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6th July
Uzbekistan says 18 killed, hundreds wounded in unrest
ALMATY (Reuters) -Eighteen people were killed and 243 wounded during unrest in Uzbekistan’s autonomous province of Karakalpakstan last week, Uzbek authorities said on Monday – the worst bout of violence in the Central Asian nation...
What’s happening today!
Hi everyone. Here is some quick basic information that you and your family may find useful while making plans for today. But as usual, here is our quick look at the weather forecast for today to until midnight tonight: Weather Expect strong southeast winds with wind speeds up to 45km/hr over land areas of Lau...
EU’s green gas and nuclear investment rules head for final vote
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU’s plan to label investments in gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly faces a final vote on Wednesday when European lawmakers decide whether to accept or reject proposals that have divided governments and investors. The vote is the final hurdle in the European Union’s long-delayed decision on whether to add...
5th July
Focus on private sector growth and job creation
The new country manager for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will focus on developing new opportunities for private sector investment to drive jobs and growth, helping nations recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle climate change. Judith Green has been appointed as the IFC’s new country manager for the Pacific Islands,...
$218m support: Loan to boost Fiji’s ongoing recovery efforts
Fiji’s ongoing recovery from the immense shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic that exacerbated the impacts of recent natural disasters has received a timely boost in the form of $US100 million ($F218m) from the World Bank as part of the Fiji Recovery and Resilience Second Development Policy Financing. In a statement issued yesterday the World Bank...
Italy declares state of emergency for drought-stricken north
ROME (Reuters) -Italy on Monday declared a state of emergency for areas surrounding the river Po, which accounts for roughly a third of the country’s agricultural production and is suffering its worst drought for 70 years. The government decree will allow authorities to cut through red tape and take action immediately if they think it...
People: The calling – Fulfilling a dying man’s wish
Methodist Church minister Reverend Senitiki Raikoti took heed of a dying man’s wish and kept his side of the bargain. On July 17, 2003, he was asked by his grandfather to become a church minister. This happened on his sick bed at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva. He looked at his grandfather, smiled...
Rescue teams scan mountains for missing after Italian glacier collapse
CANAZEI, Italy (Reuters) -Helicopter crews and drones flew over the Italian Alps on Monday searching for 13 people missing after part of a mountain glacier collapsed, killing at least seven people in a disaster experts linked to rising temperatures. Much of Italy has been baking in an early-summer heatwave and scientists said climate change was...
MP Salote Radrodro’s case to continue in August
Opposition MP Salote Radrodro’s trial will go on a break until August 1 (2022). The matter continued last Thursday after it was adjourned on Wednesday, with five Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) witnesses taking the stand in the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court in Suva. Ms Radrodro has been charged with one count...
Rusting Eiffel Tower in need of full repairs, reports say
PARIS (Reuters) – The Eiffel Tower is riddled with rust and in need of full repairs, but instead it is being given a cosmetic 60 million euro paint job ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, according to confidential reports cited by French magazine Marianne. The wrought-iron 324-metre (1,063 ft) high tower, built by...
Constitutional redress case to be heard this month
The constitutional redress challenge brought by former Fiji National University lecturer Nanise Vucago will be heard on July 14. The case was called before Chief Justice Kamal Kumar on Wednesday for mention. Last year, Ms Vucago was charged with five counts of malicious acts for allegedly condemning the COVID-19 vaccine and creating public alarm and...
Pope Francis denies he is planning to resign soon
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis has dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he is on track to visit Canada this month and hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after that. In an exclusive interview in his Vatican residence, Francis also...
High seas murder case: Kapawale breaks off from lawyer
Alleged murderer Tevita Qaqa Kapawale has withdrawn his instructions from Suva lawyer Nemani Tuifagalele and is no longer represented by Mr Tuifagalele. The case in which Mr Kapawale is accused of alleged murders aboard the fishing vessel MV Tiro II in May 2021 was called before High Court judge Justice Daniel Goundar in the High...
Fiji Muslim community farewells leader
Hundreds of Muslims, well-wishers and friends paid their last respects to the late Fiji Muslim League national president Hafizud Dean Khan who was laid to rest in Nadi yesterday. Mr Khan who died after a short illness at the Lautoka Hospital on Sunday, was accorded a farewell that brought together Fijians and expatriates from all...
After 40 years of extinction, rhinos return to Mozambique
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Over four decades after they became extinct locally, rhinos are roaming again the wilds of Mozambique, which is bringing the endangered species from South Africa in efforts to breathe new life into its parks and boost local tourism. A group of rangers captured, sedated and moved black and white rhinos over 1,000...
Football legends help needy in Labasa
Labasa football legends, a group comprising of former Labasa and Fiji football reps, are helping needy members of society with food, water tanks, and other forms of assistance. On Sunday, the group built a water tank stand for Jeetendra Prasad, a person living with disability at his Urata home outside Labasa. The group donated a...
Denmark in shock as gunman kills three at Copenhagen shopping mall
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Three people were killed and several more were wounded in a shooting at a shopping centre in Copenhagen on Sunday, Danish police said, adding they had arrested a 22-year-old Danish man and charged him with manslaughter. The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after it hosted...
NZ helps nurture Fijian leaders
New Zealand High Commissioner Charlotte Darlow says her country strongly supports the development of the next generation of Fijian leaders as she renewed New Zealand’s platinum partnership with Leadership Fiji. Ms Darlow said through the partnership, New Zealand continued to offer the opportunity to aspiring Fijian leaders “to enhance and advance their knowledge and skill...
Wildfire rages north of Athens, one town evacuated
ATHENS (Reuters) – A large wildfire raged out of control north of Athens on Monday, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of a nearby coastal town as a precaution. Strong winds fanned the flames in the area of Schimatari, about 50 km (30 miles) outside the capital amid soaring temperatures. Officials urged residents to leave...
Domo Vou Talei: Supporting new talents
DOMO Vou Talei producer Phil Dakei is an artist, songwriter and performer in his own right. His songs have taken the Solomon Island man – with maternal links to Ovalau – to countries he never dreamt he would set foot on. When it comes to music, he knows what he is talking about. Dakei said...
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents told to evacuate as rains flood suburbs
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Fresh evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of Sydney residents on Monday after relentless rains triggered floods for the third time this year in some low-lying suburbs. An intense low-pressure system off Australia’s east coast is forecast to bring heavy rain through Monday across New South Wales after several places in...
‘Project to source enough water for everybody’ – A-G
The $300 million water project in Viria, Naitasiri will source enough water to service everybody for 24 hours and seven days a week. Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said this at a 2022-2023 budget consultation in Nausori yesterday. “If you go past Waila towards ACS you will see a lot of laying of pipes and this is...
‘CWMH a no-go zone for visitors’
The Colonial War Memorial Hospital is a no-go zone for visitors, says Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong. He said the hospital had been divided into two zones — those with the virus and those who have tested negative — following an increase in patients testing positive for COVID-19. “We are bringing back some...
Prof Biman lashes out at Fijian Economy Minister
National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad says Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum needs to explain how Fiji’s debt ballooned from $2.83 billion before the December 2006 military coup to the projected $9.125 billion this year. He said this in response to Mr Sayed-Khaiyum’s comments at a budget consultation in Nausori yesterday that Fiji’s economy was...
Fiji’s Police Commissioner sets ultimatum for landowners
Landowners will now be taken to task if marijuana is planted on their property, even if they have no knowledge of who cultivated it, says Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho. He said they would now resort to the Drugs Act, which gave them the green light to arrest landowners whose land has been utilised for...
Man suspected of organising killing of Dutch crime reporter arrested
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -A Polish man suspected of organising the killing of Dutch celebrity crime reporter Peter R. De Vries was arrested on Monday, the Dutch public prosecutor’s office said. “A suspect was arrested, a 27-year-old Polish man, for coordinating the men who carried out the killing,” prosecutor spokesperson Brechtje van de Moosdijk told Reuters....
From the Editor-in-Chief’s desk: Your July 5 briefing
Bula The big one on the front page of The Fiji Times’ edition for Tuesday, July 5 is on politics… there is also a story about drugs. Headlines PAGE 1 Property owners PEOPLE who own property where marijuana is cultivated will now be taken to task – even if they claim to have no knowledge...
Ukraine withdraws from battered Lysychansk city; Russia claims major victory
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the bombed-out city of Lysychansk, prompting Russia to claim full control of the eastern Luhansk region, a key Kremlin war goal, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to regain the lost territory. Ukraine on Sunday said the tactical withdrawal would save the lives of its soldiers who would...
Komai to observe PNG election
Fijian Media Association executive Makereta Komai has been appointed by the Commonwealth to be one of the observers for the election in Papua New Guinea. Komai is the editor of the Suva-based Pacific Islands News Association and is also the treasurer of the Fijian Media Association. A statement from the Commonwealth said the observer group...
Japan coalition headed for election win, LDP seen gaining seats -poll
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s ruling coalition is headed for victory in a July 10 upper house election, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling party likely to extend the number of seats it holds on its own, according to an opinion poll published on Monday. A total of 125 seats are being contested, making 63 a...
