Solomon Islands

The Europeans dominated the game taking 33 shots on goal and enjoying 61 percent of ball possession.

Inter Milan U-18 striker Degnand Ngonto opened the scoring for the Italians in the 24th minute and added a second later in the second half for a brace with his teammates Nicolo Cudrig (AS Monaco), Franco Tongya (Juventus), and Andrea Capone (Hellas Verona) also getting on the scoresheet.

The Solomon Islanders played much better in the second half than in the first, with striker Raphael Leai having a couple of decent stabs at goal.

Manasseh Sogavare attended high-level talks in Beijing during the first ever official visit to China by a Solomons' prime minister.

His visit follows last month's controversial move by the Solomons to switch its diplomatic recognition to China, ending a long relationship with Taiwan.

While in Beijing, Mr Sogavare met China's President Xi Jinping, with the two leaders signing various agreements.

According to the ABC, one of the agreements was for co-operation under China's sprawling Belt and Road initiative.

The move was announced in a statement released on Monday by Taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs.

"The government hereby declares the termination of diplomatic relations with Solomon Islands with immediate effect, the end of all bilateral co-operative projects, as well as the recall of the staff of its Embassy, technical mission, and medical mission stationed in Solomon Islands," the statement said.

"The Taiwan government also demands that Solomon Islands immediately recall its government personnel from Taiwan."

The slip occurred near the island's corrections facility partially covering some of the staff housing there.

According to police one house was severely impacted with two people still buried under the rubble.

One of them has been located in the bathroom of the house and rescuers are working to dig them out but the other has yet to be found.

Three other family members who were in and around the house at the time managed to escape relatively unscathed.

The two men were arrested on Friday after the buildings in Tigoa were burned down last month.

The men have been flown to Honiara as the investigation continues.

In a statement police said the arson may have been linked to the election of the provincial premier in July.

Nauru Coach Dominic Tabuna said that their first game against Papua New Guinea has provided them with a lot of experience and motivation for the tournament.

“When I think of all the nations here playing here, I would assume PNG would be the toughest to beat with the fact that this is their home ground and their own weather and their own crowd. It all adds up with the experience they have over us, which is immense,” Tabuna said.

The logo includes the Solomon Islands' national colours, shell money and three paddles.

However, two competitions involving schools and the general public failed to find the winning design which was eventually created by a panel.

The paddle was used due to its significance not only in the Solomon Islands' culture, but also the wider Pacific community.

"Paddle signifies a journey that has a starting point and ends at an intended destination," Solomon Islands 2023 said.

Honiara won the hosting bid in 2016 but only secured land to build the new main stadium early last year.

Clint Flood is a senior advisor to the 2023 Pacific Games National Hosting Authority, which is being run out of the Prime Minister's Office.

He said the main focus right now is addressing the lack of sporting facilities currently in Honiara.

"We're sitting here in Apia where they're blessed to have all these venues from 2007. We don't have that in Honiara

Tahiti pipped Solomon Islands 4-3 in the final of the OFC Beach Soccer Cup last weekend to qualify for the World Cup in Paraguay later this year.

The Tiki Toa had not won a regional title since 2011, although they were absent when the event was last held six years ago.

Head coach Naea Bennett says the triumph in Papeete meant a lot to the Tahiti team.

"It was very important to us because since 2011 we didn't participate in this competition so it was very good for us to be back again in the competition and to win it at home we are very happy," Naea Bennet said.

In their preparations for the event from 7-20 July in Samoa, the team is aiming to participate in as many of the 27 sports as it can.

"For starters, as the next host nation, we are doing our best in getting involved with all the 27 sports in the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games. We don’t have shooting due to gun control back home, badminton, squash, lawn bowls and cricket, but all the other sports we are involved with," said Michael Chan, Chef De Mission of the Solomon Islands.