The Kumul Petroleum Lewas have been in Abu Dhabi for the past two weeks competing in the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers. They unfortunately missed out on the semi finals after a close loss to Thailand which left them to fight it out in the repechage rounds. They first met the USA in the 7th place play off and had a comfortable 7 wicket win with 9 overs to spare. USA batted first and could only manage 76/9 as the Lewas bowling attack dominated, Vicky Ara’a 3/13, Ravini Oa 3/20 and Sibona Jimmy 2/1 all bowling very well. In response the Lewas batting was led by player of the match, Sibona Jimmy, with 33 (30) and Tanya Ruma continuing her good form with 22 at a run a ball. Brenda Tau and Kaia Arua finishing off the dominate run chase in the 11th over. The Kumul Petroleum Lewas were then elevated to the fifth place play off with Scotland. The Scots won the toss and elected to bat, they amassed a very competitive 168/6 thanks to a masterful innings from their skipper, Kathryn Bryce 63 (47) who was well supported by opener Saskia Horley with 44 (32). The Lewa bowling attack was again led by Oa and Jimmy with two wickets each. The Kumul Petroleum Lewas went about the chase with their most competent batting display of the qualifiers to date. An opening stand of 52 by Jimmy (26) and Naoani Vare (22) set up the chase brilliantly before Tanya Ruma and Brenda Tau blasted past the total with 8 balls to spare and an emphatic 8-wicket victory. Ruma finishing 63 not out off just 31 balls including eight fours and two sixes, and Tau not out 41 off 31 balls including four fours. Player of the match, Tanya Ruma was outstanding for the Lewas throughout the qualifiers finishing the tournament as one of leading run scorers. Coach Hempenstall was proud of the team “ It was great to finish so strongly, they completely dominated the US team and then when faced with a challenging total tonight, they were clinical. As a group we are disappointed not to qualify for the World Cup, we got better as the tournament went on. With a first up loss to full member nation Zimbabwe we were immediately under pressure, then we were a little off our game against Thailand. But full credit to the team after those results 5th was the highest we could achieve, they played well in the repechage rounds, very proud of their efforts.” “ We will take a lot of confidence out of this tournament; we now head to Brisbane for a PacificAus Sports supported High Performance Camp at the Cricket Australia National Academy before playing the Pacific Cup in Vanuatu in Early October.” The Qualifiers were won by Bangladesh over Ireland with both countries qualifying for the ICC T20 World Cup, Zimbabwe finished 3rd with Thailand rounding out the top four.

Former Papua New Guinea (PNG) swim sensation and four time Olympian for Team PNG Ryan Pini was announced as the Chef de Mission to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (PNGOC). Pini has made a name for himself in the pool on a national and international athletic career spaning over 28 years for Team PNG and Papua New Guinea. PNGOC President Sir John Dawanincura in making the announcement congratulated Ryan on his recent endorsement and appointment as Team Lead for Team PNG to the next modern and second post-COVID Olympic Games. “As one of the most successful Team PNG athletes to the Olympics with a competitive athlete term spanning over 20 years, competing in 4 Olympics, 3 Commonwealth Games, 5 Pacific Games and many World Championship events representing PNG, Ryan has always embodied and lived out the four PNGOC character values of honesty, excellence, respect and openess. His sporting accolades, character and commitment to sports and life after sports for our young atheltes unquestionably make him the ideal candidate to lead PNG to its 13th Olympic games”, said Sir John. “Ryan has been an outstanding role model and mentor for hundreds of Team PNG athletes whilst being a notable member of our Team PNG family over the years. Having him lead the 2024 Team PNG delegation to Paris is a testament and culmination of his efforts during and after his sporting career” he added. Pini represented PNG in the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics whilst also serving as the PNG flagbearer at the 2008 and 2016 Olympic editions of the Games. Pini is arguably PNG’s most successful Team PNG Athlete to have progressed to an Olympic final in any of the sports and events that PNG has fielded Athletes in since joining the Olympic Movement in 1974 as a National Olympic Committee (NOC), and the consequent attendance of the first games during the 1976 Montreal Olympics in Canada. Coincidently, his grandfather Jack Pini was the Chef de Mission for the first Team PNG contingent to the first ever Olympic Games to the 1976 Montreal Games. In recognition and acknowledgement of his pursuits of Athlete excellence through the sport of swimming and athlete contributions to the Pacific Games, Pini was elected Athlete Representative to the Pacific Games Council during the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby, and then again at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa. Regionally, he is a Committee Member on the Athletes Commission of the Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC), part of the Oceania Sports Federation Organisation (OSFO), PNG Olympian Association and Sport Matters Board, and was most recently re-appointed as a member of the Swimming World governing body, FINA during the 2022 World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. He was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for his services to sports in PNG. In addition, he has also been awarded the PNG SP Sportsman of the Year Award for the years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2015, in addition to him being awarded the PNG SP Sports Award Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. While in Oceania, his sporting excellence in the pool also bagged him the ONOC Male Oceania Athlete of the Year Award in 2015 and South Pacific Games Male Swimmer of the Meet in 2003 in recognition of his win in 7 events where he also set 4 in Games’ Records. Team PNG will be drawing from Pini’s vast experience as they ramp up their preparations to Paris, France games

PNG skipper Raymond Gunemba has called on PNG to rally behind the home team as they march into the semi-finals in the MSG PM's XI Cup tomorrow against in-form Fiji side at Korman Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu. Prime Minister XI Men Soccer Team coach Harrison Kamake has praised his young side that defeated Vanuatu senior men’s team 1-0 over the weekend at Korman Stadium. Kamake said he also wanted the boys to get exposure and gain some experience at such a high intensity of international football in the Pacific. He singled out Moses Joe who blended well with Alwin Komolong and his elder brother Daniel Joe along with Ferdahlas Namuesh to form a solid back-four in the match. Coach said instructed the young team going into the match that PNG had 7 yellow cards going into the game, and the players had to play smart because the team couldn't afford to lose key players for the semifinals. He said players like Ferdahlas Namuesh, Moses Joe, Pala Paul, Obert Simon, Yagi Yasasa, Joseph Waiwai and Australia-based Israel Grese played very well coming off the bench. “I have to give credit to the boys who played strongly and denied Vanuatu team from scoring,” he said. “We have seen many things during the game, but we tried executing some while others we could not. I must commend skipper Raymond Gunemba for his outstanding effort in both the first game and the second game for leading the boys to a 1-0 victory,” he said. Kamake said Sunday was a rest day. “The players went to a local church yesterday and slept whole day to recover from their hectic match against the Vanuatu senior side.” Captain Gunemba was pleased with the win. “The boys gave their best to come this far. It was very pleasing to see the young guns have stepped up to secure the win, something which will go down in the football books for them to record a win against the star-studded side from Vanuatu”. He said as the captain, he could not ask for more but urged PNG community to rally behind them come Tuesday when they meet Fiji in the semi finals. PNG will play Fiji in the first semifinals while Vanuatu Development Side to play Solomon Island in the second semifinals. “Fiji is a quality side who have so far won 1 match against New Caledonia and drew with Solomon Islands,” he said. “I have identified few areas to work on and have urged the boys to play to their best of their ability. We must play to our full strength with smart football to beat our opponents,” he added. He thanked the PNG Community in Port Vila for coming out in numbers to support the team. “In fact, they are making us the PNG team feel at home when we hear the local crowd getting behind us. We want the kind of support and urged PNG locals in Vanuatu to turn up in numbers to lend their support against Fiji on Tuesday.”

Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has today accepted an invitation by the Prime Minister of Isreal Hon. Yair Lapid to visit his country, Isreal, while PM Marape reciprocated this with a return invitation to the Isreali leader to visit Papua New Guinea. The exchanges happened soon after both leaders presented their respective country’s statements at the 77th United Nations General Assembly on Thursday 22nd September 2022 (New York Time). In a brief meeting on the sidelines of UNGA, both leaders spoke of and agreed for Papua New Guinea and Israel to step up on current diplomatic relations and how both countries would work together. Prime Minister Marape is very keen on getting Isreal’s high-skilled assistance in agriculture to help PNG in the new focus on agriculture that was recently announced. He said today: “Papua New Guinea can learn a lot from Isreal: their internal security, their technology-based agriculture industry that makes them food sufficient as well as exporters of fruits and vegetables to Europe and the world. “I want Papua New Guinea to learn from Israel on how they shifted their resources and focus on investment into knowledge-based economy. “At the meeting, I mentioned that PNG, under my watch, will be a supporter of Isreal and that PNG and Israel share common Judea-Christianity history and worldview”, PM Marape said. The leaders agreed to step up on the 44-year old diplomatic relation with renewed focus on agriculture innovations and knowledge-based economic development. Papua New Guinea and Israel established bi-lateral relations in 1978, three years after Papua New Guinea gained Independence.

Jaime Chapman and Shenae Ciesiolka pushed their claims for inclusion in the Jillaroos' World Cup squad with starring roles for the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII Women in their 64-6 victory over the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister’s XIII Women on Sunday. Playing at Suncorp Stadium, the home ground of their NRLW side the Broncos, the pair ran riot on opposing edges, with Ciesiolka scoring a hat-trick in a classy display and Chapman laying on three try assists in addition to making two line breaks of her own. Both players also ran for over 100 metres, while Titans forward Zara Canfield was another to impress, with the 21-year-old running for 126 metres off just 10 carries and scoring the final try to cap off a fine showing. The hosts enjoyed 64 percent of the possession and broke 62 tackles in the win, with nine of their 20-strong squad getting over for four-pointers. The Australian PM’s XIII Women dominated the first half and took a 32-0 lead to the break and led 52-0 with 15 minutes to go, at which point a brilliant solo effort from Joanne Lagona garnered one of the biggest cheers of the night as she put PNG PM’s XIII Women on the board.   Source: NRL.com

The Australian Prime Minister’s XIII Men’s side proved far too strong in the end, but had to work hard at times for a 64-14 victory over their Papua New Guinea counterparts on Sunday night. Matt Burton and Selwyn Cobbo both scored doubles in a game which saw 10 different members of the Australian PM's XIII Men score tries. While they couldn't match the skill and execution of their opponents at Suncorp Stadium, the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister’s XIII Men fought valiantly and finished the game with an 87 percent completion rate. Much of the damage inflicted by the hosts was done inside the opening 35 minutes, a period in which they scored seven tries, which became 38 points thanks to the accurate boot of Zac Lomax. Twenty four hours after the man most likely to rival him for the Kangaroos' No.7 jersey, Nathan Cleary, guided his side to the Telstra Premiership Grand Final, Daly Cherry-Evans showed his class setting up a pair of tries and kicking well in general play. Another performance likely to have pleased coach Mal Meninga was that of Titans big man Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, who all-but secured his plane ticket to England with an energetic showing. Among the first-half highlights was a powerful four-pointer from Cobbo, and a classy hit back from the PNG PM’s XIII Men, who got on the board after a looping cut-out pass from one-time Cowboys half Kyle Laybutt sent Edene Gebbie over for a try in the corner. Down 38-0 at one stage, the visiting side scored three unanswered tries between the 39th and 54th minute to claw back on the scoreboard. But a late flurry of points saw the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII Men run out 50-point winners. Source: NRL.com

Atleast 86 migrants have died after the boat they were travelling in sank off Syria's coast on Thursday (22/09/22), the country's state-run media reported. Twenty survivors were taken to hospital, while rescuers continue to search for missing passengers. Officials said Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian nationals - including women and children - were believed to be among the 120 to150 people on board. It is not clear what caused the accident. Officials added that the vessel had departed from Minyeh, a city near the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, before it sank near the Syrian island of Arwad, close to Tartus. The boat is believed to have been heading to Cyprus when it sank. Tartus, where survivors have been transported, is about 30 miles (50 km) north of Tripoli. Syrian news agency Sana said authorities would transfer the bodies of unidentified victims to the border crossing to hand them over to the Lebanese Red Cross.     Source: BBC

Buckingham Palace has released a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II's final resting place within St. George's Chapel following her interment in Windsor on Monday. An engraved ledger stone featuring the name of the late monarch was installed in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, an annex to the main chapel, on Monday evening after a private service attended by her family. The slab is hand-carved from Belgian black marble and features brass letter inlays reading the names of her parents -- King George VI and Queen Elizabeth -- followed by the late Queen's name along with that of her husband, Prince Philip. A garter star separates the two royal couples, and the years of birth and death have been inscribed next to each name. The four royals were members of the Order of the Garter, the country's most senior order of chivalry that dates back to medieval times and the reign of King Edward III. The group's members are personally chosen by the sovereign in recognition of an individual's service to the nation and includes several members of the royal family, former prime ministers and other senior figures. The order's spiritual home is St. George's Chapel. The Queen was laid to rest, after an elaborate state funeral at London's Westminster Abbey attended by leaders from across the world. More than 26 million people in the United Kingdom tuned in to watch the funeral service on Monday, the first to be televised for a British monarch. When the Queen's husband of 73 years Prince Philip died in April 2021, his coffin was initially placed in the Royal Vault, set below St. George's, where it remained until it could be relocated to the memorial chapel upon the Queen's death. The ashes of the Queen's sister Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, are also interred in the chapel. Royal residences, including Windsor Castle, have been closed since the monarch's death on September 8. But the general public will be able to visit the Queen's resting place when the castle reopens on September 29. Some areas within royal residences reopened to tourists on Thursday, including the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, according to the Royal Collection Trust. However, Buckingham Palace's summer opening of the State Rooms and Royal Mews will not return this year. Additionally, special displays marking the Queen's Platinum Jubilee at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse will not reopen to the public, the trust added. A new portrait of King Charles III shows him carrying out official government duties from his red box at Buckingham Palace, London. The photograph of the ledger stone comes a day after Buckingham Palace released a new portrait of King Charles III with the sovereign's signature red boxes. The image was taken by Britain's PA Images and shows Charles at work last week. "The image was taken in the Eighteenth Century Room at Buckingham Palace last week and shows His Majesty The King carrying out official government duties from The King's Red Box," the palace said in a statement. The red boxes contain important papers from government ministers in the UK and from representatives across the Commonwealth and beyond. "The documents are sent from the Private Secretary's Office to The King, wherever he may be in residence, in a locked red despatch box," it added. In the background behind the new monarch is a black and white photograph of the late monarch and Duke of Edinburgh, which was a Christmas gift to the couple from King George VI in 1951. The royal family are observing a further week of mourning after the state funeral at the King's request. Charles III has now reportedly returned to Scotland with the Queen Consort to grieve privately. Source: CNN

Nambawan Super Limited (NSL) has made a final call on the State to settle its K160 million in rental arrears owed to the Members of Namabwan Super, as it prepares to lock out State tenancies occupying NSL owned properties. NSL has given notice to all State tenants that it will commence lockouts of their premises from Monday 26 September 2022 but will endeavor to avoid locking out the Department of Health based on humanitarian grounds, recognising the critical nature of the services that it provides. NSL is aware that the State has allocated K255 million for the reduction of arrears in the supplementary Budget for this year and now asks that these allocated funds be used to settle their long overdue rental arrears. We are reluctantly conducting this lock out, especially as the workers impacted by the lockout are our own Members, however we have had to take this action after many broken commitments for settlement of the arrears over several years. In December last year, the State presented a cheque of K50 million as the first tranche for the agreed payment of the then outstanding K130 million in rental arrears. It was agreed that the State would later settle the outstanding K80 million owed to the Fund through two further installment payments. These two agreed installment payments were never honoured and as a result the outstanding balance has now grown to K160 million. NSL owned properties occupied by State tenants include Revenue Haus (Internal Revenue Commission); Vulupindi Haus (Department of Finance and Department of National Planning); Eda Tano Haus (Department of Lands and Physical Planning); AOPI Centre (Department of Health and Department of Higher Education); and NSL Haus in Lae (Ombudsman Commission, Independent Consumer and Competition Commission, and Auditor General’s Office).

Air Niugini has helped support Wallam, a remote primary school in Ambunti/Drekikir, district of East Sepik Province by airlifting donations by a group of individuals in Port Moresby on Friday 23rd Sept to help the school. The donation included laptop, school stationary, backpacks, reading books, uniform, reusable sanitary pads, solar lamps,TV and sporting gear. Air Niugini General Manager, Commercial Paul Abbot said as part of its community service obligation, the airline is happy to be able to help, transport these items which in turn will help improve learning for students in a remote school. “I must admit, the positive gesture and hard work being carried by individuals here towards the school is commendable. For us it’s a good opportunity to support the work done here which may encourage other organisations to get in behind worthy causes like this.” Abbot said. The group of four individuals in Port Moresby led by Ms Annell Ovia started the fundraising drive in April this year after reading in social media of the challenges Wallam Primary school was faced with in terms of lack of basic school materials and infrastructure. Ms Ovia said “While most of the contribution was from our personal donations and sale of bilums which raised a total K13, 800, we also had business houses and individuals who supported the cause. From the money raised, we bought all these items including a 5000L tuffa tank for the school to ensure clean and safe drinking water for students and teachers.” The group is also looking at buying textbooks for the different grades in the future. Wallam is among 300 primary schools in East Sepik and is one of the oldest in the province.

Santos PNG Orchids centre Belinda Gwasamun and PNG Kumuls centre Brandon Nima will make history today, becoming the first husband and wife to represent PNG in rugby league on the same stage. Both will wear the number 3 jersey for their teams in the Prime Minister’s XIII fixtures against Australia. Gwasamun and her Orchids teammates will take the field first at Suncorp Stadium at 5.50pm, followed by Nima and the Kumuls at 7.35pm. Brandon first represented PNG in the two-match series against England Knights in 2018 when Belinda was taking a break from her rugby league career to look after their newborn son, Hayden. Belinda returned to playing in 2019 and represented PNG in the two-match series against England women that year. “This is the first time a couple has played at the same event representing PNG in rugby league, and I’m so proud we’ve both made history and wearing the same jersey number as well,” Belinda said. “This is something I’ll always remember, and our son will remember it too.” Hayden, who turns four in late October, will be watching today’s matches on TV in the PNG city of Mount Hagen with Belinda’s parents. With Belinda already confirmed in the Orchids squad for the Rugby League World Cup, if Brandon makes the final Kumuls squad, it could be a busy few months for their extended family. Source: Santos PNG Orchids

Fifty years on since its establishment, the students of Kuriva Primary School along the Hiritano Highway in Central Province now have a Basketball Court for Physical Education lessons, thanks to BSP Financial Group’s 2022 Community Project. BSP’s Group Risk Management Strategic Business Unit initiated the project that will see over 500 students benefit from the facility, valued at K38, 000. BSP Group Chief Risk Officer Roger Hastie, thanked the community for welcoming BSP and allowing them to give back through such project. “We thank you for allowing us to go a step further by assisting students of this school open Sumatin Accounts with BSP,” he said. BSP’s Boroko Branch assisted all 85 students from Grade 6 to 8 open Sumatin Accounts – an important step towards financially empowering them by instilling a savings culture for the students. BSP Group CEO Robin Fleming during the project handover said, BSP remains critical in PNG’s transition and is proud to be giving back to schools like Kuriva Primary School in the Hiri Koiari district. “While you are in school, teachers instil the need to not only be good students but Christians as well. We hope that the court will enable you to develop some skills before you complete the 2022 studies and make you look forward to school again next year”, said Mr Fleming. School Head Teacher Mr. Charles Rave thanked BSP for the support on behalf of Central Education Division, Vanapa Community, Parents and Guardians of the students who also turned up to witness the event. “It’s a Blessing. The community has never witnessed such before and I also thank you parents for support, teachers and students for their efforts towards the completion of this projects. “BSP and CEO Mr Fleming, Your contribution towards this school will always be remembered. When we were approached by BSP, Kuriva Primary School chose a Basketball court as it is also a classroom and learning place. While the code of basketball is dying in Central province, know they will produce some best players from this school and place through the court,” he added.