The Fiji TimesWorld Archives

Turkey earthquake of magnitude 7.9 shakes central region, Syria

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck southern Turkey early on Monday and was felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria, collapsing buildings and sending residents into the snowy streets, witnesses and broadcasters said. The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said the quake struck at a depth of 10 km (6...

Landmark Hong Kong national security trial starts 2 years after arrests

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Sixteen Hong Kong pro-democracy figures face trial on Monday, more than two years after their arrest, in what some observers say is a landmark case for the city’s judicial independence under a national security law imposed by Beijing. The defendants are those who pleaded not guilty out of 47 arrested in...

Asia shares skid, dollar gains as yields spike

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares slipped on Monday after a run of upbeat economic data from the United States and globally lessened the risk of recession, but also suggested interest rates would have to rise further and stay up for longer. Bond markets took a beating in the wake of stunning reports on jobs and...

Dollar on the front foot after robust U.S. jobs data, yen falters

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar extended its rally on Monday after a strong U.S. jobs report suggested the Federal Reserve could stay hawkish for longer, while the yen was hit by news the Bank of Japan’s Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya was being sounded out to be the next governor. The Nikkei newspaper reported, citing anonymous...

At least 24 dead in Chile as wildfires spread, driving many to flee for safety

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Firefighters battled dozens of raging wildfires in Chile on Sunday, seeking to gain control of one of the country’s worst natural disasters in years as the death toll rose to at least 24 with nearly 1,000 more injured. International help began arriving on Sunday from a handful of countries that have pledged resources,...

U.S. military says it is searching for remnants of Chinese spy balloon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Sunday it is searching for remnants of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down the previous day, in a dramatic spy saga that has further strained American-Chinese relations. The U.S. Navy is working to recover the balloon and its payload and the Coast Guard is providing...

Oil prices edge higher as IEA’s Birol talks up China demand outlook

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Oil prices inched up in early trade on Monday after falling around 8% last week to more than three-week lows as jitters over major economies outweighed signs of a demand recovery in China, the world’s top oil importer. Brent crude futures crawled up 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $80.10 a barrel at...

Renault, Nissan to fill in the blanks on their rejiggered alliance

LONDON (Reuters) – Nissan and Renault on Monday are set to unveil details of their redesigned alliance and answer questions about Renault’s electric vehicle (EV) business and how it will sell off most of its stake in the Japanese carmaker. The two companies announced a sweeping remake of their two-decade-old automaking alliance last month, which...

Japanese artist turns heads with freaky flesh-like accessories

(Reuters) – A Japanese DJ has found a new calling making freaky flesh-like accessories such as severed finger ink stamps, pendants with blinking eyes and purses with gaping mouths and stubble, inspired by horror movie special effects. After his first artwork in 2017 was pictured on the cover of his debut album – a music...

Actor Viola Davis achieves elite EGOT status with Grammy win

(Reuters) – Actor Viola Davis on Sunday won a Grammy for her audio recording of her memoir “Finding Me,” granting her entry into the elite ranks of EGOT winners with an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. Davis is the third Black woman to earn this title, and the 18th person in...

At Sunday’s Grammys, will Beyonce finally win top honor of best album?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop superstar Beyonce, winner of more Grammy awards than any other female artist, has never taken home the coveted album of the year trophy at the music industry’s highest honors. That could change on Sunday, according to industry experts and awards pundits, although it is not a sure thing in a...

Pakistan’s former President Musharraf, key U.S. ally against al Qaeda, is dead

ISLAMABAD/DUBAI (Reuters) – Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the campaign against al Qaeda following the militant group’s Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, died in Dubai on Sunday after a prolonged illness. He was 79. Musharraf, a former four-star general who seized power after a 1999 military coup, died in hospital in...

Thousands of Danes protest cancelling of public holiday

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Thousands of people gathered in Copenhagen on Sunday to protest a bill put forward by the government to scrap a public holiday to help finance increased defence spending. The demonstration was organised by the country’s biggest labour unions which oppose abolishing the Great Prayer Day, a Christian holiday that falls on the...

Republicans criticize Biden for waiting to shoot down Chinese balloon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Joe Biden for waiting days to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated over the United States, accusing him of showing weakness toward China and initially trying to keep the breach of U.S. airspace undisclosed. A U.S. Air Force fighter jet on Saturday...

Italy sounds alarm on large-scale computer hacking attack

ROME (Reuters) -Thousands of computer servers around the world have been targeted by a ransomware hacking attack, Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) said on Sunday, warning organisations to take action to protect their systems. The hacking attack sought to exploit a software vulnerability, ACN director general Roberto Baldoni told Reuters, adding it was on a...

Japan government has sounded out Amamiya about becoming BOJ governor -Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s government has sounded out Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya to succeed incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor, the Nikkei newspaper reported early on Monday, citing anonymous government and ruling party sources. The next BOJ chief will face the delicate task of normalising ultra-loose monetary policy, which is drawing...

Dozens of wildfires torch forests in Chile, death toll at 22

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Dozens of wildfires blazing though Chile caused the government to extend an emergency order to another region on Saturday, as a scorching summer heat wave complicates efforts to control fires that have claimed at least 22 lives so far. The latest emergency order declared by the interior ministry now covers the southern region...

Cyprus heads to polls to pick new president with runoff expected

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus votes on Sunday for a new president in an election unlikely to produce a clear winner, setting the stage for a runoff on Feb. 12. Heralding the end of two terms for incumbent conservative President Nicos Anastasiades, some 561,000 Greek Cypriots will be called to vote after a campaign dominated by...

Longer-range rockets included in $2 billion U.S. pledge for Ukraine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new rocket that would double Ukraine’s strike range in its war with Russia was included in a $2.175 billion U.S. military aid package, the Pentagon said on Friday. The new weapon, the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), will allow Ukraine’s military to hit targets at twice the distance reachable by...

Germany has evidence of war crimes in Ukraine ‘in three-digit range’ – prosecutor

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany has collected evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the country’s prosecutor general said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, adding that he saw a need for a judicial process at international level. “Currently, for example, we are focusing on the mass killings in Bucha or attacks against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure,”...

Sri Lanka completing pre-requisites for IMF aid – President

COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka is completing the pre-requisites to unlock a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and expects rapid approval from the global lender, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday. “We are successfully completing the difficult stage required to get support from the International Monetary Fund. We expect to get their...

East African regional leaders demand ceasefire in eastern Congo

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – East African regional leaders on Saturday renewed their call for an immediate ceasefire by all sides in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that pits the country’s military against a rebel group it has accused Rwanda of supporting. At a summit in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, the leaders of the regional...

China’s balloon over the U.S. seen as bold but clumsy espionage tactic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -China’s flight of a suspected surveillance balloon over the United States appears to mark a more aggressive – albeit puzzling – espionage tactic than relying on satellites and the theft of industrial and defense secrets, security experts said. Both the United States and China have for decades used surveillance satellites to keep an...

Brazil sinks rusting old aircraft carrier in the Atlantic

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast, the Brazilian Navy said, despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain. The 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry...

Pope offers ‘wings to your hope’ to displaced children in South Sudan

JUBA (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday met South Sudanese children displaced by conflict and heard of the hardships of their lives in camps, telling them they would build a better future for the world’s newest country by replacing ethnic hatred with forgiveness. The pope was visiting South Sudan with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby...

Firefighters battle dozens of wildfires in Chile, death toll at 22

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Dozens of wildfires blazing though Chile caused the government to extend an emergency order to another region on Saturday, as a scorching summer heatwave complicates efforts to control fires that have claimed at least 22 lives so far. The emergency order declared by the interior ministry now covers the region of La Araucania,...

Ukraine, Russia swap prisoners; bodies of British volunteers returned

(Reuters) -Ukraine and Russia traded almost 200 prisoners of war in a swap announced separately by both sides on Saturday, with the bodies of two British volunteers also being sent back to Ukraine. The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said 116 Ukrainians had been returned, while Russian news agencies cited Moscow’s defence ministry...

Take a bow-wow! Meet Bobi, the world’s oldest dog on record

CONQUEIROS, Portugal (Reuters) – When his dog was born three decades ago in a tiny village in central Portugal, Leonel Costa was only eight years old. Little did he know that his beloved Bobi would one day be recorded as the world’s oldest dog. When Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, celebrated its 30th birthday...

French PM offers to tweak pension overhaul for conservatives backing

PARIS (Reuters) – French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne offered on Sunday to soften a planned pension overhaul to let some people who started work early also retire early in order to win conservatives support for the reform in parliament. President Emmanuel Macron’s government wants to raise the retirement age two years to 64 and extend...

World

7th February

U.S. working to recover suspected Chinese spy balloon