分类： world

As Severe Tropical Cyclone Vaianu pummels large swathes of Fiji, hundreds of Australian holidaymakers are trapped on the island nation, enduring rolling blackouts, violent wind gusts and widespread travel disruptions that have thrown their plans to return home into chaos. With a second severe tropical storm already forming in the broader South Pacific, stranded travellers are facing a tense and uncertain wait for rescheduled flights.

One of those caught in the extreme weather is Australian tourist Melanie Harris, who travelled to Fiji for a dream vacation with her young son. What was supposed to be a relaxing getaway has quickly morphed into a frightening ordeal, as the category cyclone unleashes its power across the island chain.

“The wind is loud, relentless, and completely unpredictable,” Harris told 9News in an interview from her resort, located roughly an hour’s drive south of Fiji’s main tourist hub Nadi. “You can hear it constantly, even through the thick walls of our accommodation. It just puts you on edge the entire time.”

Harris described a harrowing scene during dinner on Wednesday, when she and her son heard debris flying through the air outside, hurled by wind gusts that have hit speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour. Repeated, unannounced blackouts have made overnight stays particularly unsettling, she said. “Everything suddenly goes dark and the wind is still howling outside,” she explained. “It just didn’t feel safe at all.”

The danger has already led to one scare for the pair: Harris’ son slipped on rain-soaked tiles amid the wild conditions and hit his head, a moment that left the already stressed mother panicking. “You’re already on edge from the storm, and then something like that happens,” Harris said. “It just takes everything to another level.”

Nearly all scheduled day trips and tourist activities across Fiji have been cancelled as resort management prioritize guest safety, leaving many visitors waiting for refunds while they shelter in place. Harris said that while resort staff have attempted to assist trapped guests, they are stretched thin by the scale of the emergency and have little updated information to share. “They have almost been downplaying the cyclone and don’t have much information to give,” she said. Harris is now making plans to relocate to a more structurally secure hotel, as she anxiously waits to see if her scheduled flight back to Australia on Sunday will still depart.

Travel disruptions are already being felt across regional air routes. One commercial flight from Sydney to Fiji was forced to divert to Nuku’alofa in Tonga earlier this week after encountering severe turbulence and dangerous weather conditions linked to Cyclone Vaianu.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has issued an official advisory for travellers in Fiji, urging people to stay alert and follow guidance from local emergency authorities. “Flights may be delayed or cancelled, and essential services may be disrupted,” the DFAT statement read. “Know your accommodation’s evacuation plan. If a cyclone is approaching your area, find your nearest shelter and follow the advice of local authorities.” Travellers have been advised to reach out directly to their airlines and accommodation providers to get the latest updates on changes to their travel plans.

Forecasters warn the regional weather situation could grow even more unstable in the coming days. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology is currently monitoring a second severe system, Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila, which is currently tracking across the Solomon Sea near the Solomon Islands. The system is expected to track towards Papua New Guinea in the next 48 hours, before potentially moving closer to Australia’s far northern coast.

As for Vaianu, current forecasting models show the cyclone will track south towards New Zealand, where it is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds and potential flooding to parts of the North Island, including Auckland, later this week.

Just 48 minutes ago, a breakthrough diplomatic agreement between the United States and Iran for a two-week ceasefire sent shockwaves across global financial markets Wednesday, bringing sharp drops in crude oil prices and sweeping gains to equity indexes worldwide. The deal, mediated by Pakistan, includes Iran’s commitment to temporarily reopen the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz — the chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil and gas supplies pass — ending weeks of escalating conflict that had disrupted global energy markets and stoked widespread fears of a broader regional war.

The agreement came hours after a dramatic standoff: U.S. President Donald Trump had issued an extreme ultimatum Tuesday, threatening that if the Strait remained closed, “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” That threat followed pledges to target Iranian civilian infrastructure including bridges and power plants, while Iran responded with its own warning that it would cut off U.S. and allied access to regional energy supplies for years if Washington crossed its red lines. As the global community counted down to the deadline, Trump announced the truce via social media, noting he had received a “workable” 10-point proposal from Tehran.

“Subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump wrote, adding that the truce is “double sided” and that U.S. military goals have already been met. He also confirmed ongoing negotiations for a long-term peace deal covering both Iran and broader Middle East stability. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country played a core mediation role, confirmed the ceasefire went into effect immediately, and added that the truce also covers Lebanon — implying Israel has agreed to halt its invasion of the northern neighbor.

Market reaction was swift and largely positive, as investors released pent-up anxiety built up over five weeks of war that had squeezed global energy supplies. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 20% in early trading, settling 14% lower at $97.12 per barrel by 0230 GMT, while Brent North Sea crude dropped 13.2% to $94.86 per barrel, down from peaks that had stoked inflation fears globally.

Equity markets across Asia jumped on the news: Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 5.3% to close at 56,270.90, Taiwan’s benchmark added nearly 4%, and markets in Sydney, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Wellington all posted sharp gains. Safe-haven assets retreated in line with de-escalation hopes: the U.S. dollar, which had strengthened amid conflict uncertainty, fell against the yen, euro and pound, while gold rallied roughly 5% after earlier declines driven by interest rate fears, and Bitcoin also posted gains. Notably, major Western indexes that closed before the announcement posted slight losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2% and London’s FTSE 100 falling 0.8% on Tuesday.

Market analysts note the upbeat response reflects widespread relief after weeks of geopolitical uncertainty. “Unsurprisingly, the initial market reaction has been a positive one, albeit perhaps not as sizeable as one might’ve expected, largely owing to the grind higher in risk assets seen since the tail end of Tuesday’s cash session,” said Michael Brown, senior analyst at Pepperstone. “Participants have been desperate for anything resembling good news for some weeks now, and even more desperate to see concrete steps being taken towards de-escalation. Now that we seem able to put a tick in both of those boxes, participants are unsurprisingly willing to significantly take up risk levels once more.”

For Asian economies, which have borne the brunt of imported energy inflation in recent weeks, the truce carries outsize importance, according to Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. “Lower oil prices remove the chokehold that has weighed on regional risk sentiment, especially in markets that feel imported energy shocks first and hardest,” he explained. “With crude backing off, the pressure on inflation expectations and front-end yields eases at the margin, and that is enough to let capital rotate back toward risk, at least for now.” Iranians have already publicly welcomed the ceasefire news, joining global markets in celebrating a rare step away from open conflict.

On Algeria’s sun-dappled Mediterranean coast, the eastern city of Annaba is buzzing with quiet anticipation and open excitement as it puts the final touches on preparations for a momentous occasion: the first ever visit by a sitting Catholic pontiff to Algeria, scheduled for April 13–15. The visit, which holds deep religious and historical weight, comes after Pope Leo XIV openly embraced his connection to Saint Augustine, one of Christianity’s most influential theologians whose life and work are deeply rooted in this corner of North Africa.

Since his election to the papacy in May of last year, Leo XIV has repeatedly emphasized his admiration for Saint Augustine, even calling himself a “son” of the famed thinker in his inaugural address. Saint Augustine was born in 354 CE in Thagaste, an ancient settlement that is today the Algerian town of Souk Ahras, roughly 100 kilometers south of Annaba. Annaba itself sits on the ruins of Hippo Regius, the Roman city where Augustine served as bishop starting in 391, wrote his iconic autobiographical work *Confessions*, and died in 430 CE. That historical tie makes Annaba the focal point of the papal visit, and the site of the most intensive preparations.

At the Basilica of Saint Augustine, the city’s primary Catholic shrine perched on a hill overlooking ancient Hippo’s archaeological remains, preparations have been underway for months under the direction of rector Father Fred Wekesa. Municipal maintenance crews, working alongside volunteers from the Order of Saint Augustine, have spent weeks repainting interior walls, polishing historic religious statues, and touching up the grounds to welcome the pontiff. For Annaba’s small Christian community, the visit is far more than a ceremonial event—it is a long-awaited moment of recognition.

Father Wekesa described the upcoming arrival as an occasion of profound joy, noting that Leo XIV is the first pope to prioritize a visit to the Algerian Christian community. “We are what I call a ‘small flock’, a minority. But that does not mean we are forgotten,” he said. “On the contrary… the Pope’s presence supports us as a minority. It carries a message of encouragement and solidarity.”

Across Annaba, which sits roughly 550 kilometers east of the capital Algiers, the entire city has joined in preparations. Roads leading to the basilica, which overlooks the ruins of the ancient Basilica of Peace where Saint Augustine once preached, are being resurfaced and repainted, transforming swathes of the city into an active construction zone in the best of ways. For many local residents, both Christian and Muslim, the visit is a point of national and civic pride. Imad, a 54-year-old Annaba resident, called the trip “a great honour for us, the Algerians of Annaba, because it is an important symbol of peace, not just for our community but for all Christians and Muslims.”

Algerian national authorities have echoed that sentiment, attaching major strategic and symbolic importance to the visit. Preparations have been personally overseen by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and Father Wekesa said he has been deeply moved by the widespread spontaneous enthusiasm from ordinary Algerians, who moved quickly to extend a formal invitation as soon as the pope expressed his desire to visit.

For Father Wekesa, the visit also offers a chance to reintroduce the world to modern Algeria, pushing back against outdated narratives that still frame the country through the lens of its 1991–2002 civil conflict, a bloody period between Islamists and state security forces that killed an estimated 200,000 people. Between 1994 and 1996, 19 Christian clerics were killed in targeted attacks, including Oran’s bishop Pierre Claverie and seven Tibhirine monks, who were beatified by the Catholic Church in 2018. Father Wekesa lamented that “all too often, some people view this country only through the lens of the ‘dark years’,” but expressed confidence the papal visit will reveal Algeria’s “true face” to the global community. “With the Holy Father’s visit… the whole world will see the hospitality and generosity of the Algerian people, and that we are capable of living together in peace,” he said.

Not all commentary surrounding the visit has been celebratory, however. Three prominent international human rights organizations—Human Rights Watch, EuroMed Rights, and the MENA Rights Group—published a joint open letter on Tuesday calling on Pope Leo XIV to raise the issue of religious freedom repression during his meetings with Algerian authorities. The groups have documented ongoing targeting of religious minority communities in Algeria in recent years, and asked the pontiff to “call on the authorities to end discrimination against religious minorities and respect their right to freedom of religion or belief, including practicing their religion freely.”

Despite those calls, members of Annaba’s Christian community remain focused on the unifying potential of the visit. According to Father Wekesa, most of Annaba’s Christian population is made up of sub-Saharan African scholarship students, foreign workers, and a small number of Algerian converts. Students from the University of Batna, located 270 kilometers south of Annaba, have even traveled to the city to help with final preparations ahead of the papal arrival. For Patricia Kouago, a 22-year-old student taking part in the preparations, the visit is an opportunity to build cross-community connection. “It is an occasion for Christians and Muslims to come together,” she said. “It is also a sense of solidarity that we are building. His arrival could strengthen the bonds between us.”

Just hours before a self-imposed deadline for massive military action against Iran, Pakistan tabled a last-minute diplomatic proposal Tuesday aimed at pulling the Middle East back from the brink of catastrophic full-scale war, after more than five weeks of escalating US-Israeli strikes across Iranian territory. The initiative comes after US President Donald Trump issued an unprecedented, chilling warning that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if his demands were not met, leaving the global community reeling from the scale of the threat.

The White House confirmed it had received the Pakistani proposal and would issue a formal response in due course. Pakistan stepped into the mediator role as regional tensions hit a boiling point, with daily strikes crippling key Iranian infrastructure and violence spilling across neighboring borders. In a post on the social platform X, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif affirmed that diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict were moving forward with tangible momentum, adding that substantive progress could be reached in the near term if both sides agreed to the compromise.

Under the terms of Pakistan’s proposal, Sharif appealed directly to Trump to extend his 8:00 PM Washington time deadline by 14 days. In exchange, the plan calls for Iran to commit to reopening the Strait of Hormuz for a two-week period – the non-negotiable core demand Trump has laid out since Tehran shut down the critical global oil chokepoint in retaliation for the initial US-Israeli attacks on February 28.

Trump’s latest threats have drawn widespread international condemnation, with even observers familiar with his history of provocative rhetoric expressing shock at the escalation. Critics have warned that the planned attacks amount to a call for genocide, and could open the door to future war crimes charges for any US service members who carry out the orders. The apocalyptic warning marked a sharp escalation from a profanity-laden post Trump shared on his Truth Social platform two days earlier, on Easter Sunday, where he threatened to destroy every bridge and power plant across Iran, a country home to 90 million people. International law defines deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure as a war crime unless the sites serve an overwhelming military purpose, a condition the US has not publicly established.

Pope Leo XIV issued a blunt rebuke of the threat, stating that any attack targeting the entire population of Iran is “truly unacceptable.”

While Trump prepared for a potential major strike, US Vice President JD Vance fueled speculation about unconventional military action during a speaking appearance in Budapest, noting that the US held military tools “that we so far haven’t decided to use” against Iran. The White House quickly issued a clarification to AFP, denying that Vance’s comments were a reference to nuclear weapons.

Even ahead of Trump’s deadline, the US and Israel had ramped up daily strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that recent attacks targeted railways and bridges, which he claimed were being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In a rare acknowledgment of error, the Israeli military issued a statement of regret after confirming that an overnight strike damaged the Rafi-Nia Synagogue in central Tehran during an operation targeting a senior Iranian commander. Iran, which is governed by Shia Muslim clerics, is home to a centuries-old Jewish community that maintains roughly 100 active synagogues across the country.

Iranian senior officials have made clear that the country is prepared for every possible outcome of the current standoff. “No threat is beyond our preparedness and intelligence,” First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref told state media Tuesday.

On-the-ground reporting confirms that the strikes have already killed civilians and disrupted critical transport links across Iran. Iranian authorities reported Tuesday that a US-Israeli strike on a bridge near the holy city of Qom and a second attack on a rail bridge in central Iran left two people dead. Regional officials added that a key highway connecting Tabriz in northern Iran to the capital Tehran has been completely shut down by a strike, while the Iranian Mizan news agency reported fresh damage to railway lines in Karaj, a city just outside Tehran. Early Tuesday, multiple explosions were reported across Tehran, and Iranian state media confirmed that 18 people – including two children – were killed in strikes in neighboring Alborz Province. Iran’s Mehr news agency also reported strikes on Kharg Island, the central hub of Iran’s oil export industry, though US media outlets claimed the strikes targeted only military infrastructure on the island.

As the deadline approached, ordinary Iranians expressed a mix of fear, resignation, and defiance in interviews with AFP. University student Metanat, 27, who lost a classmate to an earlier strike, said “I feel terrified and so should everyone else in the country. Some people dismiss Trump’s ultimatums as a joke, but death is not a joke.” 62-year-old pensioner Morteza Hamidi said he felt “gloomy for the future of the country after the war,” adding that repeated threats from Trump have left many Iranians desensitized: “We are now numb to his threats.”

In a show of public unity as the deadline neared, Iranian state media published images of thousands of Iranians forming human chains around critical power plants to shield the facilities from potential attack. The display of patriotism comes just months after Iran’s clerical leadership violently cracked down on widespread mass anti-government protests, with international human rights groups documenting over a thousand deaths in the crackdown.

The conflict has already spilled far beyond Iran’s borders, raising fears of a full regional war. Overnight Tuesday, a strike hit a petrochemical complex in the Saudi industrial city of Jubail, a witness confirmed to AFP, just hours after similar energy infrastructure targets were hit in Iran. Loud explosions were also reported late Tuesday in central Baghdad, just kilometers from the US embassy compound in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Iran has responded to the US-Israeli attacks by targeting Gulf Arab states that host US military bases, while Israel has launched a full-scale ground invasion of southern Lebanon, vowing to seize territory controlled by Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has launched thousands of rockets into Israel since the conflict began. Lebanese authorities report that the Israeli invasion has killed more than 1,500 people to date. On Tuesday, the Israeli military issued a new warning ordering all vessels in the maritime zone off southern Lebanon to move immediately north of the city of Tyre, announcing new military operations would be carried out in the area in the coming hours.

As regional governments prepared for the worst, Israel warned its citizens of a sharply increased risk of retaliatory Iranian attacks ahead of the deadline. Kuwait urged all of its citizens to remain indoors from midnight GMT until 7 AM Wednesday, while Bahrain’s main commercial port announced it would suspend all operations starting early Wednesday over security concerns.

The standoff centers on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of all globally traded oil. After the initial February 28 attacks, Tehran seized control of the strait to force a response from the international community, a move that has sent global oil prices soaring and put intense domestic political pressure on Trump, who has made reopening the strait his top priority in the conflict. Trump has justified the attacks by claiming Iran is months away from building a nuclear weapon, a claim that has not been corroborated by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog or independent nuclear analysts.

At the United Nations Security Council last week, Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed resolution calling for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened. The draft resolution had already been watered down to remove a provision that would have given Gulf states authorization to use military force to secure the waterway, but Beijing and Moscow still rejected the text.

US and Israeli officials maintain that all strikes are aimed at degrading Iran’s military capabilities, and that civilian casualties are unintended consequences of the military campaign.