President Joe Biden said Tuesday he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington. The scuttling of two of the three legs of the overseas trip is a foreign policy setback for an administration that has made putting a greater focus on the Pacific region central to its global outreach. Biden said he still plans to depart on Wednesday for Hiroshima, Japan, for a Group of Seven summit with leaders from some of the world's major economies. He will return to the U.S. on Sunday. “I’m postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders," Biden said at the start of a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House. He added, “The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once. So I’m confident we’re going to continue to make progress toward avoiding the default and fulfilling America’s responsibility as a leader on the world stage.” Biden said he spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier on Tuesday to inform him he was postponing a visit to Australia and invited him to Washington for an official state visit at a yet-to-be determined date. White House staff broke the news to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. White House officials did not offer an immediate response to questions about when Biden might reschedule visits to the two countries. “Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Pacific Island leaders to come to Hiroshima during the G-7. Albanese in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview said that the Quad leaders are now hoping to hold a meeting in Hiroshima. “We’ll also hopefully be able to find a time when the four of us can sit down,” Albanese said. “We will have to organize the logistics of the Quad meeting now in Sydney and we’ll be discussing with our partners in the U.S., but also Japan and India over the next day or so.” Biden had been scheduled to travel on to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders and then to Australia for a meeting of the leaders of the Quad partnership, made up of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. The Papua New Guinea stop would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the island country of more than 9 million people. The Quad partnership first formed during the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Since coming into office, Biden has tried to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his broader effort to put greater U.S. focus on the Pacific and counter increasing economic and military assertiveness by China in the region. Biden announced his decision soon after he wrapped up a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y., for talks on the debt limit standoff. Earlier Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby expressed administration officials' frustration that the debt talks are having an impact on the president's dealings on the international stage. “We wouldn’t have to have this conversation. I wouldn’t have to answer these questions if Congress just did the right thing,” Kirby said. Some Republican lawmakers questioned Biden's decision to travel overseas considering the consequences of the debt limit talks. “I think he should not leave and he should focus on the debt limit here at home,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. With the brief stop in Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, Biden had hoped to demonstrate that the United States is committed to remaining engaged for the long term in the Pacific Islands. The area has received diminished attention from the U.S. in the aftermath of the Cold War and China has increasingly filled the vacuum — through increased aid, development and security cooperation. Biden has said that he’s committed to changing that dynamic. Last September, Biden hosted leaders from more than a dozen Pacific Island countries at the White House, announcing a new strategy to help to assist the region on climate change and maritime security. His administration also recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to open one in Kiribati. As vice president, Biden saw up close how domestic politics can complicate foreign policy during the 2013 government shutdown. President Barack Obama was forced to bail on attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the East Asia Summit in Brunei as well as a visit to Malaysia and the Philippines in the midst of a government shutdown as he negotiated with GOP leaders. President Bill Clinton opted to skip his scheduled participation in the APEC summit in Japan in the midst of the 1995 government shutdown. He opted to send Vice President Al Gore in his place.

 At least three people are dead after a powerful earthquake hit a remote part of Papua New Guinea Sunday morning, authorities say. Others were injured and infrastructure damaged in the magnitude 7.6 jolt that was felt across the Pacific country. The three people died in a landslide in the gold-mining town of Wau, said Morobe Provincial Disaster Director Charley Masange. Other people had been injured from falling structures or debris, and there was damage to some health centers, homes, rural roads and highways, Masange told The Associated Press. Masange said it could take some time to assess the full extent of the injuries and damage in the region. But he said the sparse and scattered population and lack of large buildings near the epicenter in the nation's largely undeveloped highlands may have helped prevent a bigger disaster, given the earthquake was so strong. Read:Earthquake kills 65, triggers landslides in southwest China One resident from the town closest to the epicenter described his ordeal to the AP. Renagi Ravu was meeting with two colleagues at his home in Kainantu when the quake struck. Ravu tried to stand up from his chair but couldn't maintain his balance and ended up in a kind of group hug with his colleagues, while plates and cups crashed from his shelves to the ground, he said. His children, ages 9 and 2, had their drinks and breakfast spill over. Ravu, who is a geologist, said he tried to calm everybody as the shaking continued for more than a minute. Ravu said that about 10,000 people live in and around his town, which is located 66 kilometers (41 miles) from the quake's epicenter. He said people were feeling rattled. “It's a common thing that earthquakes are felt here, but it usually doesn't last as long and is not as violent as this one,” Ravu said. “It was quite intense.” Ravu was sorting through the damage to his home, which he said likely included a broken sewer pipe judging from the smell. He said friends elsewhere in Kainantu had messaged him with descriptions of cracked roads, broken pipes and fallen debris, but hadn't described major building collapses or injuries. “They are starting to clean up their houses and the streets,” he said. Communication seems to have been affected, he added, with some cell towers likely to have fallen. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in 2018 in the nation’s central region killed at least 125 people. That quake hit areas that are remote and undeveloped, and assessments about the scale of the damage and injuries were slow to filter out. Read: Strong undersea quake causes panic in western Indonesia Felix Taranu, a seismologist at the Geophysical Observatory in the capital Port Moresby, said it was too early to know the full impacts of Sunday's earthquake, although its strength meant it “most likely caused considerable damage.” According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit at 9:46 a.m. local time at a depth of 90 kilometers (56 miles). NOAA advised there was no tsunami threat for the region. Papua New Guinea is located on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, to the east of Indonesia and north of eastern Australia. It sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where much of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic activity occurs.

Bangladesh beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 84 runs in their last Group B match in Round 1 of the  T20 World Cup to qualify for the Super 12s in style.  However, they have to wait for the last match of the group between Oman and Scotland to see if they are the champions of the group or runners up.  In reply of Bangladesh’s 181, PNG tumbled for 97 in 19.3 overs.  Shakib Al Hasan won the player of the match award again for his 46 and a four-wicket haul. With this four-wicket, Shakib’s T20 World Cup tally reached 39. He is now the highest wicket-taker in T20 World Cup along with Pakistan great Shahid Afridi.  None of the top seven batters of PNG was able to reach a double-digit score but at the eighth, Kiplin Doriga scored an unbeaten 46 off 34 balls with two fours and two sixes.  Read: T20 World Cup: Bangladesh beat Oman to stay afloat Earlier, riding on a 50 from captain Mahmudullah Riyad and 46 from Shakib, Bangladesh posted 181. Lower order batter Mohammad Saifuddin smashed an unbeaten 19 off 6 balls hitting two sixes and one four. 

Bangladesh have won the toss and opted to bat first against Papua New Guinea, PNG,  in the last match of Round 1 in Group B at the ongoing T20 World Cup.  Bangladesh needs to win this match to qualify for the Super 12s of the T20 World Cup. If they win this match, and Scotland beat Oman in the second match of the day, Bangladesh will book a place in the Super 12s.  Read:Tigers take on PNG Thursday, aim for a Super 12 berth In the first match of the group, Bangladesh lost to Scotland, but they bounced back in the match against the hosts Oman.  Bangladesh field an unchanged playing XI in this match.  Read:Crushing Oman 'big relief for Tigers' Bangladesh (Playing XI): Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Mahedi Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan(w), Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah(c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman Papua New Guinea (Playing XI): Lega Siaka, Assad Vala(c), Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Simon Atai, Hiri Hiri, Norman Vanua, Kiplin Doriga(w), Chad Soper, Kabua Morea, Damien Ravu

Michael Somare, a pivotal figure in Papua New Guinea’s independence and the South Pacific island nation's first prime minister, has died. He was 84.

Eleven prisoners were shot dead while 33 others remained absconding following a mass jailbreak in Papua New Guinea's (PNG) second largest city, Lae.

The South Pacific region of Bougainville voted overwhelmingly to become the world's newest nation by gaining independence from Papua New Guinea, results showed Wednesday.

Canbera, Oct 15 (AP/UNB) — Papua New Guinea police said Tuesday they were seeking the arrest of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill for official corruption but the former leader of the South Pacific island nation was refusing to cooperate.