The Fiji Times

UK’s Sunak says he wants to build on Biden ties in Washington trip

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday he wanted to foster a “close and candid relationship” with U.S. President Joe Biden during a visit to Washington next week that comes after some signs of strains in bilateral ties. Sunak is due to be in the U.S. capital on Wednesday and Thursday...

Tens of thousands gather in Serbia’s anti-government protest

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Serbs joined an anti-government protest in Belgrade on Saturday, blaming a culture of violence for the deaths of 18 people in two mass shootings and calling on the interior minister to resign. The protest marked the one-month anniversary of the country’s first school shooting on May 3, when...

India train crash survivor recounts: ‘We thought we were dead’

By Jatindra Dash and Krishn Kaushik BALASORE, India (Reuters) – Ompal Bhatia, a survivor of the three-train crash in India on Friday, had first thought he was dead. When the train he was traveling in went off-track, Bhatia was with three friends on his way to Chennai for work. The 25-year-old had spent most of...

New Security Warning Issued For Google’s 1.8 Billion Gmail Users

The security of Gmail has always been one of its biggest selling points, but now one of its most important new security features is actively being used by hackers to scam users Introduced last month, the Gmail checkmark system highlights verified companies and organizations to users with a blue checkmark. The idea is to help users discern...

Purification rite in St. Peter’s after naked man desecrated pope’s altar

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A special purification rite was held at the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday after it was desecrated by a man who stood on it naked to protest against the war in Ukraine. The prayer service, known as a penitential rite and required by Canon law, was led by...

Three Europeans return home after release by Iran in prisoner swap

By Charlotte Van Campenhout BRUSSELS/DUBAI (Reuters) – Three Europeans returned home on Saturday a day after being released by Iran in a prisoner swap, and Tehran said there was no reason for Europeans to be arrested if they were not “exploited” by foreign security services. The three men – two with dual Austrian-Iranian nationality and...

Two people killed by Ukrainian artillery fire on Russia’s Belgorod region

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two people were killed and two injured by Ukrainian artillery fire on Russia’s Belgorod region on Saturday, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. “Since this morning, settlements in the Shebekino urban district have been under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he wrote on Telegram. On Friday, Gladkov said that more than 2,500 people...

Pope to visit Mongolia, home to just 1,300 Catholics

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis will make an Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip to Mongolia, one of the most far-flung places he has ever visited and which has only about 1,300 Catholics but is strategically significant for the Roman Catholic Church because of its proximity to China. The Vatican announced the trip...

India’s worst train crash in decades kills at least 288

By Jatindra Dash and Abinaya V BAHANAGA, India (Reuters) – At least 288 people have died in India’s worst rail crash in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in an accident a preliminary report blamed on signal failure. One train in Friday’s...

Governments race to regulate AI tools

(Reuters) – Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT are complicating governments’ efforts to agree laws governing the use of the technology. Here are the latest steps national and international governing bodies are taking to regulate AI tools: AUSTRALIA * Seeking input on regulations The government is consulting Australia’s main science...

Judge dismisses Washington, DC, privacy lawsuit against Facebook owner Meta

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A 2018 privacy lawsuit brought by Washington, D.C., against Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc was dismissed on Thursday by a Superior Court judge, who ruled the firm did not mislead consumers over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The lawsuit alleged violation of the district’s consumer protection law. The social media firm drew global...

Argentinian court gives suspended sentence to Boca Juniors’ Villa

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Colombian striker Sebastian Villa Cano, who plays for Argentina’s top club Boca Juniors, was given a suspended prison sentence of more than two years on Friday after being found guilty of violence against his former partner Daniela Cortes. Villa was denounced in April 2020 by Cortes through photos of injuries published...

China’s snub of U.S. military leader highlights escalation risk

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) -Brief smiles and handshakes by U.S. and Chinese military leaders at a luxury hotel in Singapore on Friday belie a deep freeze in communications between the two armed forces that is becoming a growing worry at the Pentagon. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had sought a proper meeting with his Chinese counterpart at...

Biden aide expressed concern in calls with Kosovo, Serbia leaders

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior aide to U.S. President Joe Biden expressed concern about events in northern Kosovo in calls with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the White House said on Friday. A political crisis that has spiraled into violence in Kosovo’s north has intensified since ethnic Albanian mayors took office...

Wildfires spread in eastern Canada, forcing evacuations in coastal Quebec

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Some 10,000 residents in coastal Quebec were forced to evacuate homes on Friday as wildfires engulf more Canadian provinces, in what is emerging as one of the worst starts to the forest fire season. The mayor of Sept-Iles, a coastal Quebec city, declared a local state of emergency on Friday, as wildfire...

Aid agencies in Sudan grapple with looting, bureaucracy to deliver relief

By Aidan Lewis CAIRO (Reuters) – Aid workers in Sudan say fierce fighting, rampant looting and reams of red tape are hampering efforts to deliver vital humanitarian supplies to the millions of people who now rely on a relief effort since a conflict erupted in mid-April. The United Nations estimates 25 million people, or more...

Senegal unrest flares again as army is deployed

By Bate Felix, Sofia Christensen and Ngouda Dione DAKAR (Reuters) – Police and protestors clashed in Senegal’s capital Dakar on Friday as unrest picked up again one day after a jail sentence for opposition politician Ousmane Sonko sparked some of the deadliest violence in the country in recent memory. Nine people were killed in clashes...

Greek conservative leader gets COVID weeks before elections

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, just weeks before a second round of national elections, he said in a video message. “I tested positive today and therefore I will stay at home for a few days,” Mitsotakis said in a video post on Instagram adding that he...

Spain’s Catholic Church finds hundreds of alleged child abusers over eight decades

MADRID (Reuters) – An investigation by the Spanish Catholic Church into child sexual abuse by members of the clergy and non-clerical staff has so far identified 728 alleged abusers and 927 victims since the 1940s, according to its first report. “We acknowledge the harm caused,” said Jose Gabriel Vera, the spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’...

US says more nuclear arms not needed to deter Russia, China

By Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States does not need more nuclear weapons to deter the combined forces of Russia and China because of its advanced military capabilities, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday. Sullivan also said Washington will abide by the limits on strategic nuclear weapons...

US sanctions target Iran’s internet censorship amid protests

By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said on Friday it imposed sanctions on Iranian technology company Arvan Cloud, two employees and an affiliated Emirati firm for helping Tehran censor the internet in Iran as part of the government’s attempts to crush domestic protests. Arvan Cloud has a close relationship with Iran’s intelligence...

Libya’s Tripoli government targets more western towns with drone strikes

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) stepped up drone strikes on Friday against what it said were smuggling gangs in western regions, attacking targets in Zawia, Zuwara, Ajeelat and Maya. However, the strikes that began a week ago have hit factions linked with figures opposed to Prime Minister Abdelhamid al-Dbeibah, prompting outrage...

Ukraine repels new Russian air barrage as Moscow contends with cross-border attacks

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine fended off 36 Russian air attacks in and around the capital overnight while pro-Kyiv Russian fighters said they were battling Russian forces for a second day inside Russia, trading blame with Moscow for the deaths of two civilians. Russia has launched about 20 waves of attacks on Kyiv...

Vietnam urges industry to save energy during heatwave

By Thinh Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is turning off street lights and manufacturers are switching operations to off-peak hours to keep the national power system running amid record temperatures in some areas that have caused a surge in demand. As weather officials warn the heatwave could run into June, several cities have cut back...

Japan slammed by torrential rain as tropical storm nears

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) – Parts of Japan were slammed by torrential rain on Friday as Tropical Storm Mawar neared, prompting authorities to advise over a million people to evacuate, though no injuries were reported. Mawar, which wreaked havoc on Guam earlier this week, has weakened to tropical storm strength from its earlier super...

Ukraine says it downed more than 30 missiles and drones

(Reuters) – Ukrainian forces in the capital, Kyiv, said on Friday they shot down more than 30 Russian missiles and drones overnight and two people were injured by falling debris, before authorities lifted air raid alerts across most of the country. Russia has launched about 20 separate missiles and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since...

Britain’s ETS CO2 emissions rose to 110.6 million tonnes in 2022

(Reuters) – Carbon dioxide emissions covered by Britain’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) in 2022, were 110.6 million tonnes, up 2.7 million tonnes from the previous year, the UK ETS Authority said late on Thursday. “This change was largely driven by a substantial increase in UK ETS aviation emissions, consistent with a rebound in aviation activity...

Harry to become first British royal in 130 years to give evidence in court

By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Harry will become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for 130 years when he testifies next week in his lawsuit against a newspaper group he accuses of unlawful behaviour. Harry, King Charles’ younger son, will appear in the witness box at London’s High Court...

State treason trial of Russian physicist begins in St. Petersburg

(Reuters) – The criminal trial of a prominent Russian physicist accused of state treason opened in St Petersburg on Thursday amid tight secrecy and concerns over the health of the elderly defendant. Anatoly Maslov, 76, is one of three hypersonic missile scientists who worked at an institute in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and who...

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Transfer of holy icon shows Russian Orthodoxy’s new sway under Putin