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By Isabella
Australia's western coast is being battered by a huge storm, with strong winds buffeting the main city of Perth.
Torrential rains and waves of up to eight metres (26ft) are forecast in some areas.
The severe weather is the result of the remnants of tropical cyclone Mangga interacting with a cold front, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
A senior official in the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said it would be a "once-in-a-decade" storm.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-52787152
REUTERS/ EDWIN VAN BRUGGEN
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By Guest Nicole
Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. has become the first country in the world to formally approve the UN climate deal agreed by 195 nations in Paris in December. The island nation’s parliament unanimously agreed to ratify the Paris agreement on Friday, according to local news reports.
The motion was proposed by the country’s attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum. He told parliament that it would need to ratify the treaty ahead of a signing ceremony in April in New York, where Fiji’s prime minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, will formally sign the document on behalf of the country.
He said tackling climate change was a major priority for the archipelago, which could face wide-scale flooding, fiercer tropical storms, and depleting fish stocks as a result of the world’s changing climate.
The process marks the beginning of an expected wave of ratification votes as other countries prepare for their attendance at the New York ceremony.
Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. , the Paris agreement needs at least 55 countries, representing at least 55% of the world’s climate emissions, to ratify the treaty. Observers are confident the milestone can be passed in time for the New York event, given all the world’s major economies expressed full support for the Paris agreement at last year’s summit in the French capital. Under its national climate action plan, Fiji
Hello guest! Please register or sign in (it's free) to view the hidden content. to generate 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. It also promised to cut overall emissions from its energy sector by 30% by 2030 compared to business-as-usual, conditional on it receiving climate finance from industrialised nations. Source:
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By Guest Nicole
Hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses from across the country are flocking to St Ann’s to build a place of worship on the site of a former pub.
The site of the former Sycamore Inn pub in Hungerhill Road is currently being turned in to a meeting hall for the Christian sect, with work due to finish by the end of February.
However almost every stage of the building, from design to putting in the windows, is being done by unpaid volunteers – 450 of them in total.
Adam Byrnes, 35, of St Ann’s, a cleaning business owner who has been helping out three days a week, said: “It is absolutely amazing to see people volunteering to build our church.
Read more:
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By Guest Nicole
During the WT lesson last Sunday the conductor (Clint) pointed out the the irony of his conducting a discussion on dress and grooming while he he happened to be wearing a skirt (sulu). By @vuriahjr
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By Guest Nicole
SIXTY-seven-year old Soloveni Turogo and his wife, Amelia, are proud owners of a three-bedroom cyclone-proof home, complete with an adjacent kitchen and bathroom, thanks to a group of volunteers who descended on their Delakavula settlement in northern Viti Levu for three months to live and rebuild their home for free.
The elderly couple, who live with their children and grandchildren in this largely sugarcane growing village, attend the local Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses at Dobuilevu, located along the Kings Rd, about 30 kilometres from Rakiraki town.
They, together with 16 other families in the area who lost their homes during Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston last February, are now proud owners of new houses built from floor to roof by a team of builders and helpers comprising local as well as overseas-based volunteers.
None of these volunteers got paid for their efforts, nor were the owners of the homes ranging one to two and three bedroom houses paid a single cent. The builders arrived with their own tents to sleep in, and food, which they happily shared with their local hosts.
Volunteers like Ryan Herman and his wife, who were in New Zealand when they heard of the devastation Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston caused in Fiji. The couple was also involved in similar rehabilitation work in the Philippines, as well as in Vanuatu.
At the height of the church's reconstruction project, some 18 volunteers, some of them couples, travelled to Fiji from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the US and Vanuatu. They all paid for their own return travel.
In addition to assisting with the rebuilding of 17 homes in Dobuilevu, church volunteers have also completed 14 new cyclone-proof homes for church members on Koro in Lomaiviti. A group of builders and helpers spent three months on Koro. Building of these homes, comprising corrugated iron walls and concrete or timber floors continued this month at Nayawalevu, in the hinterlands of Ra Province, Ba, Tavua, Tailevu, Ovalau and Vanuabalavu in Lau Province.
"Straight after Cyclone Winston struck, our team of volunteers visited our brothers and sisters who were badly affected," explains Frank Coffin, co-ordinator of the local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses of Fiji.
"In their visits to Vanuabalavu, Taveuni, Koro, Ovalau and the northern and western regions of Viti Levu, not only were emergency supplies of food, water, clothing and temporary shelter distributed, but our teams also carried out assessments of the damage.
"This set the stage for the second phase of our assistance, where teams of local builders were dispatched to affected areas to carry out immediate repairs to homes that needed repairing. This has also been completed and now the team is into the third phase, which is the construction of homes for about 60 families in the cyclone ravaged regions."
For home construction, the church has commandeered half of the local Kingdom Hall compound in Vatuwaqa, near Suva, to act as the central home construction site.
A team of 25 volunteers constructed prefab homes at this site.
Once completed, these home frames are trucked to the building sites where teams of volunteers help erect the houses in no time. The entire reconstruction program from the design of the home phase to construction has all been done on a voluntary basis. Building engineers were consulted in the designs of the houses to make them strong and secure.
"It's quite a full-on operation, requiring constant co-ordination and management," says Mr Coffin.
"As to be expected sourcing housing materials has been a huge challenge, but with persistence and patience, assistance by various government departments, and not to mention Jehovah God's blessings, our teams are well on their way to providing a good strong and safe home for those who need them."
Materials for a one bedroom home is estimated to cost $US5500 ($F11,300) while a three bedroom house is costing US$10,000 ($F20,580), with funding provided through voluntary contributions by the church's world headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.
Mr Coffin added that some of the families affected badly and had initially applied for the Fijian Government's Help for Home initiative, have returned their M-Paisa cards to the Ministry of Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation.
"It is a loving gesture on the part of these members who were left homeless by TC Winston, as returning their M-Paisa cards would allow the Fijian Government to offer assistance to a lot more people who also needed help.
"We are also so grateful to our many brothers and sisters from overseas who answered our call for help, and gave of their own time, skills and resources to fly to Fiji at their own cost, to help us in our time of need.
"I speak on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Fiji, especially the hundreds of families among us who lost their homes and livelihood during Cyclone Winston in thanking the loving support and oversight from our governing body in the United States and the blessings and comfort of the God we serve, Jehovah."
* CORRECTION: A picture that appeared on Page 5 of our 8-page Winston liftout last week stated that it was a house being built by Habitat for Humanity. The house is in fact being built by volunteers and members of local Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. We regret any inconvenience caused.
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By Guest Nicole
The Popocatepetl volcano in central Mexico spurted a large plume of ash, smoke and steam into the sky. The eruption reached two kilometers into the sky, according to local media.
Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Centre said in its daily report that the volcano registered a total of 73 low intensity exhalations and four explosions over the last 24 hours. Authorities are urging people not to get close to the volcano and particularly to its crater.
Popocatepetl is the second tallest volcano in Mexico.
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By Guest Nicole
The recent hailstorm in Del Rio Monday night caused many to reevaluate the safety of their homes and their current living situations. Window, roof and electrical damages have citizens wishing they were more prepared for this natural disaster.
However, the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ completion of its replacement roof was finished just in time for the damaging weather.
Source:
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