Author: TMC Palau
The importance of media freedom is recognised each year globally on 3 May. This year the Pacific Island country of Tonga commemorated Press Freedom Day just a week after one of the most frightening threats to that freedom which took place at a major media outlet. A hooded man brandishing a pistol threatened a female journalist at the newsroom of Kele’a Voice, an FM radio station in Nuku’alofa. The radio station had broadcast a news story about a Tongan deportee serving a life sentence in Tonga for the importation of two kilograms of methamphetamine. The convicted man was a member…
ROMAN TMETCHUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Palau — From Oct. 10-11, 2024, the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division conducted an airfield seizure exercise as part of the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 25-01. The operation involved six C-17 Globemaster IIIs from the 15th Wing, 62nd Airlift Wing and the 3rd Wing, which airlifted U.S. Army Rangers and supportive units to the island of Palau.The exercise unfolded in three phases. Phase I began with the U.S. Army’s 75th Rangers Regiment securing the airfield.Once the airfield was secured, soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade unloaded at Roman Tmetuchl International Airport. They…
Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu. [Photo: FILE] The escalating global fuel crisis is expected to place increasing pressure on Fiji’s health system, with warnings that it may struggle to operate at full capacity if sustained fuel price rises and fuel-related disruptions continue or worsen amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Speaking to FBC News, Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu said rising fuel costs, driven by international instability, could impact the health sector’s ability to fully maintain services, particularly in areas that rely heavily on transport and logistics across Fiji’s dispersed islands. The Ministry says it is currently…
Some key events in Palau’s history:c. 2500BC – Palau’s first inhabitants – thought to have come from present-day eastern Indonesia – settle in the islands. The early Palauans develop complex social systems, practice fishing and farming.1783 – English captain Henry Wilson is shipwrecked on a reef and becomes the first Westerner to visit.1885 – Spain asserts its claim to the islands, which it administers as part of the Philippines.1899 – Spain sells Palau to Germany as part of German New Guinea in the German-Spanish Treaty. Germany begins to exploit the islands’ resources using native labour. Phosphate is mined and coconut…
Bula FC went down 1-0 to South Island United at Go Media Stadium on Wednesday. 6 May 2026 Photo: OFC Media via Phototek Auckland FC and Bula FC will be fighting to keep their OFC Pro League semifinal hopes alive when they meet in game two of the Leaders’ group in Auckland on Saturday. Both sides lost their opening matches on Wednesday; Bula FC going down 1-0 to South Island United and Auckland FC pipped 2-1 by South Melbourne FC. A win for either side will see them in the top three, but a loss could jeopardise their hopes of…
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).Sinking into the warm, aquamarine water, I feel the tug of the current immediately. Activating my leg muscles to kick against it, I scope out a suitable spot to hook into the reef without damaging it and give my buoyancy control device (BCD) a few pumps of air to lift me (and most importantly, my fins) above the coral. Here I hover, attached to the hook by a coil lanyard, and enjoy the show.Act one begins with a shiver of reef sharks parading along the edge of the reef just metres from…
DVIDS Hub works best with JavaScript enabled Issued by: on KOROR, Palau (Sept. 29, 2025) President of the Republic of Palau Surangel Whipps, Jr. (right) speaks with U.S. military and Palau state leaders during the biannual, bilateral U.S.-Palau Joint Committee Meeting at the One Stop Shop Government Building in Koror, Sept. 29. JCMs are aligned with the Compact of Free Association Title III: Security and Defense Relations, enabling ongoing dialogue between nations to enhance security and defense in the region. This meeting underscores the mutual commitment to national security, international partnership,…
A tropical disturbance that formed near Palau was upgraded to Tropical Depression 02W and could become a tropical storm Wednesday night as it makes its way toward the Philippines.The National Weather Service said there are no tropical cyclone watches and warnings in effect for Palau or Yap.That’s because TD 02W is located well west of these locations and tropical storm force winds, or maximum sustained winds of 39 miles per hour or more, are not expected across any islands of the NWS Guam region.TD 02W is expected to make a turn toward the west and then west-northwest in the coming…
Fijian PM Sitiveni Rabuka hosted Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Pacific and Defence Minister Pat Conroy in Suva this week. 7 May 2026 Photo: Facebook / Fiji Government Fiji’s cabinet has approved the country’s new treaty with Australia, the Vuvale Union. In a statement on Friday, the Fijian government described it as a “treaty-level framework” that will strengthen and formalise the two countries’ longstanding partnership. This follows talks this week in Suva between Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong who said security would be a central pillar of the treaty. Co-operation is to deepen…
Monday, November 6, 2023. Michel Camilo is rehearsing his two-piano concert with Marco Mezquida in the orchestra hall of the Conservatori Liceu. The rehearsal ends and everything is joy and happiness. The two have connected beautifully. They step outside and run into the quartet of saxophonist Donny McCaslin, which features drummer Antonio Sánchez, recently settled in the Maresme. Michel advises Marco: “Now that he lives here, you have to play with him. He’s one of the best.” Antonio nods, smiles, and replies: “And one day I have to play with you too, Michel.” Well, that day has arrived, a gift…