Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray has signed a three-year contract extension through to the end of the 2028 season. Murray has played 146 games for the Rabbitohs since making his NRL debut against the Broncos in Round 8, 2017. He took the reins as captain of the foundation club at the start of the 2022 season. “This club has always been home to me and I never saw myself playing anywhere else,” Murray said. “It was a no-brainer for me to extend my contract here and I’m grateful to be able to represent South Sydney, our Members and fans every day." Source: NRL.Com

Weeks after winning gold and taking out the Band of Year award at the 2023 International Singer Songwriters Association (ISSA) annual ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia, PNG music sensation Anslom’s dreams are certainly growing with more opportunities coming. Papua New Guinea's International talent has been busy working on recording a ten-track album with the late Bob Marley's band, The Wailers. The Wailers have sent music beds of the ten tracks and Anslom has begun recording vocals with Emmanuel ‘Toxicmhan’ Muganaua’s Panakatsu Studio in Port Moresby and Cool Jamm’ Entertainment in Rabaul. “The invitation by The Wailers after the ISSA Awards to collaborate with on an album is overwhelming.” “I thank God for this opportunity. For me, it's my childhood dream to be successful in my music career, becoming a reality.” “No one believed in me, and I worked hard and so it is an absolute honour to work with The Wailers.” Anslom grew up listening to reggae greats like the late Lucky Dube and the late Bob Marley which he was motivated by how they used the music platform to deliver positive messages of hope and inspiration to the world. He is backed by a promotional team in the USA through his record label, Big Records. “Hooking up with The Wailers has been made possible by a great supporting network in Paul Linney of Big Records, my management Bassline and The Wailers booking agent, Don Hines.” “I am grateful for this golden opportunity.” The Wailers band is an iconic reggae band recognized all over the world and has certainly been a huge opportunity and an exposure for Anslom.

Governor of East New Britain province, Michael Marum, presented a total of K123, 000 worth of cheques from the Provincial Improvement Support Program (PSIP) to support churches in the province. Governor Marum recently presented K63, 000 to the King of Kings Wairiki No. 1 Catholic Parish in the Gazelle District and K60, 000 to the Raburua United Church in the Raluana LLG in Kokopo district. The presentation of the cheques were witnessed by members of the provincial executive council, Acting Provincial Administrator, Levi Mano and his Deputy Administrator LLG Services, Nicholas Larme and other Senior Provincial officers who all accompanied the governor to visit the two churches. Governor Marum said that this support funding comes from the people of East New Britain and the people must know where this kind of assistance is coming from. He said those assistance is to help churches do maintenance in their church building as this is an important building in the communities. “We try to keep everyone balanced. This is not the first time, there were other support that we have given out through my office as we are one and we need to work together, and I am committed to support everyone according to the limitations of the little funding we have.” Marum urged the churches to use the money for its intended purpose and acknowledged the churches for their self-reliance in doing fundraisings and other means to raised funds to support their churches. For the Raburua United church, they are building a new church where they started fundraising in 2004. They started building the church and now after almost twenty years, they have almost completed the building. He said with the K60, 000 it is a great help as it will go towards completing the building and they acknowledged the provincial government for the support. “So far, with the building standing, we have spent over K700, 000 from money from fundraisings, help from individuals from other community members as well major sponsor, a local contractor, New Land Real Estate.”

To launch a new book entitled ‘When I Grow Up, I want to be a Lawyer’, 10 Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) children from the organisation’s Library Learning Centre at Vabukori went on a field trip to visit the office of Denton’s Lawyers. The event included an official launch reading by Theresa Kawi, Dentons Lawyers Senior Associate and 5-year-old mini professional talent Nancy Frank. The children had the opportunity to meet with lawyers from the firm and understand what is required for the profession. Theresa Kawi, who is featured as a role model in the reader talked to the children about the different types of clothing worn in the profession. The children had a fun dress up session and had refreshments before returning to their Library Learning Centre to study more professions as part of the Buk bilong Pikinini Book Week theme of “My future career.” Stephen Massa, Partner and Head of PNG Office, said: “As part of a profession that requires an ongoing commitment to learning through reading and understanding, Dentons PNG is a strong and proud advocate of the work that Buk Bilong Pikinini does especially through their “When I Grow Up, I want to be” series of readers.” “We look forward to launching the “When I Grow Up, I want to be a Lawyer” reader with Buk Bilong Pikinini and hope that children in the LLCs and schools across PNG enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed helping to create it.” The reader will be used as part of BbP’s Early Childhood Education program to motivate the children to think about their future career choices. The reader books have been published by BbP with the financial support from the Sir Brian Bell Foundation. The children have been beautifully captured in their mini professional roles by BbP and Photographer Roan Paul with editing carried out by BbP Founder, Anne-Sophie Hermann, and Wild Dog books. BbP has already published 13 titles which include a Pilot (PNG Air), - Teacher (BbP), - Store Manager (Brian Bell), - ICT Officer (Niunet), - Farmer (9 Mile Farm/Ilimo Dairy, – Paramedic (St Johns Ambulance), - Architect (Pacific palms Property), - Pastry Chef (Airways Hotel), - Heavy Equipment Operator (Hastings Deering), - Engineer (ExxonMobil), - Pharmacist & Nurse (CPL) and Banker (BSP). Children enrolled at BbP’s Library Learning Centres across PNG will study the different professions with play-based learning activities, field trips, visits from professionals and plenty of reading.

BSP’s Financial Literacy program continues in selected schools in partnership with its community partner, NRL Club, Brisbane Broncos. Students from the St. Joseph Malagunan Primary School in Rabaul, East New Britain (ENB) province, were the recent recipients of the program that aims to help school children understand the basics of budgeting in order to make better future financial decisions. BSP Rabaul Branch Manager, David Pilai and his team conducted the training to more than fifty Grade four students last week, which resulted in fifteen Sumatin Accounts and seven Kids Saving Accounts opened. Pilai explained to the students that with growth comes added responsibilities of ensuring that BSP customers, especially in rural areas, are empowered and well informed in financial literacy. “Financial literacy is an important part of BSP’s contribution to the communities that we operate in. Our teams visited selected schools to run training conducted by trained financial literacy trainers and delivered through BSP branches across Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.” “We target schools, churches, organized community groups, businesses, and corporate organizations.” Since 2014, BSP has reached more than 168,000 students of which 1,100 students have participated through the bank’s community partnership with the Brisbane Broncos. “We remain committed to reaching more students under this program and continue to capture the unbanked population where we operate.” Furthermore, students from Grades 4 and 10 are the targeted audience under the financial literacy program. More schools will be visited in coming months in NCD and ENB.

Trying to do “young stuff” has temporarily landed Kevin Hart in a wheelchair. That’s according to the movie star, who posted a video on his verified Instagram account in which the caption reads in part, “I got to be the dumbest man alive!!!!!” Using some expletives in both the caption and the video, Hart recounted how he tried to race his friend, former NFL player Stevan Ridley, in a 40-yard dash and ended up injuring himself. “Ladies and gentleman, the age 40 is real,” Hart said. “All my men, women out there 40 years old and above, it’s not a game. Respect that age.” He then announced that he was in a wheelchair for trying to do some “young man stuff.” Hart said he bet Ridley he could beat him in the sprint, but was humbled. “I tore my lower abdomen, my abductors are torn,” he revealed. “I don’t know what that is but I tore them. I tore those too. I can’t walk.” Hart, 44, also referred to himself as the “stupidest man alive” in answer to a question as to why he was even racing in the first place. Ridley took to his Instagram stories to respond to Hart’s video. “I SAW @TOMBRADY DO IT AT YOUR AGE SO I FIGURED YOU HAD THE JOICE TOO BIG BRO!” Ridley wrote, referring to his former New England Patriots teammate. “MY BAD @KEVINHARTFOREAL! HEAL UP AND PEEKP MAKING US ALL LAUGH!” In 2019, Hart suffered “major back injuries” following a car crash. Source: CNN News

Eels winger Maika Sivo scored four tries as the Panthers suffered a blow to their premiership campaign after star five-eighth Jarome Luai suffered a serious shoulder injury. With their season all but over, Parramatta finished on a high with a 32-18 triumph in the derby clash before a sold out BlueBet Stadium crowd but Penrith were left with more to worry about than a rare loss. The Panthers now need to beat the Cowboys next weekend and rely on the Broncos losing to Canberra or Melbourne to claim a third minor premiership in four years but of more concern is how long Luai will be sidelined. The NSW and Samoa playmaker watched the final 53 minutes from the bench after reportedly dislocating his left shoulder trying to ground the ball for a try. He was held up by Eels forward Bryce Cartwright and concerned players immediately called that Luai had suffered a serious injury. Parramatta captain Clint Gutherson also failed to finish the match but he inspired his team to a fourth defeat of Penrith in their last six clashes before hobbling off in the 65th minute. With the Eels having started strongly in their last two matches against the Storm and Roosters, but fading before halftime, coach Brad Arthur shifted Junior Paulo and J'maine Hopgood to the bench, alongside Shaun Lane. The move paid dividends as Parramatta were leading 6-4 when Hopgood replaced Wiremu Greig in the 18th minute and he produced two offloads in the next set before Sivo scored his second try. The Fiji star was awarded an eight point try after being hit high by rookie Penrith fullback Jesse McLean as he crossed in the corner and while captain Clint Gutherson missed the conversion he had a second kick from in front of the posts. Sivo scored his third try in the 24th minute after Parramatta five-eighth Daejarn Asi combined with Gutherson and centre Bailey Simonsson to create room out wide for the rampaging winger. Down 18-4, the Panthers were desperate to get back into the game and Luai appeared set to score when he burrowed for the tryline but was held up by Bryce Cartwright and immediately clutched for his left shoulder. With Luai's departure forcing a reshuffle as Jack Cogger shifted to five-eighth and hooker Soni Luke coming on as a replacement, the premiers were only just hanging on when Gutherson scored three minutes before halftime. It was a blow from which Penrith would not recover and despite a notable lift in intensity when they started the second half, the game was effectively over as a contest when Gutherson crossed again in the 43rd minute. However, Gutherson had been troubled by a knee injury all match and when he was unable to stop Nathan Cleary from racing through the ruck to score in the 66th minute he put his hand up to come off. The Panthers scored two further tries through Liam Martin and Tom Jenkins but it was too little too late. Source: NRL.Com

The Broncos remain in the hunt for the minor premiership – or at the very least a top-two finish – but if they fall just short, the club should hold no fear if travelling south is required. Brisbane can close out their regular season as high as first or as low as third on the Telstra Premiership ladder, but finishing in the top two would give them the opportunity to play two finals games at home before the decider in Sydney. The Broncos have only left Queensland six times so far this season, with their upcoming trip to Canberra on Saturday just their seventh foray away from the sunshine state after the Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs hosted home games north. They have also played all three Queensland teams twice each, with the Titans the only side able to take a game off them in Round 17. However, when required, they have shown they don’t mind travelling, winning all but one of their away matches so far in 2023. Successful trips have included wins against the Warriors in Napier during the Origin period and victory against the Eels in Darwin. Of their trips to Sydney, all three have been successful, with the side beating the Panthers at Penrith to launch their season, Cronulla at PointsBet Stadium and the Bulldogs in Belmore. Their only slip-up on the road so far has been against the Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne, while their four other losses this season have all come at Suncorp Stadium. Broncos forward Jordan Riki emphasised the importance of making the most of playing well at home, particularly as they prepare to host their rivals during the finals series. “We will be at Suncorp on the last round game against Melbourne next Thursday, so that'll be awesome to be back at home; nothing beats a packed-out Suncorp,” Riki said. “Playing at the Gabba was awesome and thank you to those guys for hosting us; but I'm very excited to get back to Suncorp and just run out to a packed crowd, especially in front of Brisbane fans, nothing beats it. “Obviously, if we can get those semi-finals there, then that'll be even better, so I'll be very excited for that.” The Broncos have won seven of their past eight finals games at Suncorp Stadium since 2009 when the club hosted a final, with just one finals defeat at home. Having missed the eight last year, it has been a remarkable turnaround for the club from last season to now and an even bigger contrast from when Riki made his NRL debut against the Raiders in 2020. After making a successful return from a plantar fascia injury in Round 23, with the forced break leaving him feeling “a lot more refreshed”, Riki said excitement was building around the club ahead of the first finals campaign for the majority of the playing group. “I was actually having a conversation with my mum the other day about it, it (will be) my first finals coming up, I'm really excited to get in there,” Riki said. “We just missed out last year and I know that burns us, especially me and a lot of the boys as well, we just missed out – we came ninth last year – so we really want to rip in and hopefully take it out this year. “I really do believe that we got the team to do it and the belief. "I think we've all just got one big picture and that's to win the grand final, that's the main thing for us at the moment.” Source; NRL.Com

Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP) recently launched a new book titled, ‘When I Grow Up, I want to be an Archaeologist’ at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Port Moresby. This saw a total of fifty children enrolled in Buk bilong Pikinini’s Early Childhood Education program visit the National Museum and Art Gallery and had a hands-on experience to learn what Archaeology is all about. The students took part in several fun and exciting plus educational activities including a reading session of the book ‘When I Grow Up, I want to be an Archaeologist’, followed by tour inside the museum where the children got to see real fossils. The students also got to watch a demonstration made by archeologists on how they dig for fossils and other items such as obsidians and finally to end the program, the children then went on a dinosaur treasure hunt. In relation to the When I Grow Up book series, founder and chairperson of BbP, Anne-Sophie Hermann stated that they developed this series to give children the opportunity to learn and the motivation to understand and appreciate the importance of education. “It’s all about giving the children that access to know information and have the chance to have a hands-on, play based learning.” “We at BbP believe in quality and in working with those who are specialists in their fields, so that they can give their very best to these future generation.” In terms of archeology in the country, it is an important part of Papua New Guinea’s culture as the country itself has the most extraordinary cultural history and treasures. “This is important for humanity, but it is also important for the children to know how the people used to live and what items people might have been using in their daily.” In addition to this, Hermann said that children need to appreciate this rich culture that PNG has and be proud of it but also to fully understand it and that’s what this little reader is all about to give an insight on what archaeology is all about. Meanwhile, Hermann thanked the team from the National Museum and Art Gallery for coming together in helping to prepare for the children’s activities. She also thanked special partner, Sir Brian Bell Foundation for their continuous support especially in helping to fund the books. “We are very fortunate that we are able to provide these children with these high-quality books and with that, we are grateful for the support we received from Sir Brian Bell Foundation.”

A good number of youths recently took part in a beach clean-up program hosted by two non-Government organizations: Malia Foundation and Sea Keepers in Ialakua ward of Raluana LLG in the Kokopo District, East New Britain Province. These are community-based programs established to involve youths to be responsible in looking after the sea as well as to keep them away from law and order issues. The theme of the clean-up program which was, ‘Green skills for youths towards sustainable world’ was also hosted to commemorate International Youth Day. With such initiatives, this sets as an example to other coastal villagers who must come up with such projects also to focus on restoration of the environment by looking after the marine environment. Provincial Climate Change Program Officer, Maryanne Wariga, stated that under the Natural Resource Management and Development (NRDM) unit, they also have two programs which are Climate Change and Environment Management and Conservation which help communities in terms of the protection of the environment and also address environmental issues and the climate change issues.\ Wariga commended Malia Foundation and Sea Keepers for coming up with such an initiative especially in terms of involving youths in taking part in such activities. The NRDM have been supporting Malia Foundation with their programs and will identify those individuals and associations with such initiatives where they will then support them in cash or kind as this will contribute to a clean environment and conservation. Furthermore, the unit also assists in training if there is a need for the community to have capacity training they then identify and assist them as well as conducting environmental awareness. Founder of Malia Foundation, Emma Oliver, who is a lecturer at the Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment (UNRE), said she started the program in 2020 involving the UNRE students to go into the communities doing awareness on marine conservation because they saw the need. “I saw the increase in law-and-order problems in the ward so we wanted to create something for the youths where we integrated the program to the community involving and upskilling youths on coral farming and other topics.” The program saw UNRE Fisheries and Climate Change students, youths and children from Ialakua ward do a clean- up collecting plastics, bottles and other man-made rubbish from Barovon ward beach to Ialakua ward. Meanwhile, all coastal villagers in the province have been encouraged to look after their beach fronts and refrain from throwing rubbish into the sea.

A total of K1 million will be committed to farmers in East New Britain (ENB) province for re-planting of cash crops and to start downstream processing in the province. This funding will be co-funded by the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock and Member for Goroka, Aiye Tambua with K500, 000 along with Kokopo MP, Hereman ToBaining Jnr with another K500, 000. This commitment was revealed last week during the Minister’s visitation to the province. Speaking during the event, Minister Tambua said that ENB always set the pace and standards in terms of the government system, business system, local government system, market and other good governance systems. He also said that ENB is very privileged in terms of rich and fertile soils and growing of different commodities. “Do not take this opportunity for granted, we have to look into downstream processing of cocoa and coconut in the province. You have the capacity but need to set the supply basis.” He further stated that the government focus is on downstream processing and increase production. With that, the K500, 000 will go towards the downstream processing program. Meanwhile, he challenged Cocoa Board and Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK) going forward that the money must reach the farmers to increase their production and rehabilitation of plantations. He said all the commodity sectors in the province need to step up and give the government a clear picture on where they want the government to spend money on. A visit to the province will be made again by the Minster in the near future to further negotiations with other government partners on how agriculture will benefit the people.

Minister for Internal Security, Peter Tsiamalili, along with the East New Britain (ENB) Provincial Executive Council (PEC) recently attended a dialogue in Kokopo regarding the emerging law and order concerns along with other important matters in the province. The Ministerial-Provincial Dialogue was a high-level dialogue that provided the platform for all stakeholders in the law enforcement space to engage in more strategic approach in addressing law and order issues in the province and the New Guinea Islands (NGI) region. According to Tsiamalili, the discussion was a proactive move towards promoting collaboration, dialogue, and real action in dealing with the critical problem of internal security within provinces. “In a rapidly changing world, the significance of maintaining law and order cannot be stressed. Societies grow when their citizens feel safe, protected, and empowered to follow their aspirations without hindrance or fear.” A breakdown in internal security may undermine trust and impede economic growth and social advancement. “We have met against this backdrop, recognizing the critical need for setting a course towards a more secure and resilient East New Britain Province.” The dialogue will serve as the cornerstone for developing a comprehensive and effective strategy to address and secure prosperity envisioned. Meanwhile, Acting Provincial Administrator, Levi Mano, said that the people of East New Britain are generally peaceful, courteous and respectful; something that has made the province envied by all visitors. However, he stated that in the last five to ten years, this scenario has changed, and the province has observed a drastic increase in lawlessness in certain sections of the community. “The provincial administration and the provincial government under the leadership of the ENB Governor, Michael Marum, has already endorsed a couple of policy submission through our PEC by establishing community policing and building couple of police posts in certain hotspot areas in the province.” The dialogue was attended by the Police, Correctional Services, Courts and the private security firms in East New Britain province.