The Fiji Times

Captain Erskine cruise through the Fiji Islands

Part 2 During Havannah’s skipper, Captain John Elphinstone Erskine’s cruise around the Fiji Islands in the 1800s, he had the opportunity to witness the local customs and traditions including a visit to Ratu Seru Cakobau. An account of this cruise was published by Erskine in 1853 in a journal titled Journal of a Cruise Among...

The Queen of Rock | Where Tina Turner spent her peaceful final years with Erwin Bach

Tina Turner died Wednesday at a home that had long been a refuge for the legendary singer. The Queen of Rock, who died at age 83 on May 24 after a long illness, her publicist Bernard Doherty confirmed in a statement, had left behind the spotlight — and the US — for a life at...

Marriage breakups

Bula Fiji! Thank you for taking time out to read Bula Vakasaama, a column dedicated to enlightening readers about practical strategies for optimal mental health and mind wellness. Today’s topic is how to reclaim your life through self-care when going through a break-up, separation, or divorce. Relationships begin, they evolve, and sometimes they dissolve. We...

Bau Island’s historic Vatanitawake

One of the historical physical structures that remains on Bau Island today used to be the tallest in the village skyline of olden day Fiji. It is called Vatanitawake. According to the Fiji Museum, the original Vatanitawake on the island was most probably a bure kalou or spirit house, used by Bauan chiefs, including Ratu...

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

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin’s decision to move one of Russia’s holiest icons from a museum to a Moscow cathedral highlights his growing reliance on the Church as the Ukraine war drags on, but has also raised fears about the safety of the fragile artifact. Emphasising its importance to the faithful, Putin last month...

The Samoan tatau

The traditional Samoan tattoo goes by many names, it’s called the tatau, malofie and known colloquially as the pe’a, while the traditional female tattoo is known as the malu. It holds deep cultural and historical significance in the Samoan culture. It is a traditional form of body art that has been practiced for centuries and...

The Life and legacy of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna

I must thank the Coalition government of Mr Sitiveni Rabuka for reviving the Ratu Sukuna Day so that we can celebrate the life and achievements of Fiji’s greatest leader and statesman. Because Ratu Sukuna died in 1958, 65 years ago, coupled with the fact that the previous Bainimarama government removed the commemoration of Ratu Sukuna...

Training crucial for fishing crew members

Fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and it is important that people are well trained before joining a fishing vessel crew. Fiji Maritime Academy (FMA) lecturer Captain Charles Pickering shared this while highlighting some of the challenges in the fishing industry during the FMA deckhand fishing graduation in Suva on...

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...

Love always finds a way

If it’s meant to be, love will always find its way back. That is how Siwanjali Prasad and Shivishneel Narayan found their way back to each other and fell in love. Siwanjali and Shivishneel went to the same high school. In actual fact, they hardly talked to each other civically and often ended up fighting...

Look Back | A little bit of Fiji in Essex

The Fiji Times on June 4, 1968 wrote an article on an exhibition of Fijian village life, crafts, foods and other Fiji island attractions in Essex, England. The article stated this was staged by Mr and Mrs Stuart Boardman at a church hall and all proceeds of about £100 were sent to the Pacific Theological...

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...

The down side of hanging out

Regular hangouts can take the form of shop frontages, bus shelters, ruined buildings, sidewalks, dark corners, public toilets, sports grounds, bean carts, city kiosks and pavements. Nowadays, these “go to places” where young people like to “hang out” can easily become dens of troublemakers, petty thieves and potential hardcore criminals. There’s no problem with people...

Plea for improvement of marketing opportunities for fishermen and farmers

Government should improve marketing opportunities for fishermen and farmers living along the coastal villages of Macuata. Villagers made this plea to Acting Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Professor Biman Prasad during the budget consultation at Korotubu Village. Many concerns raised surrounded this issue of lack of marketing opportunities they have faced iver the past years....

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...

Central bank to investigate BSP

The Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) is set to conduct investigations into BSP once its completes the process for its core banking migration. This comes after business houses called for the central bank to investigate BSP’s failure to fix their banking system and services after the ongoing issues with their services following the rollover...

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...

Resort Cruise ‘new era of fashion’

The category was Resort Cruise, the theme was a new era of fashion. The lights flickered to life, the speakers roared, and the models came strutting down the runway to open Fiji Fashion Week 2023, on Friday, June 2, with the Resort Cruise show. Resort and cruise wear is a sect of fashion design specific...

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...

Aspen maintains services are free

Aspen Medical has maintained that services offered at the Lautoka and Ba public hospitals are free to all Fijian citizens. Responding to comments made by general practitioner Dr Mukesh Bhagat’s claims that a patient was charged more than $46,000 at Lautoka Hospital, the company explained that the patient was not a Fijian citizen. Aspen Medical’s...

‘Seek help for abuse’

A Vanua Levu woman who lost her twin sister after she was allegedly assaulted by her husband is pleading with women to seek help if they are being abused and battered. Anisi Dalitabua said she was still unable to come to terms with the loss of her twin sister Anaseini Vereivalu who was allegedly assaulted...

Suppressed rainfall poses risk to crops

Suppressed rainfall as a result of an El Niño event later this year can affect a wide range of crops and water systems across the country. The Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) said Fiji would receive more than 80 per cent of its annual rainfall during the wet season, from November to April. “However, due to...

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...

Landslide shocks residents

The recent torrential downpour caused a major landslide yesterday on Lady Narain Drive, Wairua Rd in Tamavua. Resident Chantelle Choo said she was at home with her family and heard a loud noise outside. “At 2pm we all came outside and saw massive rocks falling to the roadside,” she said. “We are all safe and...

Designer goes for secondhand

You are a fool if you do fashion and don’t buy clothes in secondhand clothes shops. This was what renowned Australian fashion designer Nicholas Huxley said about pretentious fashionistas who look down on buying secondhand clothes. Mr Huxley, who ran Australia’s top fashion design school – the Fashion Design Studio – was one of a...

Generating revenue | Minister urges councils to step up, says they have become lazy

Municipal councils have become lazy in generating revenue, says Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad. While speaking at a national budget consultation in Nadi, Prof Prasad said councils would soon be given back their local government status to run their own cities and towns. “One of the things that has happened is everything has been...

Bid to protect the ocean | KOICA Fiji organises cleanup campaign

In a bid to protect the ocean, KOICA Fiji organised a cleanup campaign yesterday at the foreshore along the sea wall in Suva. Country director Kapchae Ra said the organisation was focusing on environmental issues in Fiji. “We have technical cooperations like training programs,” Mr Ra said. “And usually we are focusing on environmental issues...

News

My maiden journey on the Uto ni Yalo