By Edward Hunt WASHINGTON, 17 FEBRUARY 2026 (FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS)—The United States is quietly working to reassert its control over the compact states, three island states in the central Pacific Ocean. Last month, witnesses at a congressional hearing revealed that the Trump administration is expanding military and intelligence operations in Palau, the Marshall Islands, […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
THE MACHINE
Have you ever noticed this? You finally lie down to rest… And suddenly your brain turns into a 24/7 overthinking machine. Replaying conversations. Predicting worst-case scenarios. Getting stuck in “what if” loops about things that haven’t even happened. And you think: Why can’t I just turn this off? Here’s something most people don’t know: Overthinking […]
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Public service media help anchor reliable information
By Prashanth Pillay, Jo Elsom SYDNEY, 16 FEBRUARY 2026 (DEVPOLICY.ORG) —Across the Indo-Pacific, people are spending more time online but finding it harder to know what to trust. The 2025 Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 shows nearly six in ten respondents struggle to distinguish between real and false information. A UK government study in […]
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A Quick reminder that… Food as Medicine
Dear Editor, Food is more than fuel. In Palau, food is memory, identity, and medicine. When we choose taro, breadfruit, coconut, fresh fish, and island fruits, we are not only nourishing our bodies, we are feeding our culture, our elders, and our future. Reclaiming food as medicine means restoring the connection between what grows here […]
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Recipe for Daily Health — A Palauan Guide
Dear Editor, Recipe for Daily Health — A Palauan Guide Health grows from simple, repeated habits. Here is a Palauan‑focused recipe for daily wellbeing practical, cultural, and rooted in island life. Walk and smile. Take a 10–30 minute walk each day. Walk to the mangrove, along the lagoon, or around the village. Smile at neighbors. […]
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A Most Modest Proposal for Palau’s Leaders
Dear Editor, Ranting Satire is good way to say hello… A Most Modest Proposal for Palau’s Leaders It is a truth universally acknowledged that a nation of 20,000 souls, blessed with pristine waters, fertile taro patches, and a strategic location so valuable that superpowers salivate over it, must surely be incapable of training its own […]