Wellington  - Fiji's military rulers have backed off from a threat to expel New Zealand's senior diplomat in the capital Suva for talking to opposition politicians, according to news reports on Tuesday.

Fiji strongman Commodore Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama had earlier threatened to throw out acting High Commissioner Caroline McDonald unless Wellington issued a visa allowing the son of the president's secretary to return to New Zealand to finish his university studies.

UshaComm, a part of Usha Martin Group, has informed that it has entered into an end user license pact with Telecom Fiji. 

Under the deal, Telecom Fiji will utilize UshaComm’s state-of-the-art billing system Unicorn, convergent mediation system Pegasus and interconnect billing & reconciliation system UIBS.  

Suva-based Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) is the only provider of local and national (trunk) telephony services, and owns the sole public switched telephone network in Fiji.  

Wellington - Ten people, including a pregnant woman and two of her sons, died when a bus caught fire in Fiji early Friday morning, according to news reports from the capital Suva.

The bus, carrying about 50 members of an extended family to a funeral, was travelling from Suva to Nadi when fire broke out and it crashed off the road after the brakes failed, the independent Fijilive website reported.

Trapped passengers could not get the door open and nearly 40 were reported to have escaped through the windows.

Fijilive said a woman who was seven months pregnant died with her sons aged three and one year, while her elder 5-year-old boy escaped. The woman's husband was reported to have been travelling separately in the accompanying hearse.

Wellington - Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum gave Fiji military strongman Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama an ultimatum on Thursday to hold democratic elections by March or face suspension from the 16-member regional body.

The leaders laid down their challenge in a communique at their annual summit, in Niue, boycotted by Bainimarama, who ousted Fiji's elected government with a bloodless military coup in December 2006.

He announced this month that he would not hold new elections early next year, as he had promised forum leaders at last year's summit in Tonga.

Wellington - Fiji's military strongman, Voreqe Bainimarama, tightened his grip on the South Pacific island state Monday and announced he would boycott a regional summit where he was expected to defend his refusal to hold fresh elections next year, according to reports from the capital, Suva.

Bainimarama, who made himself prime minister after ousting the elected government in a bloodless coup in December 2006, told reporters he was taking over the post of finance minister and responsibility for national planning, the independent Fijilive website reported.

Wellington (dpa) - New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told
Fiji military strongman Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama, who seized power in