The Oceania Football Federation has begun an investigation into the dismissal of Papua New Guinea's national women's team coach, based on allegations that PNGFA's President, John Kapi Natto, has breached OFC's Code of Conduct. But against that background, preparations for the team's historic appearance at the FIFA World Cup Qualifying event next year have begun at last. It's understood the appointment of a new coach is imminent, but in the mean time 37 players have been called into camp at training centres in Port Moresby, Lae and Madang. The General Secretary and Chief Executive of the PNGFA, Pius Letenge, says they are hoping to secure extra financial support from their own government, and from the PacificAus Sports programme. The aim is make sure the players get the best preparation possible ahead of their do or die match against Panama in February, and to put recent events behind them. Source: ABC Pacific

Both our PNG Kumuls and Santos PNG Orchids are doing well. I am so proud of both teams for representing PNG very well as worthy ambassadors. I have seen the PNG Kumuls promote PNG coffee in the market of the host country. I have also seen the United Nations and United Kingdom Aid support the coffee trade and other trades. Further, I have seen the PNG Orchids doing well in working cohesively with the PNG High Commissioner paying respect as partner ambassadors. As far as sportsmanship is concerned, our players have come a long way and I am confident that they are a success story for PNG. The Kumuls and the Orchids representing PNG at the international level in itself to me is a win already. The exposure , the experience, and the strict routine of discipline and diet that they are being put through are winners. Whatever outcome we realise on the field of play will be another story of experience and celebrations for us all. If the scores do not favour PNG, it is still good as we will learn a good lesson from it. If it is a win on the field, it will also be a win for PNG. I urge all our athletes to enjoy the game as neutral as they can play without nervousity or emotions. I urge all players to play with love and happiness for the game.  When meeting with the PNG Orchids at the PNG High Commission residence yesterday, I made the above remarks urging the PNG Orchids to play the game of win in their mind. I told the girls that they were already champions and made PNG very proud. In order to win, you must win in your mind first. Your physical body will only follow your mind. Play not only to win today but establish your legacy that will live to tell the next generation who take after your sportsmanship to win many times in the many years to come. I was honoured to meet such a very driving young team of women to have risen up to this international level to play the international game of rugby league. In conclusion, the international competition was not fair and just. The world rugby league competition has lost its competitiveness! I urge the world rugby league cup management and other countries' rugby organisations to relook at its competitiveness. The game is losing entertainment and business at the global level. Probably because some countries' players are full-time professional players whilst other are mostly armateurs. I urge the World rugby league body to address this matter so that level playing field is created for all to play a game more entertaining and business driving like we saw in the PNG vs Tonga game. The composition of players in these two Pacific Island teams was very good...comprised of professional and armateurs. The scores coming out of the competition say it all with the huge disparity we see in them. All in all PNG will be a sports country to be reckoned with and I am doing my best smartly and working hard to realising PNG's long-term success in rugby as well as sports in general.

PNG Dataco Limited will now be providing secure cloud storage solutions to Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) after signing an agreement last week. Through this agreement, PMGH will be using PNG Dataco’s data centre infrastructure to host its hospital data and do cloud services on shore. With the data centre, PNG Dataco bears the risks and responsibilities of maintaining and employing its communication infrastructure, the servers and data storage services which PMGH can lease for a certain period while concentrating more on its core business of providing healthcare services. Traditionally, organisations engage in the costly exercise of having their own IT rooms with servers and computers to process and store data in-house, the need for regular power backup, a good security system, licencing and the constantly changing ICT sector. [caption id="attachment_28922" align="alignnone" width="906"] Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr. Paki Molumi and PNG Dataco Limited chief executive officer Mr. Paul Komboi sign the agreement.[/caption] Chief executive officer Mr. Paul Komboi said PNG Dataco’s aim is to downstream technology by providing a secure infrastructure where organisations can be confident to store and access their data in real-time and further ensure data sovereignty. “Basically, we are now fulfilling the government’s requirements in terms of nationalising our data requirements in the country. And so, we really appreciate Port Moresby General Hospital coming on board and utilising the infrastructure that we’ve already invested,” said Mr. Komboi. Mr. Komboi encouraged organisations both in the public and private sector to get on board and utilise the data centre infrastructure that is already in place. PMGH chief executive officer Dr. Paki Molumi emphasized a major issue where during the prolonged blackout recently, “our servers went off and we lost almost two months of data”. [caption id="attachment_28923" align="alignnone" width="906"] Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr. Paki Molumi shares his views on data storage and the challenges faced as PNG Dataco Limited CEO Mr. Paul Komboi listened.[/caption] “Having a backup in the cloud is the way to go and we are more proud to be partnering with the national company in PNG,” stressed Dr. Molumi. “It’s stored in our country and we feel confident that we can save our data safely within the country”. “We are able to go into telemedicine,” explained Dr. Molumi. “We are also doing high-tech radiology, MRI, CT scans and some of the operations we are doing, we are recording them. We have our Hospital Information System where we have a lot of data to store.” Dr. Molumi said there is a need for training of all categories of health workers and technology can contribute enormously in bridging that gap through online courses or specialists from other hospitals can be consulted to attend to difficult cases without the need to travel. “So these are some of the impacts that we have seen how technology can improve healthcare for this country and PMGH wants to partner using technology to drive our healthcare service,” he said. Source: Port Moresby General Hospital FB Page

Under the National Health Plan 2021-2030, Port Moresby General Hospital is now the National Specialist Referral and Teaching Hospital aligning with the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) to train all categories of health workers in the country. The PMGH Board representative Mr Luke Liria said the PMGH Corporate Plan 2022 – 2024 is aligned to the National Health Plan 2021 – 2030 and that the Board is ready to implement the National Health Plan 2021-2030 specifically the:  Key Result Area 3: Increasing Access to Affordable Health Services; and  Key Result Area 5: Strengthening Health System. [caption id="attachment_28905" align="alignnone" width="906"] Port Moresby General Hospital Board member Mr. Luke Liria.[/caption] “The Port Moresby General Hospital requires the support from the Government in facilitating the key enablers that will ensure Port Moresby General Hospital delivers the Key Results Areas 3 & 5 of the National Health Plan,” Mr. Liria said during the recent visit by the Minister for Health & HIV/AIDS Hon. Dr Lino Tom and Shadow Minister for Health Hon. Elias Kapavore to the hospital. The three key enablers include;  The enabling legislation – the Specialist Hospital Bill;  The establishment of the National Capital District Provincial Health Authority (NCDPHA) hospital to offload primary and secondary health care; and  Financing and funding of clinical services and Infrastructure Master Plan which PMGH is currently preparing. [caption id="attachment_28906" align="alignnone" width="906"] Minister for Health & HIV/AIDS Hon. Dr. Lino Tom and Shadow Minister for Health Hon. Elias Kapavore chat to a patient during a visit to the Port Moresby General Hospital Catheterization Laboratory.[/caption] Mr. Liria emphasized, “Port Moresby General Hospital’s ultimate goal is to become the National Referral & Teaching Hospital, that is, to provide all the categories of specialist healthcare so citizens will not need to raise money and travel overseas and also stress of raising that funds.” “Train all the categories of health workers for the country to fill the huge manpower gap and drive medical tourism.” He added that the Kumul Petroleum National Heart Centre, supported by the national oil company Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL), is producing results with over 700 angiograms and stenting done so far which is saving lives and saving the country over K100 million. “A stroke reversal program will be in place. A theatre complex is planned which will enable our doctors to perform cardiac surgery and all complex surgeries including cancer surgery, support the upcoming Cancer Centre and kidney transplant surgery which is planned for 2024,” said Mr Liria. [caption id="attachment_28908" align="alignnone" width="906"] (Left to right) Shadow Minister for Health Hon. Elias Kapavore, Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) managing director Mr. Wapu Sonk, Secretary for Health Dr. Osborne Liko, Minister for Health & HIV/AIDS Hon. Dr. Lino Tom and PMGH Board representative Mr. Luke Liria gearing up to visit the Cancer Centre project site on 11 October, 2022.[/caption] The visit to the PMGH by the Minister and Shadow Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS that took place on Tuesday, 11th of October, 2022 was for the purpose of touring the National Heart Centre and the Cancer Centre project. The KPHL managing director Mr Wapu Sonk shared a similar sentiment share by those who were present that it was good to see Minister Tom and Minister Kapavore – representatives from both sides of the House of Parliament – come together to prioritize the health of our people. “And it’s good to see that you twos are united and we’ve done the walk to see the progress of the investment that Kumul Petroleum and the government have all jointly put together in improving our health services especially special health care for our people of Papua New Guinea,” said Mr Sonk. [caption id="attachment_28909" align="alignnone" width="906"] Port Moresby General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. Paki Molumi guides Minister for Health & HIV/AIDS Hon. Dr. Lino Tom and Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) managing director Mr. Wapu Sonk into the one of the two radiation bunkers at the Cancer Centre project site.[/caption] Mr. Sonk affirmed that since 2019, KPHL has been working with the hospital and has made a commitment of K75 million, of which K50 million is earmarked for the PMGH for the National Heart Centre, a further K10 million to the Cancer Centre Project and K15 million to ANGAU Hospital in Lae for its Cancer Centre. “We are very proud to be associated with Port Moresby General Hospital and ANGAU and very proud to see the outcome in a short space of time since we signed the MOU in 2019 to now. We’ve just walked through the Cardiac facility on the other side and now the construction of the Cancer Centre here and similar sort of progress is also happening in Lae in ANGAU Hospital,” said Mr. Sonk. “We will continue to support the hospital. We have a 5-year agreement in place and as the national oil company we’ll be here to support your programs and other big programs that save our peoples’ health.” Source: Port Moresby General Hospital FB Page

Premiership-winning Panthers Jarome Luai and Brian To'o carved Greece to bits as Samoa claimed a comprehensive 72-4 victory to put their World Cup campaign back on track. Eight days on from being humbled by England in a 60-6 loss, Samoa piled on the points in Doncaster, with Luai setting up five tries on his way to player of the match honours, while To'o had a colossal 370 run metres, with 17 tackle busts thrown in for good measure. Samoa led 42-0 at the break, and the game was effectively over within the first 20 minutes, with Samoa 12-0 by the time Greece touched the ball for the first time. The Matt Parish-coached side ran for 2409 metres, while restricting Greece to 847, with 75 tackle breaks across the 80 minutes. The win means Samoa will advance to the quarterfinals if they can beat France in their final group game, something which had looked far from certain after they were trounced by England first up.

Distribution of the Government’s tuition fee free education commodity component for schools in the Rabaul District of East New Britain province was rolled out last week. It contains teaching and learning materials for students. They include exercise books, pencils, ball-point pens, rulers, sharpeners and erasers. The kits are packed differently to meet the needs of students from primary to high schools. Rabaul District Administrator, Benedict Mode said today that distribution of the basic learning materials which comes under the support of commodity component kicked off on Monday (Oct 17) and was successfully distributed to the 54 schools in the district by the supplier JJH Seeto. He commended the district education sector for facilitating this important exercise. Since early this week, principals and head teachers were witnessed picking up their truckloads of materials at the JJH Seeto warehouse in Rabaul town. The schools that took delivery of the education materials are Boisen Seondary School, Malaguna Techincal Secondary School, the 17 primary schools and 35 elementary schools. The materials can be able to sustain the schools next year. Meantime, District Education Coordinator Markus Tipepe, said Grade 8 examinations papers were picked up yesterday (Wed) from Kalamanagunan Primary School in Kokopo and delivered to the 16 primary schools in Rabaul in preparation for the National Examinations next week. Last week also saw Grade 12 students at the district’s only two secondary schools- Boisen Secondary School and Malaguna Technical Secondary School sit for their Grade 12 examinations.  

Prime Minister James Marape has congratulated ExxonMobil on its 100 years in Papua New Guinea and says the company is welcome to stay on for another 100 years. He said this when addressing ExxonMobil’s 100th Anniversary Dinner in Port Moresby on Saturday night, which was also attended by Ministers, Governors, MPs, members of the business community and senior executives of ExxonMobil. PM Marape said he had attended ExxonMobil’s 100 anniversary and asked the company to be around for PNG’s 100th anniversary, and hopefully by then, ExxonMobil in partnership with Government had contributed to a better-developed PNG. “Tonight is worth celebrating,” PM Marape said. “One hundred years is a huge milestone, and not just any ordinary company but a global Triple A-rated company and global leader, to have 100 years of unbroken business and service to PNG. “I am duty-bound to thank you on behalf of all Papua New Guineans - past, present and future – for choosing PNG as an investment destination.” PM Marape said ExxonMobil had started from humble beginnings in Rabaul in 1922 and had grown with PNG over the last 100 years. “Your investment in the PNG LNG Project is testament to the fact that PNG, despite many of the headline negativities, remains a vibrant place for consistent presence of businesses,” he said. “ExxonMobil has shown that PNG is a place to do business, and can be a place to do business. “Today, I stand as leader of this nation of a thousand tribes, to thank you and point ExxonMobil to us living together for the next 100 years. “Why not? Yes, we can.” PM Marape said PNG was now moving into an exciting new phase of LNG developments with Papua, P’nyang and others, and goalposts set with investors would remain fixed. He was pleased that Total, the biggest energy company in the world and operator of Papua LNG, was also present for the occasion. “Together with Total, and Exxon Mobil, our participation in the petro-chemical business is set and secured going forward,” PM Marape said. He thanked buyers of PNG LNG in Japan, China and Taiwan for being regular customers since first exports in 2014. “We have other LNG projects that are being lined up and we look forward to more buyers coming onboard,” PM Marape said. PM Marape also thanked ExxonMobil for employing Papua New Guineans in key positions within the company, making available spin-off businesses for nationals and landowners, for paying taxes, and for continued foreign direct investments such as in Papua and Pn’yang. “We look forward to going into the future with you, as you continue to partner us, and to make Papua New Guinea a better place,” he said.

A 10-year-old girl from Inverness has become one of the youngest people to conquer all 282 Munros in Scotland. Quinn Young began the challenge with her dad Ian when she was just four years old. She climbed Ben Nevis shortly before turning five. She told BBC Scotland: "I feel proud of myself, but also a little upset because the adventure with my dad's kind of finished." Munros are Scottish peaks of more than 3,000ft (914m). Quinn wanted to complete her 'Munro bagging' challenge before she finished primary school. She said: "It's a big deal because it's something I've been doing with my dad since I was four. "Sometimes when the weather was bad I thought 'why are we up here?'. "I didn't know if I could stand up but I managed to." Quinn carries her own food, water, waterproofs and other equipment - topping up water in streams as they walk. Dad Ian said: "The encouragement from other people was absolutely fantastic, when this young little toot is walking up there. "Quinn hit 100 Munros last August and she wanted to finish before she finished primary school. "She took them all in her stride, there was never any complaints when we were out, even in winter." Ian said there were never any "massively hairy moments" and they always assessed safety, turning back if they had to. "The hills are always there, we kept it safe," he said. "It was a great adventure and just about going at her pace. "It's an amazing opportunity we have living up here in the Highlands." The phenomenon known as Munro bagging was inspired by Sir Hugh Munro. Munro, whose family were Scottish landowners, was born in London in 1856 and brought up at Lindertis near Kirriemuir in Angus. While studying in Germany, he climbed in the Alps and continued his interest in climbing when he settled at the family estate in Scotland. Sir Hugh was a founder and president of the Scottish Mountaineering Club which set him the task of listing all the country's hills of 3,000ft or more. According to the Munro Society, he was the ideal choice because of his meticulous record-keeping, enthusiasm for work in the outdoors and fascination with mountain landscapes. His table, comprising 283 separate mountains, was published in the club's journal in September 1891. Over the years, the list has both grown and shrunk as new measurements have been taken - the most recent revision found Beinn a'Chlaidheimh in Fisherfield to be just under 3,000ft. The current total stands at 282. Sir Hugh never managed to climb all the peaks on his original list. Three summits are thought to have eluded him. In 1919 he died of pneumonia at the age of 63, while running a canteen for soldiers in France. Source: BBC News                                                                                              

Towards the end of the 1985 sci-fi classic "Back to the Future," the archetypal mad inventor Doc Brown announces "where we're going, we don't need roads" as the time-travelling DeLorean lifts into the air. Whilst flying cars aren't yet filling our skies, a number are in development. Last week the Chinese XPeng X2 successfully completed the first public test flight of its two-seater flying car at GITEX technology expo in Dubai -- and it even shares the DeLorean's famous gull-wing door design. The XPeng X2 lifts vertically off the ground using eight propellers, without need for a runway and is therefore suitable for built-up urban areas. The vehicle, designed to carry two passengers, is fully electric and its makers say it can rise through the air at around two meters per second and reach speeds of up to 80 miles per hour. Although the test flight lasted just 90 seconds, according to Liu Xinyin, chief aviation specialist at XPeng Aeroht, the technology is close to being ready for public use, but regulations around flying cars are still some way off. XPeng plans to work with governments to establish a physical regulatory infrastructure for flying cars in urban areas, and Liu believes that people will be able to use the flying cars within limited regulated spaces in just five years. This lines up pretty well with ambitious plans from the Chinese government to launch flying taxis by 2025. If flying wasn't futuristic enough, the XPeng X2 is equipped with AI automation -- it can be driven manually or it can be set to self-drive. "It learns how to avoid traffic, avoid buildings and people," says Liu. The self-driving elements pose further difficulties with regulation, and also throw into question public acceptance. Many people are still concerned with safety issues around self-driving cars on the ground, let alone vehicles that are zooming around above their heads. However, XPeng says it's safer for its flying car is to be self-driving than to be driven by a human. There are dozens of flying cars currently in development around the world, and many of them actually fly, like Canadian firm Opener's "BlackFly," SkyDrive Inc's "SD-03" and Klein Vision's prototype "AirCar" -- which made a successful 35-minute test-flight between two cities in Slovakia last year. The benefits of flying cars like the XPeng X2 are further reaching than just realizing wild pop-culture dreams. Advocates say flying cars could revolutionize urban transport, making roads less busy and therefore safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and for electric vehicles like the XPeng X2, also reduce carbon emissions. Source: CNN

The Solomon Islands Secretary to the Prime Minister is defending a $US308,000 trip to the UN General Assembly. Dr Jimmy Rodgers told local media the money was worth spending because government 'got all the agendas brought up at global level.' Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs Collin Beck added the cost of the trip is small compared to its benefit. The Solomon Star obtained documents listing charges of the trip. The Solomon Star obtained details of the types of hotels used, and daily rates for each hotel in Australia, New York, and the Pacific Leaders' Summit with US President Joe Biden in Washington DC as well as a five-day transit in Singapore. The 12-member delegation including Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and his wife spent seven nights in Brisbane on the way to New York costing $US24, 500. There were nine nights at the Westin Hotel in New York and five nights at the Hotel Washington, coming to $49,000. On its return, the delegation flew back via Singapore where members spent five nights at the Hilton Orchard. The bill for this was $US17, 500. According to a memo, the government was only springing for accommodation and other provisions, including hosting official dinners, transit and local transportation costs and gifts. The memo said travel and per diems for the delegation were met by the Honiara-based South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency.   Source: Radio New Zealand

Indian vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) has said it had to dump 100 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine after they expired. The firm stopped producing Covishield in December last year due to low demand, CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Thursday. SII, the world's largest vaccine maker, has been making the local version of AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria jab. Covishield accounts for over 90% of the doses given in India. India has administered over two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. More than 70% of the Indian population has taken at least two doses, according to the federal health ministry. In January 2022, India began giving boosters to healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 60 years with comorbidities. It was later expanded to all adults. In July, free booster doses - or precaution doses as the government calls it - were provided to all adults for 75 days to mark 75 years of India's independence. But so far, India has administered just 298 million booster doses, according to the health ministry. "The booster vaccines have no demand as people now seem fed up with Covid," Mr Poonawala told reporters on Thursday. "Honestly, I'm also fed up. We all are." According to Mr Poonawala, the SII had around 100 million doses of Covishield in stock. The vaccines - which have a shelf life of nine months - expired in September this year. The CEO was speaking on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) in the western Indian city of Pune. "Going forward, when people take a flu shot every year, they may take a Covid vaccine along with it," Mr Poonawala said. "But in India, there is no culture of taking a flu shot every year, like in the West." Meanwhile, Mr Poonawala said the SII had completed trials for the Covid vaccine Covovax as a booster dose. The company expects the vaccine to get approval within the next two weeks. It has also partnered with the US biotech company Novavax for an Omicron-specific booster, he said.   Source: BBC News

A first half double from departing Panthers forward Viliame Kikau and a second half double from Eels winger Maika Sivo has paved the way for a dominant Fiji to secure their first victory of this year's World Cup with a 60-4 win over Italy. After going down against Australia in their opening game of the World Cup, the Bati raced out of the blocks against the Azzurri with three tries in the opening 15 minutes paving the way for one of Fiji's biggest ever wins on the international stage. Kikau was one of many who shone in the first half blitz by Fiji, bagging his first international double since 2019, while young fullback Sunia Turuva continued to show his bright future with a number of impressive touches. The result puts Fiji in the box seat for a spot in the knockout rounds, with Joe Dakuitoga's side needing to defeat Scotland to progress through to the quarterfinals should Australia do the job as expected against Italy in the other pool match. Having gone into the match with plenty of confidence after their opening round win over Scotland, Italy were made to pay for an ill-disciplined start to the contest with errors directly leading to points for all of Fiji's first three tries. A dropped bomb from Brandon Wakeham allowed Kikau to open the scoring after eight minutes before an error from dummy half moments later allowed captain Kevin Naiqama to scoop up a loose pass and run 50 metres to double the Bati's lead. Penioni Tagituimua made it three tries in six minutes for Fiji when he crossed from dummy half in the 14th minute after Jake Maizen was taken into touch, before Kikau grabbed a second shortly after to blow the scoreline out to 24-0. Such was Fiji's dominance that Italy only recorded their first play-the-ball in their opponents' 20-metre line in the 31st minute — an attack that was quickly nullified by the defensive work of Turuva in dealing with a kick in behind. Another departing Panther in Apisai Koroisau made it 30-0 just before the break as a sustained spell of pressure led to more points from Fiji, before turning provider early in the second half to set up tries for both Tagituimua and Ben Nakubuwai. Jake Maizen gave Italian fans something to cheer about when he showed good awareness to narrowly ground the ball in the in-goal in the 55th minute, with his fourth try of this year's World Cup eventually putting the Azzurri on the board. However, Fiji quickly returned to normal service shortly after, with Kikau and Sivo continuing to cause havoc on the left wing as the Eels winger secured his second try of the game after a delightful late offload from the forward. After registering four direct try involvements, Kikau was given an early mark with the result all but confirmed — smiling alongside five-eighth Brandon Wakeham on the sidelines for the final 20 minutes as Taniela Sadrugu's late effort ensured Fiji would run out comfortable winners in the end. Source: NRL.com