The Fiji Times

Pope, condemning body shaming, uses personal example from boyhood

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Tuesday condemned body shaming among young people, acknowledging that he was guilty of doing it himself when he was boy in Argentina more than seven decades ago. Francis made his comments while speaking to university students in Asia via a video link. A woman from India told him...

Dior shows frayed edges and bare shoulders at Paris Fashion Week

By Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) – Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri unveiled a spring collection on Tuesday that mixed masculine and feminine styles, with full, airy skirts in black mesh and solemn tailored jackets, throwing in faded fabrics, unfinished edges and tops baring one shoulder. Chiuri said she sought to revisit stereotypes of women while...

Leader of Spanish Hells Angels chapter acquitted following trial

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) – Spain’s High Court on Tuesday acquitted a German national accused of heading a crime ring linked to the Hells Angels motorcycle club following a collective trial of 45 of its alleged members over their activities on the resort island of Mallorca almost a decade ago. The defendants faced a slew of...

Actor Viola Davis to join US African diaspora council

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the first members of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement, including actor Viola Davis, who will advise Washington on deepening ties with African communities. Washington has sought to stress the region’s importance and counter challenges posed by China and Russia to the United States’...

40,000 march in Spain against amnesty for Catalan separatists

By Michael Gore and Silvio Castellanos MADRID (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against possible plans by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatists to keep himself in office after an election he failed to win. Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition conservative...

France pledges $150 million to U.N.’s IFAD fund for rural areas

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to invest $150 million in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to fight poverty and climate change in rural areas. France decided to host and organise the 13th replenishment of IFAD, and was now launching a call for contributions by making the commitment, Macron said in...

Biden to host Pacific island leaders in US charm offensive vs China

By David Brunnstrom, Trevor Hunnicutt and Kirsty Needham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will host a second summit with Pacific island leaders this week, part of a U.S. charm offensive to block further Chinese inroads into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard. During the three-day meeting, the U.S. will announce...

Asia Olympic council ‘looking into’ Indian athletes’ China visa issue

By Ian Ransom and Martin Quin Pollard HANGZHOU (Reuters) – The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Asian Games organisers are examining the issue of three Indian athletes unable to join the games in China due to a visa problem, acting OCA President Raja Randhir Singh said on Sunday. “OCA is looking into it, definitely,”...

Italy criticises Germany for funding migrant charity groups

ROME (Reuters) – A German plan to finance charities helping migrants in the Mediterranean causes difficulties for Italy, defence minister Guido Crosetto said on Sunday, as Rome tries to enforce tougher measures to stem the flow of sea arrivals. Following reports in Italian media, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said on Friday that...

China, resource-rich East Timor upgrade bilateral ties

BEIJING (Reuters) – China and East Timor have upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, potentially giving Beijing more influence in the region while satisfying the young half-island nation’s desire for stronger ties with major economies. The agreement to enhance relations came after China’s President Xi Jinping met with East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana...

China’s Xi seriously considering South Korea visit

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping on Saturday said he will seriously consider visiting South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported, as part of efforts to support peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. Separately China Central Television (CCTV) reported that Xi had told South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Saturday that China is...

China central bank adviser proposes structural reforms to revive economy

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has limited room for further monetary policy easing, and it should pursue structural reforms such as encouraging entrepreneurs rather than counting on macroeconomic policies to revive growth, a central bank adviser said on Sunday. Liu Shijin, a member of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) monetary policy committee, told a financial...

UK interior minister to raise ‘unsustainable’ migration pressures during U.S. visit

LONDON (Reuters) – British interior minister Suella Braverman will raise the “the unsustainable pressures” created by illegal migration when she makes a three-day visit to the U.S. this week, her office said on Sunday. In a keynote speech, Braverman will present a blueprint for how countries can combat the crisis and highlight how Britain has...

Thailand expects Tesla, Google, Microsoft to invest $5 billion

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Sunday the country expected to receive investment of at least $5 billion from Tesla, Google and Microsoft. “Tesla would be looking into an EV manufacturing facility, Microsoft and Google are looking at data centres,” he said, without detailing whether the $5 billion was expected to...

Australia seeks separate dialogue on China wine dispute

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia wants a separate dialogue with China on their dispute over wine, the agriculture minister said on Sunday, rejecting Beijing’s proposal to link wine with other trade issues as the two nations slowly seek to improve battered relations. China’s removal of tariffs last month on Australian barley has raised hopes for an...

US ‘disappointed’ Solomon Islands leader Sogavare to miss White House summit

SYDNEY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. is disappointed Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will not attend a Pacific Islands summit with U.S. President Joe Biden next week, the White House said on Saturday. Biden will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday as part of...

Venezuelans to vote in referendum on territory

(Reuters) – Venezuela’s National Assembly has green-lighted a referendum regarding a territorial dispute with Guyana, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said on Saturday in an address to the United Nations. Venezuela this week rejected Guyana’s recent oil tender, arguing that the offshore blocks awarded are in disputed areas and that companies awarded the blocks will not...

Pope says countries should not “play games” with Ukraine on arms aid

By Philip Pullella ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) – Pope Francis suggested on Saturday that some countries were “playing games” with Ukraine by first providing weapons and then considering backing out of their commitments. Francis made his comments aboard the plane returning from a trip to the French port city of Marseilles. He was responding...

Three Palestinians wounded in clashes on Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian officials say

By Nidal al-Mughrabi JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Three Palestinians were wounded in clashes along the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday, Palestinian officials said, as the Israeli military said it was striking Hamas targets in Gaza in response to riots. In what appears to be a renewed wave of violence on the border, Palestinians in Gaza have been...

Multi-day protests over economic crisis grip Ghana’s capital

By Francis Kokoroko ACCRA (Reuters) – Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Saturday for a third day of anti-government protests linked to economic hardship that have led to dozens of arrests. Protesters, some waving placards or the Ghanaian flag, decried the high cost of living and a lack of jobs as...

Tropical Storm Ophelia lashes Mid-Atlantic with fierce winds, heavy rains

By Brendan O’Brien (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Ophelia came ashore on Saturday along the Atlantic Coast where it doused the region with torrential downpours and unrelenting winds that caused flooding and widespread power outages. Nearly 8 million people across the Mid-Atlantic – from New York to South Carolina – were under tropical storm, storm surge...

Island nations blame rich countries for climate inaction at UN assembly

By Daphne Psaledakis UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Island nations bearing the brunt of climate change this week confronted rich countries at the United Nations General Assembly, saying the failure by developed countries to act with urgency had put the islands’ survival at risk. “There are many amongst us, the small and marginalized islands of our...

Food insecurity in Africa should be overcome in 5 years

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) – Programs supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in over 30 African countries have helped produce some $12 billion worth of food, and the bank’s $25 billion objective is “well on track,” AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said on Friday. “As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be talking...

Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets land on motorway

OSLO (Reuters) – A pair of F-35A Lockheed Martin fighter jets have landed on a motorway for the first time, footage from the Norwegian military showed, a step that enables them to reduce vulnerable time on the ground in times of war. The two Royal Norwegian Air Force aircraft landed in Tervo, central Finland, on...

Cattle graze in dry reservoirs as drought grips Istanbul

By Ali Kucukgocmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Cattle now graze and sunflowers grow in the dried lakebed of the Terkos Dam outside Istanbul, where a drought this year has reduced water levels in the reservoirs of Turkey’s largest city to their lowest in nearly a decade. In the 11 months to September, Turkey’s northwest received 23%...

Abbott India warns of laxatives shortage in tussle with Goa regulator

By Rishika Sadam HYDERABAD (Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories’ Indian unit has warned of potential supply shortages of two popular laxative syrups after production was prohibited in India’s Goa state, where drug inspectors have found lapses at a company factory, a letter shows. Goa, where Abbott has one of its two India plants, asked the company...

US finalizes rules to prevent China from benefiting from $52 billion in chips funding

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday is issuing final rules to prevent semiconductor manufacturing subsidies from being used by China and other countries deemed to pose American national security concerns. The regulation is the final hurdle before the Biden administration can begin awarding $39 billion in subsidies for semiconductor...

DeSantis embraces risky abortion stance to draw contrast with Trump

By James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As Ron DeSantis’ path to the Republican presidential nomination appears to be narrowing, the Florida governor has decided to go all-in on perhaps his most divisive and potentially toxic policy stance: support of a six-week abortion ban. A hardline position on abortion is fraught with political risk. Polls show...

Morocco earthquake affected 2.8 million people, says minister

RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco’s earthquake damaged 2,930 villages in the High Atlas mountains with a total population of 2.8 million people, the minister in charge of the budget said on Friday. The 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on Sept. 8 killed more than 2,900 people, most of them in hard-to-reach mountainous areas. At least 59,674...

World

27th September

Dozens of Karabakh children reach safety in Armenia in back of a truck