Author: TMC Palau

SINGAPORE – Search-and-rescue operations are under way for a Singaporean who went missing after a diving incident in Palau on Sept 7, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) liaising with the local authorities.In a media reply on Sept 9, MFA said it is providing consular assistance to the missing person’s family and is in contact with the Palau authorities over ongoing search-and-rescue efforts.“We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” the ministry said.Made up of about 340 islands, islets and atolls, Palau is an island nation south-east of the Philippines known for its clear waters, coral reefs and forests.The…

Northern Mariana Islands tennis standout Carol Lee says her biggest takeaway from her US Open main-draw debut is knowing she can compete at Grand Slam level after pushing world No. 62 Katie Boulter of Great Britain to three sets.”It was a tough match, but I’m proud of how I stayed composed, kept fighting, and forced a third set. Of course, I was disappointed not to get the win, but the biggest takeaway was realizing that I can compete at this level,” Lee said.”Playing in my first US Open main draw was an incredible experience and something I’ll always remember. The…

An Australian senator says the release of terms for a controversial deportation deal between Australia and Naoero (formerly Nauru) raises more questions than it answers.The Australian government has released an agreement to deport more than 350 refugees and asylum seekers to Naoero, known as the “NZYQ cohort”.Shrouded in secrecy, the government has been hesitant to release the deal, offering details in bite-sized pieces over the course of last year. Once such revelation came from Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in August 2025, when he said the deal gave Naoero AU$2.5 billion over thirty years.Green Party Senator David Shoebridge, who has…

The woman who is heading Papua New Guinea’s new NRL franchise says the club is a long-term prospect that can lift a nation.The PNG Chiefs will enter Australia’s NRL – the world’s premier rugby league competition – in 2028, with the help of a AU$600 million investment by the Australian government over ten years.RNZ Pacific had a chat to PNG Chiefs CEO Lorna McPherson about what is in store for the fledgling franchise, which has generated great interest in a rugby league-loving country.PNG had lobbied for a long time to get a team into the NRL, at least since around…

With a Chinese ballistic missile test in July as prelude, the familiar China-Taiwan tensions and preparations for the Pacific pre-COP in October and COP31 the following month, the annual Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM) returned to Palau for the first time in 12 years, and north of the equator for the first time since Pohnpei in 2016. Preparations for the 55th PIFLM were still underway as delegates arrived in Koror. An expected 2,000 people soon choked the town as motorcades shuttled VIPs between hotels and venues. Attendance speculation dominated the early part of the week. The leaders of Fiji,…

By Antonia Bhagwan SUVA, 07 SEPTEMBER 2026 (PANG) — The Pacific may have moved beyond the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but its economic consequences continue to weigh on governments across the region. Once again, countries are facing rising debt levels. In its 2026 Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank linked the current financial landscape […]The post Debt in the Pacific: Systemic and Current Threats to Regional Economic Sovereignty appeared first on Island Times News. Source link

The Rock Islands in Koror State are a dense cluster of forested limestone islets rising out of the Southern Lagoon of Palau, forming a maze of narrow channels, enclosed bays and reef-fringed lakes that has earned recognition as the Rock Islands Southern Lagoon World Heritage property inscribed by UNESCO in 2012.Rock Islands Southern LagoonLimestone islands packed into a protected lagoonThe core of the site is a predominantly marine landscape within Koror State, immediately south of the larger volcanic island of Babeldaob in the Republic of Palau, with hundreds of small limestone islands scattered inside a barrier-reef lagoon rather than along…

CRRF was instrumental in recent buoy and pressure sensor deployments, including coordinating with the Palau National Weather Service and other local partners and vendors, receiving buoys and moorings at their facility, storage and transportation of the equipment, and using their time and vessel to safely deploy the buoy. The deployments would not have happened without the team at CRRF. This buoy provides wave height, direction, period, sea surface currents, sea surface temperature, and air temperature—valuable information for ocean monitoring, scientific research, weather and wave observations, and marine safety. The second Backyard Buoys Spotter was deployed in Palau. Located in the…

By: L.N. Reklai KOROR, Palau — “Although we are many nations, we remain one ocean people.” That message from Grand Master Navigator Ali Haleyalur captures the central argument behind a declaration urging Pacific leaders to recognize traditional navigation as a living cultural heritage of the Blue Pacific continent and make its preservation a regional priority. […]The post Pacific Voyagers Seek Regional Recognition of Traditional Navigation as Living Heritage appeared first on Island Times News. Source link

A leading West Papua pro-independence group has questioned Indonesia’s assertion that a proposed visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua is on track.The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) is urging Indonesia to put its words into action on the proposed visit with a clear date, genuine access and meaningful engagement.This comes after Melanesian countries last week urged Jakarta to facilitate the long-requested visit or have Indonesia’s status as an associate member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group reviewed.A request for the visit was made by Pacific Islands Forum countries back in 2019, but it has…