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Spreading the love: Christmas time to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ
Christmas is all about giving, family gatherings, symbolic decorations, feasting but most importantly celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Gina Wai from Lami outside Suva said apart from preparing delicious lovo for her family, attending...
U.S. deep freeze leaves more than 700,000 without power, thousands of flights canceled
(Reuters) – An arctic blast that gripped much of the United States on Saturday left more than 700,000 without power, at least 16 dead from weather-related car crashes and thousands stranded due to flight cancellations. Plummeting temperatures were expected to bring the coldest Christmas Eve on record, and energy systems across the country were strained...
China’s National Health Commission to stop publishing daily COVID figures
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s National Health Commission, which for the past three years or so has published daily COVID-19 case figures for the country, said it will no longer release such data from Sunday. “Relevant COVID information will be published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for reference and research,” the NHC...
2022 General Election: Fiji’s new Cabinet Ministers and Assistant Ministers
Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka – Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Climate Change & Environment, Civil Service, Information, Public Enterprises Prof Biman Prasad – Minister for Finance Siromi Turaga – Attorney General and Minister for Justice Pio Tikoduadua – Minister for Home Affairs Agni Deo Singh – Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Ifereimi Vasu...
Twitter restores suicide prevention feature after Reuters report
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Twitter Inc has restored a feature that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up certain content, after coming under pressure from some users and consumer safety groups over its removal. Reuters reported on Friday that the feature was taken down a few days ago, citing two people...
2022 General Election: Rabuka – Democracy works; allows previous government time to clear office
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he has given time to the previous government to clear office. Speaking to the media outside Parliament yesterday, he said he had no immediate plans. “At the moment, I am allowing the former government ministers to clear out and farewell their staff,” Mr Rabuka said. “We don’t want to...
Brazilian anti-bomb police carry out operation near capital’s airport
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s federal police bomb squad are carrying out an operation prompted by reports of a suspected explosive artifact found near the airport of Brasilia, the capital city, according to future justice minister Flavio Dino. Dino, who will soon begin his position as part of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government,...
2022 General Election: Gavoka – Democracy now well-established
Democracy in Fiji is now well-established, says newly-sworn in Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Viliame Gavoka. He said this in response to questions from this paper regarding the outcome of yesterday’s secret ballot voting in Parliament. “This was done above Board and after all this, we are all proud of the...
India makes COVID test mandatory for arrivals from some countries, including China
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, the health minister said on Saturday. Passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive, Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
Hard time teach us valuable lessons – Patel
Lessons learnt through hard times must never be forgotten, as in the midst of adversities lie opportunities. TheĀ Fiji Times board chairman Kirit Patel said this in his annual Christmas message, adding the holidays were the best time to be with friends and families. “It is a time for families, friends, loved ones and those less...
Malaysia finds body of last person unaccounted for in campsite landside
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Rescue teams in Malaysia on Saturday recovered the body of the last person unaccounted for after a landslide that flattened a campsite last week, bringing what is thought to be the final death toll to 31. The landslide occurred in the early hours of Dec. 15 at Batang Kali, a popular...
2022 General Election: Turaga is Fiji’s new Attorney-General; humbled by appointment
Attorney-General Siromi Turaga says he will use his 28 years of legal expertise to execute the important role before him. Speaking to the media outside Parliament yesterday, he said he was humbled to be given such a critical role in Government. “I am delighted and I am deeply humbled by the appointment,” the former magistrate...
Tanker explosion kills 8 in Johannesburg
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A gas tanker apparently stuck under a bridge exploded in Johannesburg on Saturday, killing eight people, injuring scores more and damaging nearby buildings, emergency services said. The blast broke the roof of the emergency department at the Tambo Memorial hospital, destroyed two houses and several cars, and injured bystanders. The vehicle caught...
2022 General Election: Transition is good for Fiji – Prof Biman
Minister for Finance and National Federation Party leader Prof Biman Prasad says the transition to a new government is good for our country and democracy. Speaking after the swearing-in ceremony yesterday, he said his plan was to work with everyone. “I want to take this opportunity to thank the prime minister for accepting the outcome...
Kurdish protest over Paris shooting turns violent
PARIS (Reuters) -Clashes broke out for a second day in Paris on Saturday between police and Kurdish protestors angry at the killing of three members of their community by a gunman. Cars were overturned, at least one vehicle was burned, shop windows were damaged and small fires set alight near Republic Square, a traditional venue...
PM Rabuka emphasises message of unity
Fiji’s new Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says Christ’s teachings provided the way that a country of many communities and beliefs can co-exist in unity. In his Christmas message, he said he wanted to reach out to all Fijians in the spirit of this wonderful celebration. He said Jesus Christ offered salvation to humanity and the...
2022 General Election: Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama elected Speaker of Fijian Parliament
Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu is the new Speaker of Parliament. Mr Lalabalavu was accorded the “dragging of the speaker” ritual, where he was escorted from the public gallery by National Federation Party leader MP Prof Biman Prasad and People’s Alliance MP Ro Filipe Tuisawau to take an oath before he took up the Speaker’s...
Remember the war weary and the poor, pope urges on Christmas Eve
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday led the world’s Catholics into Christmas, saying in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to “consume even their neighbours”. Francis, celebrating the 10th Christmas of his pontificate, presided...
2022 General Election: A new dawn
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka ended Voreqe Bainimarama’s 16-year reign as leader of the country when he secured a 28-vote majority during secret ballot voting in Parliament yesterday. Speaking outside Parliament before a swearing-in ceremony at the State House in Suva, Mr Rabuka said he hoped the people of Fiji “will truly have a Merry...
Charles ‘The Serpent’ Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison, heads to France
KATHMANDU (Reuters) -Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was released from a Nepal prison on Friday after nearly two decades behind bars. The 78-year-old French national is suspected of killing more than 20 Western backpackers on the “hippie trail” through Asia,...
COVID-19: 70 cases and three deaths reported
The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has reported 70 new cases of COVID-19 and seven cases of reinfections. The ministry also recorded three COVID deaths. Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong said of the 70 new cases, 34 were recorded in the Central Division and 36 cases in the Western Division. Of the seven...
British nurses and paramedics plan more strikes in 2023
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s health workers on Friday announced a fresh round of strikes in January, with their long-running dispute over pay and conditions with the government set to continue into 2023. The new strike dates will heap more pressure on Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) which is already stretched by staff shortages and record...
2022 General Election: Fiji’s Speaker of Parliament notes reduction in women reps
Newly-elected Speaker of Parliament Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has noted the reduction in the number of women representatives in parliament. He made the remark in his address after his election as Speaker yesterday. āWhilst we have many new and young members entering Parliament for the first time, I also notice the reduction of the number of...
Oil rises $3/bbl after Russia signals output cut due to price cap
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices settled about $3 per barrel higher on Friday for a second straight week of gains after Moscow said it could cut crude output in response to the G7 price cap on Russian exports. Brent crude settled at $83.92, up by $2.94 or 3.6%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude...
Employment Ministry advises employers and workers of last tranche of minimum wage increase
Fijiās Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations has advised employers and workers of the implementation of the fourth and last tranche of minimum wage increase that will come into effect from January 1, 2023. Ministry permanent secretary Osea Cawaru announced this in a government statement yesterday saying the new rate for the national minimum...
Venezuela’s working-class communities get together to eat Christmas ‘hallacas’
CARACAS (Reuters) – Residents in working-class neighborhoods of Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas are coming together to break bread over “hallacas,” a dish commonly served around Christmas, as part of an initiative to unite communities depleted by migration. Hallacas, a type of tamale filled with ingredients such as beef, chicken, olives and capers and wrapped...
What’s Happening Today!
Bula vinaka everyone. Here is another edition of some basic information you may need to know for today. First, here is your weather forecast for today: Weather -Cloudy periods with some showers over the greater Suva/Nausori-Tailevu, interior Ra, Naitasiri and Serua, Kadavu, Cakaudrove and Southern Bua, Lau and the Lomaiviti groups -Fine weather elsewhere apart...
Suspected militants heading for Pakistani govt target blow themselves up
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistani militants thought to have been on the verge of carrying out a suicide bombing in Islamabad’s government district blew themselves up on Friday as police pursued their car, killing one officer, authorities said. The interior ministry said the vehicle had been heading for a high-value target in the capital, without giving details,...
Christmas gifts come by boat to isolated Romanian Danube Delta villages
C.A. ROSETTI, Romania (Reuters) – For the elderly living in remote villages in the Danube Delta, one of the world’s largest wetlands, winter is a time of isolation. This year, they are also struggling to cope with a shortage of firewood and rising food prices. So, days before Christmas, Romanian coast guard officers braced against...
U.S. FDA approves Acer Therapeutics’ genetic disorder drug
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Acer Therapeutics Inc’s drug for treating patients with a type of genetic disorder called urea cycle disorders (UCDs), according to the health regulator’s website. The approval letter, issued on Thursday, said the drug, sodium phenylbutyrate, could be used as an adjunctive therapy to the...
