Author: ngewakl

About 0% in February 2026. This was lower than the overall US rate of 8.5%. The average effective tariff rate shows how much the US collects in customs duties as a percentage of the total value of imported goods. However, imports may have different tariff rates (or none at all) depending on factors like country of origin, product type, trade agreements, and much more. Source link

Overview: Palau is already seeing warning signs of a potential drought, with weeks of little rain, water rationing now in place in northern states, and forecasts pointing to even drier months ahead. Officials are urging residents to conserve water as El Niño conditions loom. Weather Service warns of very dry conditions through mid-2026 as El Niño threat grows By: Eoghan Olkeriil Ngirudelsang KOROR, Palau (April 21, 2026) — Early signs of a possible drought are emerging in Palau, with residents reporting weeks of little rainfall and officials warning of drier conditions ahead. “It looks like we are going to have…

In Dhaka’s Mirpur district, fifteen-year-old Rahim repairs mobile phones at a roadside stall, earning 200 taka (US$1.80) daily. Deaf since birth, he hasn’t been inside a classroom since age eight. When I ask his mother why he left school, she answers through a neighbour: “The teachers said they couldn’t help him. What choice did we have?” Rahim’s trajectory is depressingly common across South Asia: exclusion from education leads to informal labour, which perpetuates poverty, which prevents advocacy, which ensures the next generation faces identical barriers. This isn’t random misfortune, it’s a self-reinforcing system that traps disabled people and their families…

[Source:Fijian Drua/Facebook] The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua went down to the Chiefs 42-22 in the final match of the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific in Christchurch, New Zealand. Some poor decision-making really cost the Drua today. The Drua surprised the Chiefs when Mesake Doge crashed over for the first try in the third minute. Eight minutes later, the Chiefs scored before the in-form center of the competition, Quinn Tupaea, ran through to score between the sticks from a lineout set piece.Article continues after advertisement Flyhalf Isaiah Armstrong Ravula put his team within reach with a penalty midway in the…

On April 26, 2026, as Palau’s dry season peaks, the Rock Islands Palau emerge as a UNESCO-listed haven of limestone pinnacles and turquoise lagoons near Koror. American travelers can fly from LAX via Guam in 12-15 hours with visa-free entry. Discover why this hidden paradise captivates divers and nature lovers worldwide. On April 26, 2026, the Rock Islands Palau stand as one of the world’s most breathtaking natural wonders, drawing adventurers to Palau’s southern lagoon just as the dry season peaks for optimal exploration. Nestled near Koror, these 450 limestone islands, cloaked in emerald rainforest and encircled by turquoise lagoons,…

Overview: The Oceania National Olympic Committees has reaffirmed its push for stronger governance and athlete support across the Pacific, highlighting key reforms and regional priorities at the Association of National Olympic Committees Executive Council Meeting in Cape Verde. President Baklai Temengil outlined progress under the ONOC Reset initiative, while emphasizing climate challenges, upcoming constitutional reforms, and preparations for major international competitions. CAPE VERDE, 21 APRIL 2026 (ONOC MEDIA)—The Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening governance, enhancing operational effectiveness, and supporting athletes across the region, during an update delivered at the Association of National Olympic Committees…

Papua New Guinea is home to an estimated one million persons with disabilities (PWDs): roughly 10-15% of the population. Over the past decade, PNG’s government has made significant policy commitments to support them, including the National Policy on Disability 2015-2025 and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Despite these frameworks, most PWDs remain excluded from education, employment and community life. Only 2% of PWDs in PNG currently access formal services. The vast majority are left without assistive devices, rehabilitation, inclusive schooling or income support. Most live in rural areas, where rugged geography and…

After midnight in Suva, a van parks near a settlement. The lights come on. A team steps out. People approach — some cautiously, some with urgency, some because a peer educator they trust has spent weeks building the relationship that makes this moment possible. Within two hours, the Moonlight Clinic has tested dozens of people for HIV, linked a reactive case to care, and distributed condoms, counselling and information that most of these individuals have never before been offered in a setting that felt safe. This is Medical Services Pacific’s Moonlight Program. And it is quietly demonstrating something that health…

Palm oil is in around half the products on your supermarket shelf. It is also one of the world’s most socially contested industries. Coalitions of activists and consumers are mobilised around the view that palm oil is environmentally and socially damaging and should be limited, through boycotts or through policy. The environmental concerns are well-founded. When I started this research over a decade ago, which was recently published in the Journal of International Economics (open access), I was struck by how little systematic evidence existed on what the world’s largest modern agricultural expansion had actually done to the communities where…

The dust may now have settled at Two-Mile Hill, but twelve hundred former residents of Port Moresby’s Rabiagini settlement remain homeless. They are the unfortunate victims of the latest of Papua New Guinea’s state-sponsored eviction campaigns. Forced to move into other crowded settlements scheduled for future demolition, they embody Port Moresby’s interlocking crises of housing insecurity, escalating violence and failing urban policy. Urban squatter settlements are growing rapidly in the cities of Australia’s Melanesian neighbours. Across Noumea, Suva, Port Vila and Honiara, each is a testament to the region’s accelerating rural-urban migration. The issue is most pronounced in PNG’s capital…