential impact on regional security. Sogavare announced he would not be a candidate for prime minister at a televised press conference on Monday evening. Sogavare said his government had been "under pressure from the United States and western allies" and he had been "accused of many things." "Geopolitics is at play, after we made a very important decision in 2019," he said, referring to his government's decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing. Manele said that if he was elected as prime minister he would have the "same foreign policy basis - friends to all and enemies to none." Election results on Wednesday showed Sogavare's OUR party won 15 of the 50 seats in parliament, while the opposition CARE coalition has 20. Independents and micro parties won 15 seats, and courting the independents will be the key to reaching the 26 seats needed to form a government. Sogavare said on Monday his party had support for 28 seats. Lawmakers are expected to vote on May 8.

Lome, Togo — Togolese began voting in legislative elections on Monday after a divisive constitutional reform that opponents say allows President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his family's decades-long grip on power. The ballot comes after lawmakers this month approved the reform creating a new prime minister-style post opponents believe is tailored for Gnassingbe to avoid presidential term limits and stay in office. In power for nearly 20 years, Gnassingbe succeeded his father Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled for almost four decades himself following a coup in the small coastal West African state wedged between Benin and Ghana. "This is the first time I am voting, because I lived in a neighboring country before. I came out early to avoid crowds," said Koffi Ohini, a farm technician, 24, who cast his ballot in the capital Lome. "I want to vote because these elections are important." Early turnout at polling stations in the capital was scattered but the streets were calm. Monday's vote will elect 113 lawmakers and 179 regional deputies from the country's five districts who, along with municipal councilors, will elect a newly created senate. For Gnassingbe's ruling UNIR party this makes Togo more representative, but opposition parties have mobilized supporters to vote against what they say is an "institutional coup." Gnassingbe, 57, has already won four elections, all contested by the opposition as flawed. He would have only been able to run one more time as president in 2025 under the previous constitution. With a population of nearly 9 million, Togo's economy is mainly agrarian, though Lome has one of the busiest deep seaports in West Africa, helping the country weather the fallout of the Ukraine war and the pandemic. The government has focused on developing infrastructure and expanding access to electricity, but poverty levels are still around 40 percent, according to the World Bank. Like its Gulf of Guinea neighbors, Togo also faces a growing risk of spillover from jihadist conflicts to its north in the Sahel. Officials reported 30 deaths from "terrorist" incidents in the country's north last year. New post, new power According to the new constitution adopted by lawmakers on April 19, Togo's president becomes a mostly ceremonial role elected by parliament, and not the people, for a four-year term. Togo's shift from a presidential to a parliamentary system means power now resides with the new president of the council of ministers, a sort of super-prime minister, who automatically will be the leader of the majority party in the new assembly. Gnassingbe's Union for the Republic, or UNIR party, already dominates parliament. If the ruling party wins on Monday, Gnassingbe can assume that new post. Results from the ballot are expected to be released within six days.  Regional West African body ECOWAS said it would send a team of observers to Togo for the vote. The run up to the election has seen a tightening of controls. Opposition attempts to organize protests of the reforms were blocked by authorities. Togo's Electoral Commission refused to allow the Togolese Bishops' Conference to deploy election observers across the country, according to a document seen by AFP. Togo's High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) also temporarily suspended all accreditation for the foreign press to cover the elections. 

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Bangkok — A court in Thailand on Monday sentenced one of the kingdom's leading democracy activists to a further two years imprisonment on royal insult charges. It is the latest charge levelled against prominent human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, who now faces more than 10 years in prison. He is currently in jail after he was handed down a four-year sentence in January over three messages posted on Facebook in 2021, adding to the four years he was already serving for a prior lese-majeste conviction. Critics say the government has used the strict legislation to silence dissent, prosecuting scores under a tough law that protects King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his family. The Criminal Court in Bangkok sentenced Arnon for two years and 20 days over his calls at a Harry Potter-themed rally in 2021 to amend Thailand's royal defamation laws. He was found guilty of four charges including violation of lese-majeste, defying the emergency decree, and using a loudspeaker without permission, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said. Thailand's youth-led pro-democracy protests in 2020 saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets to make unprecedented calls to reform the monarchy. Sentencing him, the criminal court also fined him 150 baht ($4) for use of the loudspeaker. Arnon is among more than 150 activists who have been charged in recent years under lese majeste laws, often referred to as "112" after the relevant section of the criminal code.

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BERLIN — Two Ukrainian men were stabbed to death in southern Germany, police said Sunday, and a Russian man was arrested by authorities as a possible suspect in the killings. The two Ukrainians, who were 23 and 36 years old and lived in the southern German county of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, were killed on the premises of a shopping center in the village of Murnau in Upper Bavaria. Shortly after the slayings on Saturday evening, the police arrested a 57-year-old Russian on suspicion of murder, German news agency dpa reported. The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement that the two men were members of the Ukrainian military; “According to preliminary information, the deceased citizens were military personnel undergoing medical rehabilitation in Germany.”  The names of the victims and the suspect weren't released in line with German privacy rules. The possible motive for the killings wasn't yet known, authorities said. It also wasn't clear if the three men knew each other. More than 1 million Ukrainian refugees came to Germany since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Germany is also home to a significant Russian immigrant community and 2.5 million Russians of German ancestry who mostly moved to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

BEIJING — Tesla has cleared some key regulatory hurdles that have long hindered it from rolling out its self-driving software in China, paving the way for a favorable result from Elon Musk's surprise visit to the U.S. automaker's second-largest market. Tesla CEO Musk arrived in the Chinese capital Sunday, where he was expected to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and permission to transfer driving data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The billionaire's whirlwind visit, during which he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, came just over a week after he scrapped a planned trip to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing "very heavy Tesla obligations." On Monday, two separate sources told Reuters Tesla had reached an agreement with Baidu to use the Chinese tech giant's mapping license for data collection on China's public roads, which they described as a key step for FSD to be introduced in the country. And a top Chinese auto association said on Sunday Tesla's Model 3 and Y cars were among models that it had tested and found to be compliant with China's data security requirements. Data security and compliance have been key reasons why the U.S. electric vehicle maker, which rolled out the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software four years ago, has yet to make FSD available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customer demand. Chinese regulators had since 2021 required Tesla to store all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, leaving the company unable to transfer any back to the United States. Musk is looking to obtain approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for its autonomous driving technologies, the person said. Musk's visit to China, first reported by Reuters, was not flagged publicly and the person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. The plane that Musk arrived on departed from Beijing Capital Airport at 0517 GMT, according to Chinese flight tracking app Flight Manager and was headed to Anchorage, Alaska. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk's departure. Equity analysts at Wedbush called the surprise visit "a major moment for Tesla." Rival Chinese automakers and suppliers such as XPeng and Huawei Technologies have been seeking to gain an advantage over Tesla by rolling out similar software. Retired newspaper commentator Hu Xijin said on his Weibo account that Tesla was the only foreign-funded automaker to meet China's data compliance requirements and said that this would pave the way for Tesla cars to enter premises owned by government agencies and state-owned firms across China. "This is not only a breakthrough in China, but also a significant demonstration for the entire world in solving data security issues," he said. Premier Li on Sunday praised Tesla's development in China as a successful example of U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation.   China data Tesla cars have for years been banned from entering Chinese military complexes over security concerns relating to cameras installed on its vehicles. Its cars have also been turned away from sites holding important political events, such as an annual summer leadership conclave the ruling Communist Party held in 2022. He Xiaopeng, the CEO of XPeng whose XNGP Advanced Driver Assistance System is similar to FSD, said on his Weibo account he welcomed the entry of the Tesla technology into China. "Only with the entry of more good products and technologies can the experience of the entire market and customers be improved, and it will allow the market's development to accelerate in a healthy manner," he said. "Let a hundred flowers bloom," he said, echoing a famous line from Chairman Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China. The improved prospect of FSD entering China comes as Tesla shares have lost almost a third of their value since the start of the year, as concerns have grown about the EV maker's growth trajectory. Last week, Tesla reported its first decline in quarterly revenue since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production and deliveries. Musk said last week that Tesla would introduce new, cheaper models using its current EV platforms and production lines and would offer a new "robotaxi" with self-driving technology. He said on X this month that he would unveil the robotaxi on Aug. 8. China's complicated traffic conditions with more pedestrians and cyclists than in many other markets provide more scenarios that are key for training autonomous driving algorithms at a faster pace, according to industry experts. "If Musk is able to obtain approval from Beijing to transfer data collected in China abroad this would be a 'game changer' around the acceleration of training its algorithms for its autonomous technology globally," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note. Musk said this month that Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China "very soon," in response to a query on X. Besides meeting Li on the short trip to Beijing, Musk met the organizer of the ongoing Beijing auto show. The chairman of Chinese battery giant CATL Robin Zeng, a key Tesla battery supplier, also visited Musk's hotel on Monday, according to a Reuters witness. Reuters could not immediately confirm with CATL if Zeng met with Musk. Musk had been set on his cancelled India trip to announce $2 billion to $3 billion in new investments, including in a car plant, after India offered lower import taxes on EVs in return under a new policy.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. House and Senate negotiators said early Monday they had reached a deal to boost air traffic controller staffing and boost funding to avert runway close-call incidents, but will not increase the airline pilot retirement age to 67 from 65. The U.S. House of Representatives in July voted 351-69 on a sweeping bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that would also raise the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 but the Senate Commerce Committee had voted in February to reject the retirement age increase. International rules would have prevented airline pilots older than 65 from flying in most countries outside the United States. Congress has temporarily extended authorization for the FAA through May 10 as it works on a new $105 billion, five-year deal. The Senate is set to vote this week on the more than 1,000-page bipartisan proposal. The bill prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together and requires airlines to accept vouchers and credits for at least five years, but did not adopt many stricter consumer rules sought by the Biden administration. The bill also requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices and directs the FAA to deploy advanced airport surface technology to help prevent collisions. Efforts to boost aviation safety in the United States have taken on new urgency after a series of near-miss incidents and the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug mid-air emergency. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, the panel's top Republican, Ted Cruz, House Transportation Committee chair Sam Graves and the committee's top Democrat, Rick Larsen, in a joint statement announced the agreement and said, "now more than ever, the FAA needs strong and decisive direction from Congress to ensure America’s aviation system maintains its gold standard." The proposal raises maximum civil penalties for airline consumer violations from $25,000 per violation to $75,000 and aims to address a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers by directing the FAA to implement improved staffing standards and to hire more inspectors, engineers and technical specialists. Congress will not establish minimum seat size requirements, leaving that instead to the FAA. The bill requires the Transportation Department to create a dashboard that shows consumers the minimum seat size for each U.S. airline. The bill boosts by five the number of daily direct flights from Washington Reagan National Airport. Cantwell said the agreement - including a five-year reauthorization for the National Transportation Safety Board - demonstrates aviation safety and stronger consumer standards are a big priority.

BANGKOK — Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara has resigned, the government said Sunday, after being removed from the post of deputy prime minister in a cabinet reshuffle, at a time when the Southeast Asian country seeks to help resolve a conflict in Myanmar. His unexpected resignation leaves the foreign ministry rudderless as he headed the team on Myanmar affairs and last month launched a humanitarian initiative that seeks to pave the way for talks between warring camps after three years of instability and violence triggered by a coup. Parnpree had a key role in securing the release of dozens of Thai hostages who were captured by Hamas in Gaza. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has received Parnpree's Resignation letter, government spokesperson Chai Wacharonke told Reuters. "Parnpree's resignation will not affect government work in foreign affairs as the foreign ministry's permanent secretary and officials can work instead," he added. Parnpree's move caught many by surprise, including senior government figures like Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who told local media that it was unexpected. Parnpree could not be reached for comment. Srettha's new cabinet, endorsed by Thailand's king and published in the official Royal Gazette, showed Parnpree listed only as foreign minister, no longer with the additional title of deputy prime minister. Parnpree, a former trade representative, said he believed his removal from the DPM post was not due to his track record and that he performed well and helped improve Thailand's image internationally, according to his resignation letter published by local media.

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SYDNEY — Australia, one of Ukraine's largest non-NATO donors, has announced a military aid package worth around $65 million to support Kyiv’s war effort following Russia’s invasion. The package includes funding for drones, short-range air defense systems, inflatable boats and generators, as well as equipment like helmets, masks and boots. The additional funding was announced by Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, during a brief visit over the weekend to Ukraine. Marles told local media that the Canberra government is committed to “supporting Ukraine to resolve the conflict on its terms,” adding that “their spirit remains strong.” Australia is also part of a multinational program to train Ukrainian troops in the United Kingdom through Operation Kudu. Canberra has also joined the U.K.-led so-called “drone coalition” to boost Ukraine’s aerial defenses. Vasyl Myroshnychenko,Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Australia’s help will make a difference in his country’s fight against Russia.  “We are extremely grateful for the package that was announced and that Australia has joined the drone coalition, especially now that we see how the nature of war is changing," Myroshnychenko said. "The role of drones is becoming more important, and we have to have a steady supply of those drones and that was a very important contribution from Australia to help us get that advantage on the battlefield.” The new package brings Australia’s overall financial support to Ukraine to more than $650 million. Previous aid included supplying armored vehicles, infantry carriers, lightweight towed howitzers, and munitions. Australia’s announcement follows a $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine signed last week by U.S. President Joe Biden. The Canberra government also has imposed restrictions on hundreds of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, military commanders and businesspeople. They are the most sweeping sanctions Australia has ever put on another country. Additionally, Canberra has banned imports of Russian oil, petroleum, coal and gas. More than 11,000 Ukrainians on various types of Australian visas, including visitors’ permits, have come to Australia since Russia invaded in February 2022.

BEIJING — China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon's far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang'e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia. In 2020, China brought back samples from the moon's near side in the first sample retrieval in more than four decades, confirming for the first time it could safely return an uncrewed spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface. This week, China is expected to launch Chang'e-6 using the backup spacecraft from the 2020 mission and collect soil and rocks from the side of the moon that permanently faces away from Earth. With no direct line of sight with the Earth, Chang'e-6 must rely on a recently deployed relay satellite orbiting the moon during its 53-day mission, including a never-before attempted ascent from the moon's "hidden" side on its return journey home. The same relay satellite will support the uncrewed Chang'e-7 and 8 missions in 2026 and 2028, respectively, when China starts to explore the south pole for water and build a rudimentary outpost with Russia. China aims to put its astronauts on the moon by 2030. Beijing's polar plans have worried NASA, whose administrator, Bill Nelson, has repeatedly warned that China would claim any water resources as its own. Beijing says it remains committed to cooperation with all nations on building a "shared" future. On Chang'e-6, China will carry payloads from France, Italy, Sweden and Pakistan, and on Chang'e-7, payloads from Russia, Switzerland and Thailand. NASA is banned by U.S. law from any collaboration, direct or indirect, with China. Under the separate NASA-led Artemis program, U.S. astronauts will land near the south pole in 2026, the first humans on the moon since 1972. "International cooperation is key (to lunar exploration)," Clive Neal, professor of planetary geology at the University of Notre Dame, told Reuters. "It's just that China and the U.S. aren't cooperating right now. I hope that will happen." South pole ambitions Chang'e 6 will attempt to land on the northeastern side of the vast South Pole-Aitkin Basin, the oldest known impact crater in the solar system. The southernmost landing ever was carried out in February by IM-1, a joint mission between NASA and the Texas-based private firm Intuitive Machines. After touchdown at Malapert A, a site near the south pole that was believed to be relatively flat, the spacecraft tilted sharply to one side amid a host of technical problems, reflecting the high-risk nature of lunar landings. The south pole has been described by scientists as the "golden belt" for lunar exploration. Polar ice could sustain long-term research bases without relying on expensive resources transported from Earth. India's Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008 confirmed the existence of ice inside polar craters. Chang'e-6's sample return could also shed more light on the early evolution of the moon and the inner solar system. The lack of volcanic activity on the moon's far side means there are more craters not covered by ancient lava flows, preserving materials from the moon's early formation. So far, all lunar samples taken by the United States and the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and China in 2020 were from the moon's near side, where volcanism had been far more active. Chang'e-6, after a successful landing, will collect about 2 kilograms of samples with a mechanical scoop and a drill.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

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The White House says U.S. President Joe Biden has again spoken with Netanyahu as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to the Middle East. Pressure is building on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a cease-fire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza. It’s being widely reported that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday (April 28) issued a fresh plea to the international community to hurry up and deliver more air defenses, start formal talks for his country to enter the European Union, and invite Ukraine to join NATO. And Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday on an unannounced visit. He wants to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas.

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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday described domestic violence as a "national crisis" after thousands rallied around the country against violence toward women. Thousands protested in cities around Australia on Sunday to draw attention to the deaths of 27 women so far this year allegedly caused by acts of gender-based violence in a population of 27 million. Albanese said on Monday the rallies were a call to action for all levels of Australian government to do more to prevent gender-based violence. "Quite clearly, we need to do more. It's not enough to just have empathy," Albanese told Nine Network television. "The fact that ... a woman dies every four days on average at the hand of a partner is just a national crisis," he added. There were 17 rallies held across Australia over the weekend, with an estimated 15,000 people demonstrating in the city of Melbourne. Albanese said he will host a meeting of Australian state and territory leaders on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response. Albanese, his Women's Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth received a hostile response when they attended a rally in the capital Canberra on Sunday. Protesters yelled at the government leaders, "we want action" and "do your job." Albanese said there needed to be more focus on perpetrators and prevention of violence. "We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes — we need to change the legal system," Albanese told the rally.

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