KOROR, Palau — The Palauan passport ranks 83rd globally in the latest 2026 passport ranking, with a Mobility Score of 120 and access to 60.6% of destinations worldwide, according to Passport Reports. The ranking shows that Palauan passport holders can travel to 68 destinations without a visa. Another 46 destinations offer visa-on-arrival or simplified entry […]
Author Archives: Island Times
Posted inIn Focus
China’s Attempts To Create Distrust Within Palau Shows Where the CCP Vulnerable
By: Cleo Paskal “The crumbling of a regime always starts in the realm of ideas. Changing the way people think is a long-term process. Once the front lines of human thought have been broken through, other defensive lines also become harder to defend.” – Xi Jinping Last week, Palauan legislators and their family members suddenly […]
Posted inPacific News
Debt in the Pacific: Systemic and Current Threats to Regional Economic Sovereignty
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 […]
Posted inPacific News
Pacific leaders endorse regional Labour Ministers Meeting
KOROR, 07 SEPTEMBER 2026 (FIJI TIMES) — Pacific Island leaders have endorsed the establishment of a regional Labour Ministers Meeting as a dedicated ministerial mechanism within the Pacific Islands Forum architecture. The decision was made at the Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau, where leaders also endorsed the associated Business Case and Ministerial Charter, while taking […]
Posted inWorld News
Indonesian wildfires spurred by super El Niño choke South-East Asia
By Tim Swanston and Ari Wu in West Kalimantan, with Raffa Athallah, and Erwin Renaldi https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-07/indonesia-wildfires-haze-poor-air-quality-smog-drought-el-nino/107122922 Share article (ABC-Australia) For three exhausting months, Andri Susanto and his crew have been fighting raging forest and land fires on the island of Borneo. For many, it’s reminiscent of 2015, a horrid fire season that led to a […]
Posted inTop Stories
Pacific Leaders Put Unity, Climate Action and 1.5C at Heart of Palau Forum
By: L.N. Reklai KOROR, Palau (September 4, 2026) — Pacific leaders in their 55th PIFLM’s communique are calling for stronger regional solidarity and practical collective action as they confront climate change, economic vulnerability, security challenges and growing pressure on the region’s resources, with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius emerging as a central priority […]