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.

BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) continues to build its greatest asset, its People, through mentoring and building professionals to lead the biggest bank in the Pacific. Recently, the bank appointed Ms. Sandra Fore to the position of Country Manager for BSP Solomon Islands. She commenced office in November, 2021, and was into the second week when BSP Ranadi was burnt during the riots and civil disturbances in Honiara. With the confidence and support of the BSP Management and Executive, she was able to provide leadership to her staff in Solomon Islands and ensure the bank’s operations were maintained to the extent possible despite the continued challenging conditions in Honiara. “You go into any new role with confidence to get the job done – but it is important to remain humble and just be nice,” says Sandra modestly when asked of her challenges during her second week on the role when the riot broke out in Solomon Islands. “It was big challenge, ensuring business continuity with minimal impact on operations including cash, and preserving staff and customers’ safety,” She added elegantly. “As we know, at BSP we work with, and for, each other; and we progress together – BSP has a great team of people who really work hard at their jobs to get things done, and so, we were able to maintain operations despite the tension,” asserted Sandra. “The bank’s confidence in appointing Sandra to the position as the first Papua New Guinean to Head one of BSP’s Offshore branches is a milestone, and events of the first month have proven Sandra’s capability to take on country management of BSP’s second largest business behind PNG and Fiji,” says BSP Group CEO Robin Fleming when commenting on Sandra’s new role. “Sandra showed true leadership and confidence and was able to remain calm and lead her team without failure,” added Fleming. "Sandra’s appointment also reflects BSP's ongoing commitment in enhancing and increasing staff developments and career path in the bank. She will now have a responsibility for managing BSP’s business in Solomon Islands," said Fleming. Mr Fleming added that; “the BSP Board and Executives have every confidence in Sandra’s capability to effectively execute and manage this offshore branch and delivering results.” “She is a fine example of Papua New Guineans excelling in their respective fields,” he added. Sandra began her career under the BSP’s Leadership Development Program (LMDP), which aims at developing and growing our own senior leaders. More interestingly, under the LMDP program, she was also one of the staff nominated to be part of the team to undertake leadership and management training in South Africa under the ABSA program. She holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Torrens University, Australia and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Massey University, New Zealand. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of retail banking in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as well as OSB Management where she has worked since 2018. Most recently she played a key role in BSP’s successful implementation of FLEXCUBE in Vanuatu, providing on the ground leadership and support to both the Compass SMEs and our BSP Vanuatu business. Sandra concluded saying, “I look forward to the rest of my time here in the Solomon Islands as I work with our team to continue providing seamless service to our customers and to grow our business.” BSP prides itself in developing staff at all levels of the organisation and especially local talents in the countries in which we operate in.

19 Hela men, travelling in a vehicle were apprehended by police for carrying offensive weapons which included bush knives and a homemade gun with live ammunition last night in Port Moresby.  Marijuana was also found in their possession. They were intercepted after police responded to a fight involving two ethnic factions at Bomana yesterday during the festive season operations. Police units were alerted with specific instructions to stop and search suspicious vehicles moving within close proximity of the fighting zone. The vehicle transporting the armed group from Hela province was intercepted near Bomana Junction, and each of them, frisked by police. A Police source involved in this operation said, they were probably going to attack their rivals but ran into a police dragnet. They were all detained and are facing charges relating to carrying offensive weapons and drug. Source: Police - NCD/Central Divisional Command FB page 

Cocoa samples from Bougainville have been recognised as one of the world’s best after winning gold at the 2021 Cocoa of Excellence awards ceremony in Rome, Italy. The win follows nearly 9 months of judging, with cocoa samples from all over the world submitted to the prestigious competition. Samples from Bougainville were grown through a research project supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), as part of the PNG Australia Partnership.  Seven other countries from the Asia-Pacific Region received gold during an awards ceremony last week. In the lead up to final judging, a total of 235 samples of cocoa from 53 different parts of the world were examined and 50 finalists selected. A group of international judges made the final selection based on 12 criteria that included bitterness, astringency, acidity, and floral and woody notes. All judging was blind with samples only assigned a number. ‘This is a remarkable achievement, and it will create opportunities for selling Bougainville cocoa in niche markets in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand,’ said Bougainville Director of Agriculture and Livestock, Wendy Pihau. ‘In the final, Bougainville went up against experienced producers from Hawaii, Indonesia and Malaysia. To be ranked with such company is a great achievement. To win gold along with traditional producers from South America, Africa and the Caribbean is a banner day for the Bougainville industry,’ Ms Pihau said. The prized cocoa samples were grown and submitted to the competition by the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) at their Kubu Research Station near Buka. James Butubu, the Bougainville coordinator of the ACIAR cocoa project, said ‘I am just so happy with this milestone achievement for our cocoa industry.’ The Department of Primary Industries has been working in partnership with the University of Sydney, PNG Cocoa Board and the University of Natural Resources and Environment as part of the ACIAR project, which is supported by the PNG Australia Partnership. ‘I would like to express my gratitude to the Australian Government for supporting the ACIAR research activities and the Bougainville Partnership’s Commodity Support Facility. This support is improving the livelihoods for farmers and communities,’ said Mr Butubu. The Commodity Support Facility is a grants program for cocoa farmers which provides seedlings, training, tools and machinery. ACIAR Horticulture Research Program Manager, Irene Kernot, in congratulating DPI and the project team, said this exciting achievement validates long running cocoa research in Bougainville and across PNG. ‘ACIAR, through the Bougainville cocoa value chain project, has been supporting cocoa farmers to access premium markets, while promoting gender equity, community health and well-being,’ Ms Kernot said. The Cocoa of Excellence competition is held every two years, co-ordinated by the Rome-based Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture from South America. It aims to explore and develop cocoa that will add diversity to the varieties available to producers worldwide and ensure the industry can prosper through better genetics and good quality and unique flavour profiles.