Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Friday blamed foreign interference over his government’s decision to switch alliances from Taiwan to Beijing for anti-government protests, arson and looting that have ravaged the capital Honiara in recent days.

But critics also blamed the unrest on complaints of a lack of government services and accountability, corruption and Chinese businesses giving jobs to foreigners instead of locals.

Honiara’s Chinatown and its downtown precinct have been focuses of rioters, looters and protesters who have demanded Sogavare, who has intermittently been prime minister since 2000, to resign.

The National Parliament building, a police station and businesses have been set alight during two tumultuous days in which police failed to control the mob.

Sogavare angered many in 2019, particularly leaders of the Solomon Islands’ most populous province, Malaita, when he cut the country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Malaita leaders complain their island has been unfairly deprived of government investment since the change.

A plane carrying Australian police and diplomats arrived late Thursday in Honiara, where they will help local police efforts to restore order, Australia’s Defense Minister Peter Dutton said.

Sogavare said he stood by his government’s decision to embrace Beijing, which he described as the “only issue” in the violence, which was “unfortunately influenced and encouraged by other powers.”

External pressures were a “very big … influence. I don’t want to name names. We’ll leave it there,” Sogavare said.

“I’m not going to bow down to anyone. We are intact, the government’s intact and we’re going to defend democracy,” he added.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne did not agree that other countries had stirred up the unrest.

Australia announced it is sending police, troops and diplomats to the Solomon Islands to help after anti-government demonstrators defied lockdown orders and took to the streets for a second day in protests.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the deployment includes a detachment of 23 federal police officers and up to 50 more to provide security at critical infrastructure sites, as well as 43 defense force personnel, a patrol boat and at least five diplomats.

The first personnel left Australia on Thursday with more going on Friday, and the deployment was expected to last for a few weeks, Morrison said.

“Our purpose here is to provide stability and security,” he said.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare declared a lockdown Wednesday after about 1,000 people gathered in protest in the capital, Honiara, demanding his resignation.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the outburst of protests, but tensions between the government and the leadership of the most populous island of Malaita have been simmering for some time.

The premier of Malaita has been outspokenly critical of Sogavare’s 2019 decision to cut the country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan, switching its diplomatic allegiance to China instead, accusing him of getting too close to Beijing.

The province has also complained it has been unfairly deprived of government investment.

The protesters on Wednesday breached the National Parliament building and burned the thatched roof of a nearby building, the government said. They also set fire to a police station and other buildings.

They were intent on destroying our nation and … the trust that was slowly building among our people,” the government said in a statement.

Morrison said Sogavare requested assistance from Australia amid the violence under a bilateral security treaty.

“It is not the Australian government’s intention in any way to intervene in the internal affairs of the Solomon Islands. That is for them to resolve,” he said.

“Our presence there does not indicate any position on the internal issues of the Solomon Islands,” Morrison added.

The Solomon Islands, about 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Australia, were the scene of bloody fighting during World War II.

After it was captured by the Japanese, U.S. Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal in August 1942 to open a campaign to wrest back control. They were successful, though fighting in and around the Solomon Islands continued through the end of the war.

Australia led an international police and military force called the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands that restored peace in the country after bloody ethnic violence from 2003 until 2017.

The European Union is expected to announce an immediate travel ban to southern Africa because of the discovery of a so called new Covid-19 variant.

The B.1.1.529 variant, which is said to be more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant and could evade vaccines, has been discovered in South Africa’s most populous province Gauteng.

Leaving questions of how many doses of vaccine or booster shots will be required to counter the virus that has reportedly ravaged the world’s socio-economic activities.

The EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: “The @EU Commission will propose, in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529.”

The future of this year’s United Rugby Championship (URC) could be in jeopardy as it has four South African teams in it.

Munster are in the country to play Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday night and are due to stay on to play Lions in Johannesburg next weekend.

Meanwhile, the UK has suspended flights from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).

Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, Michael McBride, said the emergence of the new variant was “undoubtedly a matter of concern”.

Flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana will from 1200 GMT Friday 26 November be suspended.

The temporary flight ban is to give the Government time to set up quarantine facilities and to ‘reduce the risk of important this new variant under investigation’.

After that, Brits returning from the affected countries will have to book and pay for a Government-approved hotel quarantine facility for 10 days.

Government guidance says that Brits arriving from the six countries between midday on Friday and 4am on Sunday, who have been in the countries within the last 10 days, must quarantine at home for 10 days, take NHS PCR tests on Day 2 and Day 8, even if they already have a lateral flow test booking.