News
Martel: Mass migration if 1.5C target is not met
IF the world does not take urgent measures to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius pre-industrial target seriously, it will witness the mass migration of vulnerable Pacific Island people on a scale never seen before. This...
Canary Islands wildfire prompts 9,000 evacuations; reaches park
TEJEDA, Spain (Reuters) – An out-of-control wildfire on Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands kept spreading on Monday, increasing to 9,000 the number of people evacuated from eight municipalities and reaching a natural park, authorities said on Monday. The blaze, which began on Saturday near the town of Tejeda, is advancing on several fronts, propelled...
Lucky escape for pastor
AN 89-year-old pastor survived a near death experience when a car driven by alleged robbers crashed into his room and stopped a few metres from his bed. Seaki Vateitei, former correction services offi cer, was sleeping at the One World Church in Cunningham, Suva when the incident happened. It is alleged the vehicle was used...
Fire destroys Raiwaqa home
An early morning fire destroyed a three-bedroom home at Raiwaqa in Suva today. The family was still asleep when a neighbour alerted them after seeing smoke coming from the house at around 7.30am. The owner of the home is abroad and the house was being occupied by her nephew, his wife and two children who...
‘Fiji open to growing relations’
FIJI is looking to strengthen bilateral cooperation with developing and developed economies through facilitative arrangements that are mutually beneficial, says Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Minister Inia Seruiratu. “The Fijian Government remains open to growing our relations with you through enhanced political and strategic engagements,” Mr Seruiratu said while opening the first-ever Familiarisation Visit...
Training plans for healthcare workers in Morocco
PLANS are underway to have Fijians in the health sector undergo training in Morocco, says Moroccan non-resident ambassador to Fiji Karim Medrek. Mr Medrek said this plan would be discussed in the next few months. “I think Morocco is very keen and have all the political will to increase our co-operation in health, agriculture, education...
Turkish police use water cannon, batons on Kurdish protesters
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – Riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters demonstrating in southeast Turkey on Tuesday against the ousting of three Kurdish mayors five months after they were elected. Ankara replaced the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) mayors with state officials on Monday and detained more than 400 people for...
Ba villagers left dry on projects
ABOUT 200 residents in three villages in Ba are waiting for the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) to complete work on projects which began last year. Nanuku Village headman Alipate Tuinuku claimed apart from his community, residents of Yaloku and Rara villages were also affected. “For Nanuku, they were going to build a 20,000-litre cement...
Former Speaker says authorities need to speak out on investigations
FOR the sake of the integrity of Fiji’s Parliament, authorities need to speak out on the investigations of assault allegations against Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, says former speaker of Parliament Pita Nacuva. It is alleged that on August, 9, the PM allegedly assaulted Opposition MP and National Federation Party president Pio Tikoduadua outside Parliament. During...
Methodist Church to review Sunday school lessons
THE Methodist Church in Fiji will work on reviewing the Sunday school lessons for children and youths. This issue was discussed yesterday during the annual church conference where the youth department of the church made a presentation. During the presentation, it was highlighted that the number of children who were part of the Sunday school now...
Elderly in Hong Kong looking to China for affordable care in retirement
HONG KONG (Reuters) – After spending time with his 84-year-old mother in a senior care home in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, David Lee walked up to the supervisor and asked to reserve a place there for his own retirement. Lee, a 56-year-old from just across the border in Hong Kong, moved his mother,...
Trump urges India and Pakistan to reduce tensions in call with leaders
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the leaders of India and Pakistan on Monday, discussing prospects for improved trade ties with Washington and stressing the need to reduce tensions over Kashmir between the nuclear-armed neighbors. “Spoke to my two good friends, Prime Minister Modi of India, and Prime Minister Khan of...
Over two dozen rescuers try to save trapped cavers in Poland
WARSAW (Reuters) – More than two dozen rescue workers are battling to save two cavers trapped in a cavern in Poland’s Tatra mountains, the mountain rescue service said on Sunday, after a narrow tunnel flooded with water, blocking their exit. A representative of the rescue service said it had not yet been possible to establish...
Twitter, Facebook accuse China of using fake accounts to undermine Hong Kong protests
(Reuters) – Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Monday they had dismantled a state-backed social media campaign originating in mainland China that sought to undermine protests in Hong Kong. Twitter said it suspended 936 accounts and the operations appeared to be a coordinated state-backed effort originating in China. It said these accounts...
Serena to begin 2020 season with return to Auckland
(Reuters) – Former world number one Serena Williams will begin her 2020 season with a return to the Auckland Open in January, her first appearance at the tournament since she was ousted in the second round in 2017. The Auckland Open serves as a warm-up before the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, which...
Fiji represented a World Hip Hop Dance Championship
A 16-member group from MATA dance took part in the World Hip Hop Dance Championship for the first time earlier this month in Phoenix, Arizona, US. Group choreographer Tevita Tobeyaweni said the whole experience was exhilarating for the dancers. “We can’t explain how it felt to know that so many people have performed on that...
Blake blasts back with 100m Diamond League win, eyes world champs
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) – Former world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica edged Britain’s Adam Gemili in a photo-finish to win the 100 meters at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting on Sunday. Both sprinters were given the same time of 10.07 seconds, with Blake declared the winner. “It was coming,” said Blake, the 2011 world champion...
A lot of high quality work has to be done in Fiji: US veteran journalist
A VETERAN US journalist believes a lot of high quality work has been done in terms of media reporting in Fiji. These were the sentiments shared by US expert on multimedia journalism and assistant dean and professor at the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism and New Media, Dr Debora Wenger while speaking at the...
Tiger leaves door open to playing on Presidents Cup team
(Reuters) – U.S. Presidents Cup captain Tiger Woods said on Monday he may select himself to play for the team in December but he would need to see how sharp his game is before making the call. Woods was not among the top eight players to automatically qualify for the squad after he finished 13th...
WAF, NUW agree on three matters
THE Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) and the National Union of Workers (NUW) have agreed upon three matters that were part of the 14 pending issues, NUW general secretary Felix Anthony told the arbitration court after representatives from WAF and NUW appeared before puisne judge Yohan Liyanage in Suva on Monday. Mr Anthony informed the...
Stephens splits with coach Groeneveld ahead of U.S. Open
(Reuters) – American Sloane Stephens has parted ways with her coach Sven Groeneveld less than a week before the U.S. Open gets underway, the former champion has said. Stephens, who only teamed up with Dutchman Groeneveld in May, has not announced a replacement ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam, which begins on Monday. “After...
Hong Kong readies for further protests after huge, peaceful rally
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong is gearing up for further protests this week after hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators braved heavy rain to rally peacefully on Sunday, marking a change to what have often been violent clashes. Sunday’s massive turnout, which organizers put at 1.7 million, showed that the movement still has widespread...
Hong Kong leader says she hopes non-violent protest puts city on road to peace
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she hopes a non-violent weekend protest that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets in an anti-government rally was the beginning of efforts to restore peace in the Chinese-ruled city. Sunday’s protest was the calmest since the latest demonstrations against perceived...
Trump and Johnson discuss Brexit, economic issues in call
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Brexit and a U.S.-Britain free trade deal during a phone call on Monday ahead of a Group of Seven summit in France this weekend. “Great discussion with Prime Minister @BorisJohnson today. We talked about Brexit and how we can move rapidly on...
20th August
Elton John blasts relentless character assassination of Harry and Meghan
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres spoke out on Monday in support of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, calling them a down-to-earth and hardworking couple who were being unfairly attacked by the media. John recalled his friendship with Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, in a series of tweets in which...
U.S. envoy offers farm visas to boost asylum deal with Guatemala
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – In a bid to strengthen an asylum deal forged between Guatemala’s outgoing president and the United States, a U.S. official offered on Monday to triple the number of temporary farmworker visas available to Guatemalans. Last month, under threat of painful sanctions issued by U.S. President Donald Trump, Guatemala’s Jimmy Morales agreed...
Fiji hosts 5th Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health
FIJI becomes the first Pacific Island country to host the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health. While welcoming delegates to the 5th Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health in Nadi, President Jioji Konrote said “Fiji, like the rest of our friends in the Pacific, are experiencing and witnessing the adverse impacts of climate change and...
Elderly in Hong Kong looking to China for affordable care in retirement
HONG KONG (Reuters) – After spending time with his 84-year-old mother in a senior care home in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, David Lee walked up to the supervisor and asked to reserve a place there for his own retirement. Lee, a 56-year-old from just across the border in Hong Kong, moved his mother,...
Taveuni residents enlightened on real estate matters and consumer product related problems
MORE than 40 people turned up to meet staff of the Real Estate Agents Licensing Board (REALB) and Consumer Council of Fiji in Taveuni today. REALB in collaboration with the Consumer Council of Fiji held a very successful road show in Taveuni whereby members of the public and the two agencies discussed a number of...
In retrial, El Salvador acquits woman accused of killing her stillborn child
CIUDAD DELGADO, El Salvador (Reuters) – A Salvadoran court on Monday acquitted a woman accused of homicide after giving birth to a stillborn baby in a case that drew international attention to the socially conservative nation’s strict abortion ban. Evelyn Hernandez, 21, was previously convicted of intentionally inducing an abortion and had already served three...
