Author: TMC Palau

Chiefs in showdown with PNG’s new rugby league team over identical name The simmering trademark dispute between New Zealand Rugby and Papua New Guinea’s incoming NRL franchise has erupted into a legal battle after NZR filed a High Court injunction to stop the new club from using the Chiefs name.In a statement released on Thursday, NZR said it is seeking both an interim and final injunction which stops the use of the names “PNG Chiefs”, “Chiefs” or any other similar names in New Zealand.The move represents a major escalation in the dispute and threatens to disrupt the PNG club’s plans…

Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Samoa have named experienced players in their squads for the women’s competition at the 2026 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) which kicks off next week.The three Pacific Island teams will represent the region at the event, hosted across Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.Key players include those who have been competing in the National Rugby League Women’s competition, which includes teams in Australia and the New Zealand Warriors.Other players who also compete in the New South Wales or Queensland Cup competition are spread across all three squads.Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Samoa have named…

The United States has designated a prominent Chinese businessman in Fiji for “significant corruption” on behalf of China-based actors.Zhao Fugang, owner of the Yue Lai Hotel in Suva and the Overseas Chinese Service Center located within it, is believed by global intelligence services to be a senior member of a syndicate involved in drug smuggling, money laundering, and human trafficking, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).In a statement on Wednesday (Thursday NZ time), the US State Department said Zhao actively pays bribes to Fijian citizens to “advance China-based government, business, and criminal interests”.”His actions constituted significant…

RIVER FALLS – A University of Wisconsin-River Falls faculty member has discovered a previously unknown species of orchid found only on an island in the western Pacific. Assistant Professor of Biology Benjamin Crain is the lead author of research published in August in the journal, Harvard Papers in Botany, describing the species Agrostophyllum lkou. Crain found the rare orchid on Babeldaob Island in the Republic of Palau, located in the Caroline Islands north of New Guinea.   The discovery came through years of fieldwork, examination of historical botanical records and collaboration with orchid specialists.   For Crain, a conservation biologist and ecologist,…

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is downplaying tensions within his coalition over his unilateral decision to announce the date for the country’s first-ever national referendum ahead of an upcoming election.Local media are reporting that Rabuka maintains that his announcement on Monday for a referendum vote on changing Fiji’s 2013 Constitution does not break any laws, despite the move being called out by the opposition as “putting the cart before the horse”.Other critics are calling Rabuka’s move unconstitutional because under the current constitution, the prime minister cannot call for or set a date for a referendum.The Fijian government had earlier stated…

Finishing in the top two in Pool A is the focus for the Papua New Guinea men’s cricket team as they prepare for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) Challenge League Goup A tournament in Kenya.The event, used as the qualifying pathway for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, will be held from 21 to 31 October.Cricket Papua New Guinea (Cricket PNG) has named a 14-player squad for the event, with the PNG Barramundis facing a crucial series of matches in their attempt to qualify for the world cup.The squad will depart PNG on 13 October.They wiill go through…

In late August, Samoa’s Cabinet approved labour mobility reforms, effective immediately and aligned with the government’s 2023 policy for temporary labour migration. The reforms set an annual mobilisation cap of 10,000 workers, down from 12,000 in the 2023 policy, with 5,000 each for New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme and Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. They end direct referrals of new workers by current workers, village leaders or employers: every request for replacement or additional workers must now be routed through Samoa’s Labour Employment Export Programme (LEEP) Division of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour. Candidates…

‘FRIENDSHIP FLEET’: A CGA official is scheduled to meet with the president of the Pacific nation, while one of the ships is to host a banquet and National Day event Two Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol vessels have docked at Malakal Harbor in Palau as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, the agency said yesterday.The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu, set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived on Tuesday at Malakal Harbor, the CGA’s Fleet Branch…

Cracks are starting to show within Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition government ahead of a looming general election and a potential national referendum, as the country prepares to mark its 56th anniversary on Saturday.This follows the National Federation Party (NFP) and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), both the minor partners that helped Rabuka return to power, publicly calling out the prime minister for fast-tracking a constitutional reform process.NFP leader Biman Prasad, who said earlier that his party fully supported the joint parliamentary process to review Fiji’s proposed Constitution (Amendment) Bill to change the 2013 Constitution, shifted his stance after Rabuka pre-emptively…

Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Wednesday that two of its patrol vessels had docked at Palau’s Malakal Harbor as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with the Palauan president.The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu, set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived Tuesday at the Malakal Harbor, the CGA’s Fleet Branch said in a statement.The journey marked the second time the CGA has dispatched a “Friendship Fleet” to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising…