The young cricketer has been playing since he was ten years old in the local BSP School Kriket Program. Now at 17 he is excited to be part of the PIH Under 19 Cricket PNG team. Recently completing grade 8 at Pari Primary School, Patrick was fortunate enough to balance both school and training. ‘I’d come and train on weekends but now I’ve finished my exams, so I train full time.’ And now with his full focus on the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup he is anxiously hopeful. ‘I want to perform well in the World Cup and hopefully we will win some games,’ he says. Since joining the U19 train-on squad, the enthusiastic all-rounder says he has learnt and gained new skills, implying he has made big improvements and he has gotten better at his games. ‘I improved how to bat and bowl, and how to catch the ball. It’s very good, very interesting too.’ Outside of cricket and off the field, he is a typical teenager who enjoys anything fun – either playing or doodling on paper. ‘I like to play volleyball and other fun games. And I like to draw too,’ Patrick says with a sudden beam on his face. One of his favourite home-cooked foods are bananas. He smiles saying that’s one of the things he’ll most definitely miss eating when away in the West Indies for his world cup tour. The BSP School Kriket Program had given Patrick something to enjoy and keep busy a few years back, and to be able to make it as a young cricketer in the World Cup is a great blessing. ‘I want to say thank you to everyone at Cricket PNG and also a big thank you to my people of Pari village for the encouragement and support.’

Lae Rugby League (LRL) Judiciary announced its decision to ban two clubs for 3 years as a result of the spectator and player violence that occurred during the December 11 grand final match                                                                      . The Judiciary imposed a 3 year suspension on the Tent City Rangers RL Club for the actions of its supporters in bringing LRL and the game into disrepute, in breach of the PNGRFL Code of Conduct. It found the Rangers’ supporters instigated the violence during the game by throwing dangerous objects onto the field of play. 14B Pirates RL Club is also suspended for 3 years for breaching the PNGRFL Code of Conduct for players and spectators. The Judiciary determined that a number of Pirates players retaliated with violence and ran out of the field of play to engage in a fight with the Rangers spectators. 14B Pirates supporters also retaliated by invading the field of play and fighting. The Judiciary has also imposed penalties on identified players and team managers for breach of the Code of Conduct and Misconduct Handbook. It has banned nine 14B Pirates players and the Team Manager for 1 year for their retaliation. Rangers Team Manager has been banned for five matches and the Club fined K500 for not complying with LRL instructions. LRL President Adrian Chow said, “The Clubs were handed the Judiciary’s decisions. Due to the holiday season, they have been given 14 days to appeal to PNGRFL." "I commend Acting Judiciary Chairman Steve Malum and his panel for their consideration of the video footage and reports which ensure those responsible are held accountable for their actions. I hope the bans on the Clu§s,and players send a strong message that there is zero tolerance to violence in rugby league. Spectators and players must exercise restraint so that on field incidents remain on field and are dealt with by match officials. It is unfortunate that innocent supporters and players will be affected by the club bans but this is necessary to change the mindset of the minority that do not wish to act with respect and sportsmanship.”

PNG Football Association President John Kapi Natto has warmly welcomed new men’s soccer Head Coach Marcos Gusmao who arrived in the country on Tuesday. “On behalf of PNG Football Association Executive Committee Members, the PNGFA Management, MA Presidents and all the supporters of our football here in PNG, I would like to take this time before our Christmas period to warmly welcome our football instructor and head coach of the PNG men’s national squad, Marcus Gusmao all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America to our shores,” Mr Kapi Natto said. Gusmao slipped into the country quietly to take up his new position as the new head coach. Gusmao’s major task is to prepare the soccer national team for the FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifier in Qatar. Apart from coaching and managing the national men’s soccer team, Marcos will also be tasked to assist PNGFA Technical division in formulating at Technical Development plan and will assist with implementation phase of the plan. The Brazillian is no stranger to PNG when he came here in 2004 to prepare the men’s national team for the 2008 South Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa and that time. “I was then appointed as the Team Manager as we prepared the National Team but unfortunately PNG men’s national team could not travel because it was ruled out by the PNGOC Justification committee for some reasons.” He said Gusmao prepared the team for almost six months leaving with his assistant coaches of Bob Morris and Pius Letenge in the same residence as all Brazillians find it a normal thing to their culture. Gusmao is renowned for his hardness and no nonsense in coaching & preparing the national team under the captaincy of former PNG great Richard Daniel and other great players. “I trust that Marcus will do his best with his assistant Bob Morris who is no stranger to Marcus as his former assistant and now to join him again is a great treat”. Kapi Natto strongly urged the members of the men national soccer team to pay close attention to him as he brings his wealth of coaching techniques and skills to team.

Egyptologists knew from decoded hieroglyphics that the mummy had been unwrapped once in the 11th century BC - more than four centuries after his original mummification and burial. The perfectly wrapped mummified body of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep I has been examined in "unprecedented detail" for the first time with the use of modern scanning technology. Researchers were able to "peel off" the facemask and bandages and discover details about his appearance and the lavish jewellery he was buried with. They said it was a "unique opportunity" to study how he had originally been mummified and also "how he had been treated and reburied twice, centuries after his death". [caption id="attachment_17952" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Layers were 'peeled off' with the digital unwrapping of the mummified body[/caption] There has previously been a reluctance to uncover the ancient ruler's body because of its wrapping decorated with flower garlands and the life-like facemask inset with colourful stones. The study was carried out with the use of three-dimensional computer topography scanning technology. Egyptologists knew from decoded hieroglyphics that the mummy had been unwrapped once in the 11th century BC - more than four centuries after his original mummification and burial. But the experts believed the priests who restored and reburied him did so to repair damage done by grave robbers and to reuse royal burial equipment for later pharaohs. SOURCE: SKY NEWS

A landslide early this morning at Doba Village in Mendi, Southern Highlands has claimed the life of an elderly woman while a mother and her three children remain buried. A school teacher at the nearby Minuhu Primary School Hanson Akop told PNG Hausbung that the landslide occurred around 1am this morning while the villagers were asleep. He said villagers this morning dug up the body of an elderly woman however the four others are still yet to be uncovered because of the huge stones that had piled up in the aftermath. “The landslide buried everything in its path including the houses, however most of the villagers escaped with injuries while the elderly woman and the mother and her three children were buried with their houses,” Mr Akop said. “We got the elderly woman’s body to Mendi General Hospital and it is now in the morgue.” He further said there was no rain earlier in the night and they do not know what had triggered the landslide. Meanwhile the villagers are calling on local authorities to help with equipment to recover of the bodies buried under the rubble. Picture courtesy: Hanson Akop

The Department of Personnel Management has confirmed K86. 5million has been paid to retire aging public servants this year. Secretary Department of Personnel Management Ms. Taies Sansan revealed at the farewell reception for 6 Department of NEC Officers on Thursday 23rd December) that the government funding for this year’s retirees totalled 86.5 million kina. Department of Personnel Management who is coordinating the exercise successfully completed the retirement exercise for 2021. Secretary Sansan said, the funds were paid out in 4 batches which totalled 1, 343 public servants. The 4th and the last batch of retirees for the exercise this year will be paid out on Pay 1 of 2022. The retirement exercise saw the payout of retired public servants for 2021as follows; BATCH          No. Of Agencies              No. of officers          Total            Pay # 1                   6                                      37                             2.9m            17 2                   12                                    318                           25.7m          20 3                   30                                    341                           17m             26 4                   34                                    647                           41m             Pay 1/2022 TOTAL 1, 343 K86.5m “This is another achievement for this government in terms of ensuring that normal exit of public servants is being honoured. I wish to thank the government for its continued commitment in 2022 where K200million has been allocated in next year’s budget to payout the next lot of retirees”. Secretary Sansan who thanked the 6 PMNEC retirees for their services and loyalty to the state, encouraged them to use their well-earned entitlements properly with their families. “Life outside of the public service will be challenging if you are not prepared whilst you are still in the service”. Secretary Sansan also used the occasion to challenge new recruits who enter the public service to be prepared from the start of their public service life and prepare themselves for exit by indulging in a savings culture. “The Public Service is a good place to be. The government is the largest employer and let’s give back through our service to the state and for us to be honest in the way we deal with government business. Let us be responsible public servants”. Secretary Sansan would also like to acknowledge the Prime Minister Hon. James Marape for his government’s continued commitment to the retirement exercise. Ms. Sansan also acknowledged the Public Service Minister Hon. Joe Sungi for his ministerial support to her department on this very important policy initiative. She also took time to acknowledge PMNEC Secretary Ivan Pomaleu for his overall leadership to the public service machinery at the bureaucratic level throughout the year.

A total of 71 babies were born between Christmas and Boxing Day at the Port Moresby General Hospital Labour Ward. Of the 32 babies that were born on Christmas Day, 14 were boys and 18 were girls. From the 32, two were born via caesarean section and the rest were natural births. On Boxing Day, a total of 39 babies were born and from this, 21 were boys and 18 were girls. From the 39, four babies were delivered via C-Section while the rest were natural births. Senior midwife Sr. Wanis Koral who worked during the night shift on Boxing Day said a common problem faced by mothers is Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH) which is considerable bleeding after delivery and she has strongly urged for families to consider family planning options. Meanwhile, Morin and Jacob Don, a young couple who welcomed their first child, said they were elated that their son was born on Christmas Day. “I am truly happy that my son was born on Christmas and I am considering giving my son name related to this special day,” said the proud father, Mr. Don. So far, by 11 a.m. (Monday, 27 December) about 942 babies were recorded to have been born in the month of December alone.

THE Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) and the Alotau Provincial Government have signed a contract this month to upgrade the Alotau provincial Wharf. CCDA Acting Managing Director Mr William Lakain during the ceremony said after a feasibility study was carried out in 2016, it was revealed that the 53-year-old Alotau Wharf is in a poor state of repair and is vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change especially the rise in sea level and increasingly rise in storm surge. He said based on assessment, a US$5Million additional funding was sourced for the Building Resilience of Climate Change (BRCC) program through the Strategic Climate Fund-Pilot Program for Climate Resilience. Additional funding was made available by the Australian Government to upgrade the Wharf. BRCC project is aimed at achieving transformation change in addressing the current and future treats from treats from the climate change and related hazards. Alotau Provincial Wharf will become a model climate proof marine structure with ‘climate proofing design features’ and to provide insights for development of climate resilient building codes and design standards at the national level as well as social inclusive “Once this Wharf is given the appropriate facelift, we believe this development will give leverage to increase the resilience of the Milne Bay Community to the impacts of climate change,” Mr Lakain said. The improved Wharf facilities will serve an estimated 200 registered boat owners in the Province and about 2,500 dinghy or operators. It is anticipated that this provincial wharf will inclusively accommodate the most vulnerable and those with limited mobility eg, persons with disability, sick, pregnant mothers etc… It will continue to function as a public loading and unloading facility for small vessels supplying the needs of mostly the low-income earners of the off shore islands, both on a routine basis and at times of emergencies. Once the wharf is completed, Milne Provincial Government administration will continue to own and operate the wharf to better serve the its people as well as collect fees and levies to sustain the maintenance. Working will start in a few months’ time. “I congratulate Pacific Marine for being the successful bidder and we are looking forward to the contract to be completed within the contract period,” said Mr Lakain. Alotau Provincial Administrator Ashan Numa thanked CCDA and other partners for the upgrading of the wharf. Mr Numa said Alotau is a Maritime province and the upgrading of the wharf would help the people in the province.

The Coalition of Parliamentarians to End Gender Based Violence has called on Minister for Police William Onglo and Commissioner for Police David Manning to order urgent action by police officers to investigate and make arrests in relation to two videos depicting brutal violence against women that have been brought to their attention. Both incidents allegedly occurred in Enga and Southern Highlands Province. Governor Powes Parkop, Co-Chair of the Coalition stated: “I am absolutely appalled by the horrendous acts of violence captured in these two videos. It makes me sick to my stomach and is completely unacceptable in our society. There can be no excuse for the perpetrators and we must make sure they are immediately held to account.” He went on to state: “We need a special police unit deployed ASAP into Enga Province to investigate both cases, collect evidence and make arrests. Police also should not wait for crime to be reported. They should just act on such evidence or reports and go after the offenders.” As a former lawyer himself, Governor Parkop stated: “We also need a special prosecutor to focus on these crimes, to ensure that there is prosecution. If necessary, I want our Coalition to be officially advised by the Department of Justice whether the laws need to be amended so that we can use the videos we have seen as reliable and acceptable evidence in Court – if this must be done, then lets do it. Such videos must be made admissible, because we know that witnesses are not coming forward due to fear of retribution or retaliation.” Governor Parkop was supported by Hon Charles Abel, the Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender Based Violence who also called for action in relation to the cases in the two videos, and more generally. Hon Abel also stated: “This violence is absolutely sickening. I cannot stand to watch one more video such as this, which shows such depraved conduct. We must make sure that arrests are made and a strong message sent to the citizens of our country that such barbaric crimes against their fellow citizens will simply not be tolerated.” Member of the Coalition of Parliamentarians to end GBV, Hon Jelta Wong, who is also the Minister for Health also called for more to be done. Referring to one of the videos, he stated: “My heart bleeds as I witness such a horrible video. For too long, we have failed to take real action. We must do more." This same sentiment was echoed by another member of the Coalition, Governor Garry Juffa. “We watch such videos and get outraged – but then too many of us go back to whatever we were doing and fail our women out there. Every member of our Coalition of MPs is committed to taking action in our own provinces and districts, but we also need our government partners in law enforcement to work with us." "The police MUST act to investigate, the prosecutors must properly take these cases forwards, and the courts must impose proper punishments for such grotesque crimes.” The Coalition is co-chaired by Governor Parkop and Governor Allan Bird. It is a voluntary Coalition of 20 MP’s who stand steadfastly again GBV. The Coalition is comprised of Ministers, Governors and Open Members of Parliament who want to use their positions of leadership to drive change and improve the lives of women and children across the country. More information on the Coalition and its activities can be found at www.unitedforequalitypng.com.

“As of this week, the new variant Omicron has been reported in nearly 95 Countries.” “34, 911 cases have been confirmed with 7 deaths,”said Deputy Controller, Dr Daoni Esorom during a conference. It has been 3 weeks since the first case of the Covid-19 Omicron Variant was detected in South Africa. Dr Daoni said that the variant is easily transmittable but by how much is still being investigated. People that are infected have shown mild symptoms and the impacts of the current vaccine have proven to be quite effect compared to the other previous variants. Dr Daoni added that investigations, studies and research are continuing on with this new variant. He mentioned that hopefully in the next few week and months they will have more information to guide them as to the behaviour of the new variant in terms of the impact, the transmissible, the severity and the infect ability of the new variant. Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea has so far reported 36, 080 cases of which 627 are confirmed Delta variant cases with 589 known Covid-19 related deaths. Recoveries stand at 35, 336. Please continue to follow strict Covid-19 protocols to protect you, your family and your communities from Coronavirus.

Nine children have been rushed to the Port Moresby General Hospital by a St John Ambulance an hour ago following a car accident today at the popular accident hotspot - the Waigani Boulevard traffic light intersection (Somare Circuit). According to the CEO for St John Matt Cannon, one child is in a very critical condition while others suffered injuries to some extreme. A double cab utility vehicle carrying a group of children back from a village in the Central province swerved and  bumped into another vehicle. The children were ejected from the vehicle and thrown all over the place when the accident happened. The CEO of St Matt Cannon and his team who were first to respond to the accident have come out strong to drivers driving open back vehicles with people sitting at the back to be wary and conscious of the way they drive. "This is a very timely reminder that transporting people in the tray of a vehicle is very unsafe". "Drivers that are transporting unrestrained passengers must exercise a very high degree of care and travel slowly." "Travelling in a tray of vehicle is never safe and must be avoided." Cannon said they see a spate of serious accidents around Christmas time and most times, people with serious injuries are the ones not wearing seat belts. "It is a traffic law in PNG that a person in a vehicle must wear seat belt if it is available." "There is simply no excuse for not wearing a seat belt in a passenger vehicle with seat belts fitted." "The message from St John is, if you have a seat belt, wear it." [caption id="attachment_17910" align="aligncenter" width="685"] The double cab vehicle in which the children were thrown out from after the accident. Picture by: Christine KILDI[/caption]

6 month old Gregory Kanawi Ivosa is diagnosed with bilateral congenital talus equinus varus (Clubfoot) at birth. Clubfoot is a birth defect in which the foot is twisted out of shape or position. The cause of clubfoot is unknown. Babies with clubfoot are usually otherwise healthy. In clubfoot, the foot appears twisted and can even look as if it's upside down. Despite its appearance, clubfoot itself doesn't cause any discomfort or pain. Treatment is usually successful. It includes stretching and casting (Ponseti method) or stretching and taping (French method). Sometimes, surgery is required. “My son is now considered a suitable candidate for tenotomy (Surgical incision of Achilles tendon).” “Port Moresby General hospital currently doesn't have a specialist available to undergo his surgery so my son and I have been referred to Kundiawa Hospital to undergo surgery immediately,” said his mother Jacinta Ivosa. Miss Ivosa said that little Gregory has been going for reviews, scoring, casting and manipulation since birth due to his condition. He has shown improvement in his scoring so he is now eligible to go for surgery and so his mum is having a a fundraising dance at the Cosmopolitan Club, Port Moresby on the 31st of December, 2022. The fundraising dance is a Masquerade themed fundraiser. All funds raised will go towards the travel and surgery expenses for Gregory. For those interested to purchase tickets and support Gregory’s fundraiser, contact details are on the flyer. Miss Ivosa added that she would like to see her son grow up and walk like any other child and this surgery will make it possible for him. She thanked everyone that has supported all the fundraising sales that she had doing so far from selling baby items and now to the major fundraiser which is the fundraising dance.