Divisions over Fiji's military take-over widened yesterday as powerful traditional chiefs and politicians split on whether to support the bloodless overthrow of the South Pacific island nation's government.
The military received a further blow late yesterday when the Commonwealth, an association of mostly British former colonies, suspended Fiji's membership.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase remained defiant, calling on bureaucrats not to cooperate with the military. He appeared to concede his government was finished but, said he would return to the capital Suva next week.
"To be realistic, all the privileges of the prime minister have been taken away from me so ... I'll be moving around as an ordinary person," Qarase told local TV from his village on Vanuabalavu island in Fiji's remote east.
Qarase predicts there will be demonstrations against the takeover, but military commander Frank Bainimarama says his troops will quickly put down any opposition.
Qarase was ousted on Tuesday after a year-long power struggle with Bainimarama.
Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs (GCC), the traditional authority which represents 14 chiefly provinces and appoints the president, opposes the takeover as undemocratic and illegal.
Bainimarama has been trying to get the council to meet to endorse the reinstatement of President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, the first step toward naming an interim government. But chiefs have resisted and hundreds of villagers have blocked the entrance to Tavualevu village, home of GCC Chairman Ratu Ovini Bokini, vowing to stop soldiers entering.
In London, the 53-nation Commonwealth suspended Fiji's membership, barring it from all inter-governmental activities.
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Monday met virtually with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) and raised concerns about “malicious cyber activity” carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement. The department last month reported that an unspecified number of its computers had been compromised by Chinese hackers in what it called a “major incident” following a breach at contractor BeyondTrust, which provides cybersecurity services. US Congressional aides said no date had been set yet for a requested briefing on the breach, the latest in a serious of cyberattacks
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RSS