Author: TMC Palau
The removal of the first abandoned vessels from Suva Harbour is finally moving ahead, with three derelict ships targeted in the first phase of a major cleanup project. The Derelict Vessel Removal Project Governance Committee has cleared the way for the first phase, funded through the Captain Johnathan Smith Fund. The project aims to address safety risks, protect marine ecosystems and restore the harbour’s environment. Permanent Secretary for the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr Lesikimacuata Korovavala, says careful planning was needed before the removal work could begin.Article continues after advertisement The Fiji Ports Corporation Limited will oversee the removal…
[Source: Reuters] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Russia wanted to bring in 30,000 North Korean troops. The reason being to take part in its more than four-year-old conflict and was already preparing to receive them. Under a mutual defense pact, North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia’s Kursk Region in 2024 to help Moscow beat back a major incursion into the region by Ukrainian forces. “We also see Russia’s cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Preparations have been under way…
[Source: AP] In acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film, a grieving couple turns to technology to recreate what they have lost. “Sheep in the Box,” opening in U.S. theaters Friday, centers on a married couple whose son has died. To cope with their grief, they commission a humanoid made in his exact likeness. The title refers to “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s children’s book, in which a sheep is imagined as being hidden inside a box. For Kore-eda, the reference suggests that some of the most valuable things in life may be intangible, sustained by connections that cannot…
[Source: AP] The affray charge accepted by the defendants states that “Chris Brown and Omololu Akinlolu on February 19 2023 used or threatened unlawful violence towards another and their conduct taken together was such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.” “This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice,” Claire Campbell, a senior prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the guilty plea. Akinlolu joined in…
[Source: AP] It’s the tennis establishment versus pickleball enthusiasts at an uptight club in “The Dink,” a kind of spiritual descendant of “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” The story itself is very by the books: A once promising tennis prodigy learns to get over himself and his disdain for the “lesser sport.” In one version of the world it could have been “The Cutting Edge.” But “The Dink” chose the grounded, goofy route, with memorably eccentric characters and a few high profile cameos that add up to an enjoyable watch. Jake Johnson plays the has been, Dusty, whose domineering father,…
[Source: AP] Ryan Gosling is joining the Marvel cinematic universe as Ghost Rider, re-teaming with his “Star Wars: Starfighter” director Shawn Levy on a film set for release in 2028. Gosling joined Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige Saturday at Comic-Con International’s Hall H as about 7,000 fans cheered. Many wore Doctor Doom masks given out by the studio. Gosling’s longtime partner, Eva Mendes, starred alongside Nicolas Cage in Cage’s original standalone “Ghost Rider” film, released in 2007 — a year before “Iron Man” kicked off Marvel’s cinematic universe. A sequel was released by Sony in 2012, and film rights have…
[Source: Reuters] A vehicle is believed to have charged into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, injuring several people, Berlin police said, adding that a manhunt had been launched for possible perpetrators. Police said on the social media platform X that they were responding with emergency services to an incident in the city’s central Tiergarten park close to the Brandenburg Gate, where a vehicle had struck multiple people. “We are searching intensively for suspects,” police said. Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered peacefully in the German capital for the annual Christopher Street Day celebrations, one of…
Aminiasi Saratibau (left) and Elijah Qiokata (right). Team Fiji boxers Aminiasi Saratibau and Elijah Qiokata are not travelling to the Commonwealth Games simply to gain experience — they have come to Glasgow believing they can fight their way to gold. Despite making their Commonwealth Games debuts, the two stars in their category at home say they are ready to test themselves against the best in the Commonwealth and are backing their preparation to deliver on boxing’s biggest stage. Saratibau, who will campaign in the men’s 80kg division, says months of hard work have left him feeling sharp and confident ahead…
[Source: Reuters] Indian youth protesters called off weeks of demonstrations and celebrated in the streets on Saturday after the education minister quit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government bowed to demands including calls to fix a cheating-prone exam system. The worst political crisis of Modi’s third term in office had peaked this week when thousands of protesters marched on parliament, with police using tear gas to control them. Young voters form a critical base of his Bharatiya Janata Party. But youths calling themselves “cockroaches” had taken to the streets since late June, after national exam papers were leaked forcing a…
A song created by young Fijians is set to become the voice of Pacific youth, carrying a message of unity, hope and empowerment across the region. The Pacific Youth Anthem has been officially handed over to the Pacific Community by Minister for Youth and Sports Jese Saukuru. Composed by Fiji’s National Youth Band, the anthem will serve as the official song of the Pacific Youth Development Framework, representing the aspirations and shared experiences of young people across 14 Pacific Island countries. “As the outgoing Chair of the Pacific Ministers for Youth Meeting, it is my great pleasure to hand over…