On Friday, a plane carrying Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo had to return to the capital, Honiara, because of concerns over runway damage, his spokesman said.

BBC: Aftershocks hit Solomon Islands relief work

Meanwhile, Downing Street has revealed the carbon dioxide emissions from the prime minister's plane will be "offset" by making an investment in "energy-saving technology" in the developing world.

BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Blair demands green 'revolution'

The prime minister only learnt of the resignation just before it was announced on board a plane taking him and a group of businessmen on a foreign trip (Downing Street have asked me not to identify its destination for security reasons).

BBC: An old-fashioned resignation?

Colleagues--including his main rival, India's future Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru--accepted with some relief the reports that he had died in a plane crash.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia