Hello. It's Friday, April 29 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news headlines.
Let's start here
One of China's largest defence and aerospace companies promised to upgrade almost three dozen airstrips in Solomon Islands as part of an ambitious plan to transform the Pacific Island country into an "aeronautical hub" for the region.
In return, the Solomon Islands government said it would purchase six aircraft from AVIC Commercial Aircraft, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned defence behemoth which has built small and medium-sized aeroplanes to be sold to developing countries.
As revealed in an exclusive report by Evan Wasuka, Iris Zhao and foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic, the proposed exchange was laid out two-and-a-half years ago in a memorandum of understanding which has been obtained by the ABC.
But it doesn't appear at this stage that AVIC or the Solomon Islands government has moved ahead with plans since the 2019 signing — the pandemic has been blamed for potentially stalling the agreement.
Here's the full story, as well as the leaked documentation.
News while you snoozed
- Sydney FC has been eliminated from Asian Champions League contention after a 3-2 loss to Korean club Jeonbuk in Vietnam. The club has now recorded just one win in its last 18 group stage matches of the Asian Champions League
- The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv has been bombarded by Russia while the head of the United Nations was visiting in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow's forces retreated weeks ago. A spokesperson has told Reuters that UN secretary-general António Guterres and his team were safe
- Evelyn Araluen has won the $60,000 Stella Prize for her debut collection of poetry and prose, Dropbear, which was described by the prize judges as "breathtaking". The 29-year-old is only the second Aboriginal writer to win the prize in its 10-year history.
Something you’ll be hearing about today
Moscow has stopped sending gas to Poland and Bulgaria for refusing to pay for its imported energy in roubles, which has some Russian-gas-reliant EU countries fearing they could lose their supplies next.
Poland's Prime Minister said Russia's actions were "blackmail" and Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov added: "We will not succumb to such a racket."
So, with European countries heavily reliant on Russian gas — balancing the needs of a steady gas supply and sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine — who is most vulnerable if Russia turns off the tap?
Here's what we know so far, and no doubt there will be more to come on this story until a resolution is established.
What Australia has been searching for online
- Spilt Milk 2022. The world is healing — festival lineups are rolling out again, and live-music-starved fans are pumped. Flume, Stormzy, Genesis Owusu, G Flip and Peach PRC are among the artists hitting Canberra, Ballarat and the Gold Coast later this year.
- Broncos vs Sharks. The mighty Brisbane Broncos have clinched a home win over Cronulla overnight as conversations start to heat up about who will pull on Origin jerseys this year.
One more thing
It's Friday, and you know what that means — it's time for our weekly news quiz.
This week we test you on everything from politics to geography and basketball to big, scary crocodiles.
Head here to give it a go (don't forget to brag about your score afterwards).
You're up to date
Thanks for reading this morning's edition of The Loop.
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