Pacific typhoons, past and present If the departed Mangkhut was your first typhoon experience on Guam or Saipan, I suggest you’ve got a lot to learn if you stick around in typhoon alley. (If you’re on Rota which took the direct hit this time, different story.) Mangkhut, as it affected Guam and Saipan, was what old timers refer to derisively as a ‘banana typhoon.’ It knocks down the fragile trees and causes a lot of flooding. The damage is largely limited to tin houses and out

Itogon, Philippines -- They huddle among the despairing wreckage left by the violently destructive Typhoon Mangkhut. They must see their loved ones — even if that means they have to bring them back home in coffins. This is the overwhelming feeling that engulfs Barangay Ucab in Itogon, Benguet as hundreds of families stand at the landslide site, awaiting any news. When a body is found, everyone wonders if it is their brother, sister, aunt, cousin, wife, husband or child. The

Koror— Lacking formal government-to-government relations, Taiwan has relied on non-official interaction, that is people-to-people exchanges to provide an extensive perspective on the country from governance to its culture and fostering lasting links between people of different cultures. As the new year rolled in, I embarked on a three-week study trip to Taiwan as part of the prestigious National Development Course sponsored by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My study c

Manila — In my last column, I wrote about growing old with "the one." As I was writing it, I thought about the people who didn't make it as "the one," on one hand, and the people who lost them, on the other. I suddenly thought that not all people find or end up with "the one." Not all people get to strike an agreement with someone with a promise of forever. For reasons we don't quite understand, we don't get to keep the person we thought was our big love, the one. We don't st

The Guam Animals In Need (GAIN) on Friday issued a public warning about a series of violent attacks on dogs in Yigo. Dr. Thomas Poole, Guam Territorial Veterinarian, completed autopsies on both Pugua (the pet dog killed Thursday) and the new dog found dead Friday. Both dogs have bullet wounds. "I'm disturbed by this senseless attack, and hope with all my heart that we catch the person who did this," Poole said. On Thursday, Sept. 27, a pet dog named Pugua was violently killed

“I’m alive and that’s an extremely good thing,” said journalist Bill Jaynes, one of the passengers on board Air Niugini’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which crashed in a lagoon off in Chuuk Friday morning. Air Niugini confirmed that all passengers of the ill-fated plane have been safely evacuated. “The airline is making all efforts to ensure the safety and immediate needs of our passengers and crew,” the airline said in a brief statement issued at 12:30 p.m. Air Niugini said the