World News

Fiji's Cancer Society says the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the supply of medicine for local cancer patients. A billboard raising cancer awareness in the CBD of Fiji's capital, Suva. Photo: RNZ / Jamie Tahana According to the World Health Organisation's 2017 world health ranking, Fiji is eighth in the world for breast cancer deaths and 28th for cervical cancer. The society said it had received reports from cancer patients who indicated they were unable to get their medication because of the lack of flights to the country due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. Speaking at a recent Pinktober event in Nadi, the society's Margie Erbsleben said while the medicine was slow in coming into Fiji, the freight charges incurred had also increased. Erbsleben said not only cancer patients were being impacted, with those in health centres and hospitals also feeling the effects. She said while the care for cancer patients across the country had been impacted by the global pandemic, the society was pleased with the ongoing support from local businesses. More women dying: FWRM According to the Health Ministry, from January 2019 to August 2020, there were 187 breast cancer cases recorded in Fiji. The country's Women's Rights Movement (FWRM) said more young women in Fiji were suffering from reproductive cancer. Its director, Nalini Singh, said research conducted by the FWRM had revealed the common types of cancer affecting Fijian women included cervical, breast, ovarian, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers. The survey Breaking the Barriers: Understanding Cancer Services, Screening Treatment Available for Women in Fiji showed there was unequal cancer services available in the country. Nalini Singh is Director of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement. Photo: Supplied/FWRM According to the survey, 50 percent of women in the country would not seek medical help they need. It said compared to other countries, Fiji had higher rates of cancer and based on their research, iTaukei women were more likely to have cancer. "More women are dying young with reproductive cancer. For some it's the basic fear of the outcome of cancer and being unsure of where to seek help," she said. "Most women diagnosed with reproductive cancers are generally between the ages of 30 and 50 category. "The iTaukei women have the worst health-seeking behaviour than others and are not enthusiastic about seeking services, care and treatment and have higher chances of dying than Fijian women of Indian descent." Singh said their research also showed the capital Suva had a higher level of services provided compared to other areas. She said cancer did not discriminate because women from the interior parts of Fiji and maritime areas could suffer from cancer too, and it was a concern that these women could not be able to access services. "Women across the country, especially in rural remote areas such as maritime areas, need to also be able to seek timely services," she said. "The second is the accessibility of cancer services itself, this month is dedicated to cancer yet there is not much awareness. "There is still lack of awareness on cancer and very rarely will women visit a health facility and demand a HPV (human papillomavirus) test or other preferred screening method." Singh said the report found 329 cases of breast cancer and 278 cases of cervical cancer had been reported.

US whistleblower Edward Snowden and his wife are applying for Russian citizenship in order not to be separated from their future son in an era of pandemics and closed borders, he says. Photo: AFP Snowden's wife, Lindsay, is expecting a child in late December, the RIA news agency cited Anatoly Kucherena, his Russian lawyer, as saying. Snowden, 37, fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the US National Security Agency, where he was a contractor. US authorities have for years wanted Snowden returned to the United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges brought in 2013. "After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That's why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we're applying for dual US-Russian citizenship," Snowden wrote on Twitter. "Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love - including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited. Our greatest wish is that, wherever our son lives, he feels at home." Russia has already granted Snowden permanent residency rights, his lawyer said last month, a vital step towards Russian citizenship. US President Donald Trump said in August he was considering a pardon for Snowden. Trump is running for a second presidential term against Democratic challenger Joe Biden at elections on Tuesday. Snowden keeps a low profile in Russia. He has praised the country's natural beauty and the warmth of its people, while using social media to criticise government policy from time to time. - Reuters

Johnny Depp has lost his libel case against The Sun newspaper over an article that called him a "wife beater". US actress Amber Heard makes a statement to members of the media outside the High Court, following the final day of the libel trial by ex-husband US actor Johnny Depp against News Group Newspapers in London, on July 28, 2020. Photo: Niklas Halle'n / AFP Depp, 57, sued the paper after it claimed he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard, which he denies. The Sun said the article was accurate. Justice Nicol said The Sun had proved what was in the article to be "substantially true". He found 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence had occurred. Depp's lawyer called the ruling "perverse" and said the Hollywood actor intends to appeal. A spokesperson for The Sun said it had stood up for domestic abuse victims for decades, and thanked Heard for "her courage in giving evidence to the court". The trial was heard over 16 days in July at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Heard's lawyer in the US, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, said the judgement was "not a surprise". "Very soon, we will be presenting even more voluminous evidence in the US," she said. Depp is suing Heard, 34, in the US in a separate case, over an opinion piece she wrote in the Washington Post. Depp says the article implied he was violent towards her. 'Depp made Heard fear for life' The allegations of violence spanned the period between 2013 and 2016, when the couple split. The judge highlighted three incidents where he said Depp had put Heard in "fear for her life". In one of those incidents, in Australia in 2015, Depp was allegedly physically and verbally abusive towards her while drinking heavily and taking drugs. Depp accused Heard of severing his finger, but the judge said he did not accept Heard was responsible. US actor Johnny Depp gestures as he leaves the High Court after the final day of his libel trial against News Group Newspapers (NGN), in London, on July 28, 2020. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP "Taking all the evidence together, I accept that she was the victim of sustained and multiple assaults by Mr Depp in Australia," Justice Nicol said. "It is a sign of the depth of his rage that he admitted scrawling graffiti in blood from his injured finger and then, when that was insufficient, dipping his badly injured finger in paint and continuing to write messages and other things," the judge said. "I accept her evidence of the nature of the assaults he committed against her. They must have been terrifying." Heard 'not a gold-digger' Of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence, there were two the judge did not rule as having occurred. They were an alleged incident in December 2014, which the judge said he was "not persuaded... constituted a physical assault", and another in November 2015, which the judge said could not be proven because it was not put to Depp in cross-examination. Justice Nicol said that "a recurring theme in Mr Depp's evidence was that Ms Heard had constructed a hoax and that she had done this as an 'insurance policy'," and that Heard was a "gold-digger". But he added: "I do not accept this characterisation of Ms Heard." Speaking outside court on the last day of the trial in July, Heard said the case had been "incredibly painful" and she just wants to "move on her with her life". Jenny Afia of Schillings law firm, who represented Depp, said: "This decision is as perverse as it is bewildering. "Most troubling is the judge's reliance on the testimony of Amber Heard, and corresponding disregard of the mountain of counter-evidence from police officers, medical practitioners, her own former assistant, other unchallenged witnesses and an array of documentary evidence which completely undermined the allegations, point by point. "The judgement is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision," she added. A spokesperson for The Sun said: "Domestic abuse victims must never be silenced and we thank the judge for his careful consideration and thank Amber Heard for her courage in giving evidence to the court." Charity Women's Aid said everyone who experiences domestic abuse "deserves to be listened to and believed". "This also applies to survivors who do not fit the image of the 'perfect' victim - and regardless of the high profile of the alleged abuser. There is no excuse for domestic abuse." Depp's case was brought against News Group Newspapers (NGN) - publisher of The Sun - and executive editor Dan Wootton over an article published on The Sun's website on 27 April 2018. The article had the headline: "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?" Evidence was heard from both Depp and actress Heard along with friends and relatives of the ex-couple, and several former and current employees. Depp's lawyer David Sherborne said his client's case was about "clearing his name". The Sun's publisher said Depp was "controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs". And The Sun's lawyer argued there is "no doubt that Mr Depp regularly and systematically abused his wife". - BBC

Nineteen people have been killed by gunmen who stormed Kabul University before engaging security forces in an hours-long battle on Monday. Afghan security personnel stand guard at the university. Photo: AFP A spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said the attack was eventually stopped when three gunmen were killed. At least 22 people were wounded, the interior ministry said. The attack began around the time government officials were expected to arrive at the campus for the opening of an Iranian book fair. All of the dead were students, including 10 women, a Kabul police spokesman told the AFP news agency. The Taliban denied involvement and condemned the attack. The Islamic State group has targeted education centres in Afghanistan in recent years, including an attack outside a tuition centre in Kabul last month that left 24 people dead. The group also claimed responsibility for a 2018 attack in front of Kabul University in which dozens were killed. Video footage from the university campus on Monday showed students running away from the site with the sound of gunfire in the background. Some scaled walls in an effort to escape. One of the attackers detonated explosives, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. "They were shooting at every student they saw. They even shot at the students who were running away," witness Fathullah Moradi told Reuters news agency. Fraidoon Ahmadi, a 23-year-old student, was in class when the gunfire started: "We were very scared and we thought it could be the last day of our lives.... Boys and girls were shouting, praying and crying for help," he told AFP. He and other students waited two hours until they were rescued, he added. Violence in Afghanistan has worsened in recent months even as the Taliban conduct peace talks with the government in Doha, Qatar. A senior UN official told the BBC last week that al-Qaeda was still "heavily embedded" within the Taliban, despite assurances from Taliban officials to the US that it would sever ties with the terror group. - BBC

Veteran foreign correspondent Robert Fisk has died of a suspected stroke at the age of 74. Robert Fisk interviewed Osama Bin Laden several times and described him as a "shy man". Photo: AFP The Irish Times reported that Fisk was admitted to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin after falling ill at his home on Friday, and died shortly afterwards. Fisk won numerous awards for his coverage of the Middle East, where he reported from the 1970s, but he also created controversy for his sharp criticism of the US and Israel and of Western foreign policy. Covering wars in the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa for UK newspapers over five decades, the New York Times described him as "probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain" in 2005. Born in Maidstone, Kent in 1946, he later took Irish citizenship and had a home in Dalkey outside the capital Dublin. Irish President Michael D Higgins expressed his "great sadness" about Fisk's death on Sunday. "With his passing the world of journalism and informed commentary on the Middle East has lost one of its finest commentators," he said in a statement. "With his passing the world of journalism and informed commentary on the Middle East has lost one of its finest commentators."Statement from President Higgins on the death of Robert Fisk:https://t.co/iuewqXuE4n — President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) November 1, 2020 After starting his career at the Sunday Express, Fisk moved to Belfast in 1972 to cover the Troubles as Northern Ireland correspondent for The Times. He became the paper's Middle East correspondent in 1976. Based in the Lebanese capital Beirut, he reported on the country's civil war as well as the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq War. He resigned from The Times in 1989 after a dispute with owner Rupert Murdoch and moved to The Independent, where he worked for the remainder of his career. In the 1990s he interviewed Osama Bin Laden three times for the paper. He described him as a "shy man" and looking "every inch the mountain warrior of mujahedin legend" in their first interview in 1993. After the September 11 attacks plotted by the Saudi terrorist, Fisk spent the next two decades covering conflicts throughout the Middle East, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. As an Arabic speaker and experienced reporter who dismissed journalists who sat behind desks, he became highly regarded for his knowledge of and experience in the region. He was also well known for his staunch criticism of the US and Israel. In his 2005 book The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East he wrote about the region's history and also about many of the conflicts on which he reported, expressing his criticism of US, UK and Israeli policies. Fisk married US journalist Lara Marlowe in 1994 but the pair divorced in 2006. He had no children. Robert Fisk was simply the best foreign correspondent by a mile. Honest, diligent and fearless. Hated by those who wished to justify illegal invasions and war crimes. Disliked by those on all sides who put their international political allegiances before the truth. https://t.co/xaXZjVoTUP — Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) November 1, 2020 Saddened to hear of the passing of Robert Fisk. One of the last of the old guard of journalists who weren’t desk-bound, and it showed. — Philip O'Connor (@philipoconnor) November 1, 2020 I will miss you terribly my friend Robert .You were a remarkable person with unbelievable courage and a unique reporter .We met during crucial moments of the Lebanese civil war and you predicted the fate of the Lebanese like the Arabs today »Pity the Nation « #robertfisk pic.twitter.com/fkag7N4ntW — Walid Joumblatt (@walidjoumblatt) November 1, 2020 Robert Fisk - you great, great hack: who will I sit for hours with in Beirut to grumble about the world! May your ink never dry..... pic.twitter.com/jCasXjX5ki — Vijay Prashad (@vijayprashad) November 1, 2020 - BBC

Two days before election day, President Donald Trump launched a campaign sprint across US battleground states with chilly outdoor rallies in Iowa and Michigan as he seeks to defy the polls and fend off Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Donald Trump waves to supporters in Washington, Michigan, on 1 November. Photo: AFP Trump, aiming to avoid becoming the first incumbent president to lose a re-election bid since fellow Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992, has a frenetic schedule for Sunday, with stops also planned in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania with a drive-in rally in a parking lot outside a Philadelphia church. Buffeted by snow flurries in Washington, a town north of Detroit, in his first appearance of the day Trump wore his trademark red cap emblazoned with the words "Make America Great Again" and was bundled up in an overcoat he addressed a boisterous crowd on a cold and blustery morning. After the crowd loudly chanted, "We love you" Trump responded, "I love you, too. If I didn't, I wouldn't be standing here because it's freezing out here." "You better get out there and vote," Trump told the crowd. Trump predicted he would repeat his 2016 victory in Michigan and touted his efforts to create auto jobs, a key issue for the auto manufacturing state. "We brought back your car industry. Your car industry was finished. You would have had nothing left," Trump said. Motor vehicle manufacturing employment in Michigan has fallen by about 5000 jobs since Trump took office, and there are about 13,000 fewer jobs making vehicle parts. Trump then addressed another spirited rally in windy Dubuque, where he made his pitch to Iowa farmers in the important corn-growing state and predicted he would win there as he did four years ago. Joe Biden campaigning in Iowa on 30 October (file). Photo: AFP / Getty Images Biden has held on to a steady lead in national opinion polls as a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 Americans and battered the economy has weighed on Trump's campaign. The former vice president was ahead 51 percent to 43 percent in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, taken Oct. 27-29. Polls show Trump still close in enough battleground states that could give him the 270 votes needed to win in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the overall victor. The race remains a toss-up in Florida, North Carolina and Arizona, Reuters/Ipsos polls showed, while Trump trails by 7 percentage points in Pennsylvania and 10 percentage points in Michigan and Wisconsin. In his 2016 victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, the real estate developer and reality TV personality-turned-politician took Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as Michigan, states that for decades had gone in the Democratic column. Polls show a tight race in Iowa. Anita Dunn, a Biden campaign adviser, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program, "We feel confident about where we are." The Democratic governors of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all said they were upbeat about Biden's chances in their states. Ohio's Republican governor predicted Trump would win the state by a couple of percentage points. Biden is scheduled to campaign again on Sunday and Monday in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born, with events in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Biden also added a stop in Ohio on Monday, indicating his campaign views that state as winnable. Trump is due to stage 10 rallies - five a day - on Sunday and Monday, the campaign's busiest stretch, with Monday appearances planned in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and back in Michigan. Hitting on familiar themes, Trump portrayed himself as running against "a corrupt politician" and "a dummy and a half" in Biden as well as a "left-wing mob" and Democratic "maniacs." Both men have previously mused about physically striking one another. Trump, 78, brought it up again on Sunday, saying of his 77-year-old rival, "He thinks he's a tough guy. ... You know what, boom ... ding, he's gone." Trump also again criticized the U.S. Justice Department for not investigating prominent Democratic adversaries. Texas courts hear Republican voting challenge The contest has proven unexpectedly close in Texas, typically a reliable Republican state. In Democratic-leaning Houston, a Republican state legislator and a conservative activist are seeking a court ruling that drive-through voting is illegal and that about 120,000 votes already cast should be thrown out. The Texas Supreme Court on Sunday declined to hear their claims. A federal judge is due to hold an emergency hearing on their request on Monday. A record-setting 93 million early votes have cast either in-person or by mail, according to the U.S. Elections Project, a phenomenon expected to boost Biden's chances. Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that mail-in ballots - a regular feature in U.S. elections - are rife with fraud and has refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if the results show he has lost. Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller told ABC's "This Week" the president is banking on in-person voting on Tuesday to push the president over the top. Miller also questioned the integrity of the election, saying, "If you speak with many smart Democrats, they believe President Trump will be ahead on election night, probably getting 280 electoral (votes), somewhere in that range. And then they're going to try to steal it back after the election." - Reuters

The Duke of Cambridge contracted Covid-19 in April, Kensington Palace sources have told the BBC. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, on a visit to St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, on 20 October. Photo: AFP It is believed he tested positive at a similar time to his father, the Prince of Wales. According to the Sun newspaper, which first reported the story, Prince William, 38, kept his diagnosis private to avoid alarming the nation. Kensington Palace, the office and home of Prince William, refused to comment officially. Prince William did not tell anyone about his positive test result because "there were important things going on and I didn't want to worry anyone", according to the Sun. He was treated by palace doctors and followed government guidelines by isolating at the family home Anmer Hall, in Norfolk, the paper added. In March Prince Charles tested positive for the coronavirus. - BBC