Captain Olga Carmona scored the winner in the first half as Spain won the Women's World Cup for the first time by beating England 1-0 in the final in front of 75,784 fans at Stadium Australia on Sunday. La Roja, robbed of some of their best talent by a mutiny against coach Jorge Vilda only a few months ago and thrashed 4-0 by Japan in the group stage, outplayed England to deservedly claim their first major title in only their third World Cup. Look back at how the final unfolded here Aitana Bonmati and Teresa Abelleira ran the game from the Spanish midfield and the margin of victory would have been greater had England goalkeeper Mary Earps not saved a second-half penalty. England's second defeat in 39 matches since Sarina Wiegman took over as coach denied them the chance to add a maiden world title to the European Championship crown they won last year. The first Women's World Cup final not to feature either the United States or Germany started at quite a pace with England just about enjoying the upper hand in the battle of two first-time finalists. Forward Lauren Hemp continued where she left off in the semi-final against Australia and screwed the ball towards goal in the fifth minute before clipping a shot off the bar 12 minutes later. Spain responded immediately, with Carmona overlapping down the left flank and driving the ball across the goal but teenager Salma Paralluelo was unable to make contact and Alba Redondo's shot from the far post was well saved by Earps. La Roja took the lead just before the half-hour mark after England were dispossessed in midfield and Abelleira curled a sublime cross-field pass to Mariona Caldentey, who slid the ball forward to Carmona. The left back drove into the area and let fly with an angled shot which flew past the fingertips of Earps and into the far corner of the net. The goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of England and Spain had the better of the rest of the half with Paralluelo pinging a shot off the post just before the break. England have shown their adaptability throughout the tournament and Wiegman switched from three to four at the back after the break, while bringing Lauren James on for Alessia Russo up front. Spain's game, by contrast, has been unchanging and they continued to drive forward with Caldentey bringing a fine save out of Earps with a shot from the edge of the box in the 50th minute. Bonmati hit the bar with a long-range effort just after the hour mark and the Spanish appealed vociferously for a handball against Keira Walsh during their next visit to the England box. The award of a penalty looked a formality from the moment referee Tori Penso was instructed by VAR to review the footage but Earps dived low to her left to stop Jennifer Hermoso's spot kick. James had a shot tipped over the bar by Spanish goalkeeper Cata Coll in the 75th minute but Spain were not content to sit on their lead and Earps had to be at her best to deny Ona Batlle as the clock hit the 90th minute mark. England threw all 11 players forward for a corner deep into stoppage time but Coll, playing only her fourth international, came out confidently to gather the ball. Source:rnz.com

A 30-metre sideline penalty goal from Api Koroisau that hit the cross bar and went over has helped Wests Tigers snap a 10-game losing streak to beat the Dolphins 24-23 on Saturday. In a see-sawing contest that built up to an even scoreline in the final stages, a Jamayne Isaako field goal with four minutes remaining appeared to give the Dolphins victory before Koroisau provided a short kick-off to get the ball back. When Isaako and Tesi Niu were penalised for taking Junior Tupou into touch it was Koroisau who put his hand up to take the unlikeliest of penalty goals from out wide - a 40-metre effort from the 30-metre line on the left sideline. His strike curved in before hitting the crossbar and bouncing over in a result that summed up the captain's performance after he switched to the halves following the withdrawal of Luke Brooks due to a calf injury. Koroisau's switch to the halves paid early dividends with the skipper placing a pinpoint kick in the air for Jack Bostock to spill and allow Stefano Utoikamanu and Fonua Pole to combine and score early. The Dolphins struck back shortly after with Isaako finishing off a bullet pass from Kodi Nikorima to go over on the right edge for his 21st try of the season. Jahream Bula's rookie of the year credentials were on full display in the 23rd minute when he slid through a hole to send Asu Kepaoa over with an inside ball close to the line. Dolphins halfback Sean O'Sullivan sold some candy to help the visitors to their second of the afternoon as the back-and-forth tries continued with a dummy to split past John Bateman and find Euan Aitken for a 12-10 scoreline. The Dolphins broke the pattern four minutes after half-time to go in again when O'Sullivan provided the cross-field kick for Jack Bostock to pluck out of the air for his first NRL try. That lead though evaporated quickly as the home side crossed twice in four minutes to stretch out to an eight-point advantage through tries to Alex Seyfarth and Jake Simpkin. The Dolphins needed a spark with the injection of Trai Fuller providing it immediately with the NRL debutant weaving his way over the line on the right edge for a four-pointer that even got a smile out of coach Wayne Bennett. A blunder at the scrum while in possession proved costly for Wests Tigers as the Dolphins opted for a penalty goal to level the scores and bring the match to a grandstand finish. Wests Tigers winger David Nofoaluma went close to scoring a try late but was denied in a tackle by Tesi Niu deemed high but only sufficient of a penalty - the home side unable to capitalise in the following play. An effort from Fuller to get the ball out of his own in-goal continued an impressive debut for the Dolphins rookie but the final stages went the way of Benji Marshall in his first game officially in charge of the club. Source: NRL. com  

Students from Morobe Province participated in the first of its kind, student parliament. 42 high school and tertiary school students took part in this 3-day event that commenced on the 16th of August through to the 18th of August engaging the students in meaningful youth engagement, building skills in leadership, public speaking and increasing awareness on issues affecting Papua New Guinea. Facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund through the Spotlight Initiative, the Morobe Student Parliament aimed to see how student leaders understood the essence of what it means to be a leader in parliament, the election process involved, and simply how the PNG parliament works. Sessions on leadership led by PNG Tribal Foundation, with sessions on the election process led by Electoral Commission Office Morobe. UNDP's anticorruption team led a virtual session on corruption. Final sessions included haus man and haus meri dialogues with a General Assembly convening to model how decisions are debated and passed on the floor of parliament. UNFPA Deputy Country Representative Dr. Rena Dona during the opening of the student parliament reminded the 42 participants that leadership is not about having a title. “Young people make up 60% of the country’s population which means that you are a powerful force and must be front and center when it comes to decision-making." "That is why we have innovative events like this Student Parliament to build up your skills and to hear what you have to say." “You must also remember that you are here to inspire other young people just like you.” UNFPA also acknowledged the support on the ground, especially from the Evangelical Lutheran Church PNG in Morobe, who facilitated the conversations with the various schools to bring in the selected students to take part in this event. “We are thankful for the support on the ground from the Lutheran Church, also, the Provinces Education Department and not forgetting our key implementing partner, the National Youth Development Authority. Thank you.” Ms. Abegail Dewa, one of the two students from Wasu secondary school in Tawae-Siassi District said that they had to travel 21 hours by ship from their school to reach Lae so they can participate in this program. “We boarded the ship from our district at 6am and arrived at the Lae Wharf by 3am the next day.” “I am the head girl of my school, and I am thrilled to be part of this event." "Now I understand what it takes to be a leader in parliament, what the process is like, and how decisions are made and passed down in Parliament.” “This event is very informative for me and the other students that are here.” “It was worth the journey for me and my school.” UNFPA's National Youth Parliament will be held later this year. Applications will open soon and be announced on UNFPA Papua New Guinea's website and Facebook Page.

Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister James Marape has issued a call to action for the Education Department to expedite the use of 2,000 scholarships offered by Indonesian colleges and universities. This is one of the ways that will strengthen the educational ties between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. This initiative is a direct result of the successful visit by Indonesia President H.E. Joko Widodo last month, during which both nations pledged to enhance bilateral educational cooperation. Prime Minister Marape has taken a proactive approach to capitalize on this opportunity, directing the Department of Education to ensure that the scholarships are leveraged effectively. During a meeting with Indonesian Ambassador to Papua New Guinea H.E. Andriana Supandy, Prime Minister Marape reaffirmed the significance of the scholarships and stressed the importance of timely action. He said that this initiative would not only enrich the educational experiences of Papua New Guinea students but also foster reciprocal benefits. Prime Minister Marape urged that the education department immediate utilize the 2,000 education scholarships generously extended by Indonesian colleges and universities. He highlighted that for every student sponsored by Indonesia, Papua New Guinea would reciprocate by sponsoring another Papua New Guinea student, marking a novel approach to fostering educational growth. "This opportunity presented by Indonesia is invaluable, and we must seize it with urgency." “By providing our youth access to international education, we are equipping them to make meaningful contributions to our nation's progress.” “This endeavor aligns seamlessly with our commitment to providing quality education, exemplified by our STEM students pursuing studies in the USA, with funding from the Papua New Guinea Government." These scholarships signify a landmark step towards elevating the educational landscape of both nations, fostering knowledge exchange, and fostering enduring cultural connections. Prime Minister Marape's resolute stance underscores the unwavering commitment to education's transformative power in steering the nations' shared future.

The Education Minister, Jimmy Uguro announced today that the National Executive Council has approved and endorsed the PNG Education Transformation Vision 2025 (PNGETV 2075) by the Education Department. The PNGETV 2075 is a 50-year education strategic plan that will span over 5 decades of continuous planning, management, implementation, and evaluation through short term plans such as MTDP IV, sector and agency plans, provincial plans, district plans, Local Level Government plans and ward plans. Education Minister, Mr Jimmy Uguro said that the government is now looking at overhauling the entire education system to see where we have gone wrong, where we are now and what we need to do in the next 50 years. “We are looking at that during the overhaul, maintaining the ones that we are doing well in and overhauling and reconstructing the ones that need to be upgraded so by 2075 we achieve the best for our education.” “Our Late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare talked about educating qualified Papua New Guineans and we have already achieved that.” “Our Marape-Rosso government has seen that something is missing and that is the mindset of our people that are not educated.” “We want to see that the education department through our education system, our curriculum, our teaching and learning, how we can improve and insert the best mindset for our citizens, and we reduce law and order that is happening around us.” He said that police, pastors, and churches as well as parents are trying their best to educate our people and change their mindset so we can avoid social issues. Minister Uguro further said that one of the main things they will be focussing on is teacher education, training, and development. “One of the challenges is lack of specialised teacher training institution that offer degree programs, especially in Primary school teaching.” “The school system structure 1-6-6 should be converted to 2-1-6-6 to include a 2year component for early childhood learning.” “This must be included as part of the mainstream education system because the first 5 years of a child’s life is important for their cognitive/intellectual development.” Minister Uguro added that teachers will need to upgrade so teachers who teach elementary schools must have diplomas, teachers for primary schools must hold degrees and teachers for Secondary schools must hold master’s degrees. “The government has a plan in place to provide funding for teachers to upskill themselves so they can provide quality education for their students.”

Coca-Cola has launched its the nationwide campaign that gives consumers a chance to win a share of the K250,000 prizes that are up for grabs. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ Head of Brand and Channel, Gabriel Manoi said the ‘Take a Break, Refresh and Win’ promotion is to reward consumers as they gear up towards celebrating PNG’s 48th Independence plus at the same time be in the chance to win a return-trip package to witness the 60th Morobe Show in Lae, Morobe Province that will fall on the 04th–05thof November 2023. “Coca-Cola wants to provide consumers with an extra reason to celebrate with your family this Independence and what better way to do that then with the Coca-Cola brand for your chance to win.” All you need to do is purchase any three cans or more of any Coca-Cola 330ml products to get a coupon(from participating stores), fill in your details and drop it in any of the entry bins at the participating shop near you for your chance to win.” “Prizes up for grabs includes ten grand prize winners to attend the Morobe show in November.” “Included in the prize pool, twenty lucky winners will walk away with an Independence Party Pack valued over K3000, and three hundred weekly prize winners of shopping vouchers to the value of K150that will be drawn weekly for the period of the promotion.” The promotion starts this week, on August 14th and ends on October 13th with the first grand draw scheduled to announce on September 8th twenty lucky winners of the Independence Party Pack. The grand prize draw will be on October 14th to announce the ten grand prize winners who will join the Coca-Cola team in Lae for the 60thMorobe Show. The winners will have a chance to bring a guest and will have 3 nights’ accommodation, meals and spending money. So do not miss out, buy any three cans or more of 330ml either of Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta Pineapple, Fanta Orange or Solo for your name to go into a draw to have the chance to win.

The National Book Week took place from August 8-10 and was celebrated under the theme, “Click on a Book, Pick up a Book, Read.” Students from Kopkop College took part in learning the importance of books and how technology can be used to access books. Throughout the week the primary and secondary schools participated in a variety of activities to celebrate the importance of reading and its lifelong benefits. Speaking at the opening of the Book Week on Tuesday August 8th, Kopkop College Primary School Principal Mr. Satchell Ben encouraged students to take reading seriously. He pointed out that over the recent years there has been a decline in children picking up a book outside of school and reading. “Some parents fear the increased technology has gotten in the way of children’s traditional love for reading. “However, we can actually use this technology to capture the interest that you children have in a tablet or a mobile phone to access literature.” “Starting from this week and onwards take advantage of the technology that you have and click on a book, pick up a book and read, do that and make it a lifelong habit.” 2023 Book Week Committee and Primary school teacher Ms. Pauline Kankonaru said that students from the junior school did book reviews and created posters based on their books, middle school have various activities from role play to creating booklets and the senior school did book reviews on fiction books. Ms. Kankonaru described the atmosphere at the school as “lots of fun and excitement. “I’ve been teaching in Kopkop College for almost three years now and as an English teacher I would say that reading is taken seriously in Kopkop College.” “One way of encouraging students in reading is having a mini-library in the classroom. You will find in every primary classroom there is a mini-library with shelves full of reading books.” She feels Book Week is too short and should instead be extended to two weeks. “PNG needs to be open-minded about the importance of books and reading. We need to educate the younger generations to love books and enjoy reading more.” She feels the theme speaks to the younger generation whose lives are being taken over by technology. “Anyone can get access to hundreds of books through their smart phones, especially young generations, so instead of TikTok, click on a book, pick up a book and read.”

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power has announced that USAID will provide $1.2million (K4.4million) to establish a solar mini-grid system in Papua New Guinea’s Central province. This is in partnership with clean energy company WEnergy Global. The mini-grid will connect at least 800 households and 30 businesses to electricity improving energy access for at least 4,800 people. Administrator Power made this announcement following her visit to the Morata Settlement area where she spoke with the community members about the impact of improved energy access. Papua New Guinea has one of the Asia Pacific region's lowest electrification rates, where only an estimated 13 percent of the population was connected to the national power grid in 2020. The United States partnered with the Governments of Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan to form the Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership (PEP) initiative, which supports PNG’s goal of connecting 70 percent of the population to electricity by 2030. This new funding will support USAID’s contribution, the USAID-PEP activity, which aims to deliver 350,000 new household connections by 2025. USAID is working to catalyze investments with private sector stakeholders to advance Administrator Power’s vision to ensure that our programs sustain progress beyond their life cycles. The $1.2 million (K4.45 million) award is part of USAID’s EDGE Fund, a seed fund designed to leverage the private sector’s expertise in confronting some of the world’s most significant challenges of our time, such as climate change, democratic backsliding and anti-corruption, food insecurity, and the need for inclusive economic growth. In Papua New Guinea, USAID will utilize the EDGE fund to support and catalyze the private sector to jumpstart investments in off-grid areas and support the Government of Papua New Guinea’s goal of connecting 70 percent of the population to electricity by 2030, and to advance climate change objectives in the Pacific Islands.

Cocoa farmers from a remote community along the Sepik River are now connected to the leading cocoa industry players in the country and overseas and receive a premium price for their quality cocoa products. Thanks to the support from the EU-STREIT PNG Programme and PNG Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) and MUPA Cocoa Cooperative Society, 240 farmers from two villages in Yuat LLG of Angoram District in East Sepik Province, have established a business link with Queen Emma Chocolate Company and sent the first shipment of quality beans to this leading PNG chocolate-making company, achieving a considerably higher market price. According to the Director of MUPA Cocoa Cooperative Ltd, Sperian Kapia, the company is paying a higher rate for their dried beans at K630 per bag, which is about K70 to K100 more than the average price K530 to K570 per bag offered by intermediary buyers. He said that with this price, the first shipment of MUPA, consisting of 40 bags of quality dried beans, fetches an additional K4, 000 into the cooperative’s bank account. This premium price paid for dried beans and extra income generated at the cooperative level, allows MUPA and affiliated fermentarians to pay a higher rate for wet beans, extending the benefits to farmers at the grassroots level, who produce and supply wet beans to fermentarians. “The usual price for wet beans used to be lower, around K 1.40 per KG, but thanks to the direct connection formed with the premium buyer, we are now able to pay the farmers at a higher price, K1.70 per KG of wet beans, which is 21 percent above the normal rate,” said Sperian. “This helps the parents in my community to pay for their kids’ school fees, buy utensils for their houses, and better food to improve family’s diets.” “With this support and market arrangement that gives us more money, we can also continue to support our farmers in terms of social development; we have school and want to support it in terms of infrastructure and educational material, also our health care.” Market linkage establishment is vital for remote farming communities as it opens up access to niche markets, allowing them to sell products at competitive prices, and gain valuable insights into market trends. As a result, they can enhance their productivity, improve product quality, and ultimately uplift their livelihoods. With this perspective, the EU-STREIT PNG Programme works on improving the access of local agricultural enterprises to domestic and overseas markets. It includes, among others, organizing exposure visits to national and international agri-food trade shows, where the Sepik-based agripreneurs can learn, interact, identify potential buyers, and forge new business opportunities. Sperian was one of the Sepik cocoa model farmers who, with the support of the EU-STREIT PNG Programme, participated in the International Food Service & Hospitality Exhibition in Singapore in August 2022 – where he initiated the market linkage with Queen Emma Chocolate Company that was participating at the same Exhibition. “It was there that Queen Emma Chocolate’s representatives showed interest in our cocoa and invited me to visit their factory in Port Moresby. We reached to an agreement to supply the company with our unique cocoa dried beans.” “This was an exciting moment for our community that depends on cocoa income to sustain and improve their well-being.” The EU-STREIT PNG Programme, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is the largest grant-funded Programme of the European Union in Papua New Guinea and aims to help improve the lives of the farmers from East and West Sepik provinces, by focusing on increasing sustainable and inclusive economic development of rural areas through improved economic returns and agri-business development environment in cocoa, vanilla and fisheries value chains.

43 students will be leaving in the next week to travel to the United States of America to study there through Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Scholarship. The STEM Scholarship is funded by the Papua New Guinea government through the Education department. Secretary for Education, Dr Uke Kombra said that this concept was brought about by Prime Minister James Marape when he was the Education Minister in 2009. “He (Marape) introduced this concept for the National Executive Council to approve and the policy was not implemented until 2017.” “In 2020, the NEC approved the Policy, and it was launched by the Prime Minister himself.” “60 students were selected originally but few have withdrawn but today we will see 43 of them receive their scholarships.” “Basically, the students that come into the Schools of Excellence (SOE) were the top students from the grade 10 National Examinations in 2020 and once they were in the SOE, they were the top students in Grade 12 examinations that they sat for in 2022.” Dr Kombra said that there is no set criteria as yet however students that were selected took up STEM subjects and topped the National Examinations. The 43 students are currently studying in different tertiary institutions across the country, and they will continue their studies at one of the two universities, South Dakota State University and Nicholls State University. The scholarship includes travel expenses, boarding, tuition fees and living allowance for the scholarship recipients. Dr Kombra added that the government is looking at educating the human resources of the country and this scholarship program is the start for that. He wished them all the best in their studies as they prepared to leave the country to go take up studies at the two selected universities.

The National Rugby League (NRL) today confirmed the four (4) Clubs that will compete in the exciting Round One 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership matches planned for Las Vegas. Following a competitive process and careful consideration of Club proposals, four teams have been selected to participate in 2024: Brisbane Broncos Manly Sea Eagles South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney Roosters NRL CEO Andrew Abdo thanked the Broncos, Rabbitohs, Roosters and Sea Eagles for their proposals and acknowledged NRL broadcast partners for their strong support and commitment to the concept. “The 2024 Las Vegas matches will form part of an exciting ‘Australia Week’ in Las Vegas where we will be showcasing rugby league and Australia to the US market,” Mr Abdo said. “We are now working collaboratively with the four clubs to finalise arrangements for the proposed matches in Las Vegas and make this a blockbuster event for fans by maximising travel, attendance and enjoyment of a unique rugby league experience. “Rugby league will be on a stage which the sport has simply never been on before and we look forward to giving all clubs the opportunity in coming years.” Further announcements will be made in the coming weeks in relation to the proposed 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership opening matches in Las Vegas. Source: NRL. Com

802 students from the 11 Secondary schools in the New Ireland province joined the rest of the grade 12 students nationwide to sit for the Written Expression Exam. More than 32, 000 students nationwide sat for the exam today. The students were given a week to read through the exam booklet and will write on the topic in the exam. The topic for this year’s exam is Women in Business. New Ireland Education Chief Executive Officer, Mr Apelis Benson said that they had received their exam booklets on time and they distributed them to the schools. “Even though the weather wasn’t on their side, we managed to deliver the booklets to all schools including those on the outer islands.” “Students started the exams well on time and I am confident that the students will do well.” He said exam invigilators made their way to schools early so there were no hiccups. Mr Benson wished all the students sitting for the exam all the best. Meanwhile, Education Secretary, Dr Uke Kombra warned schools that the penalties for cheating in the National Exams is non certification. He also wished all the students the very best.