16 year old Kiriwina lass from PK Taekwondo Australia, has taken out the title for the 46kg Female Division in the National Taekwondo Championships and has earned a spot in the Taekwondo Team to represent Papua New Guinea (PNG) at the Pacific Games. Yvette, from Milne Bay, went up against Port Moresby based Rahab Loi from Xtreme Club and won the match to secure the spot. Yvette flew in from Australia to participate in the 46kg Female Junior and Senior Divisions and won all her fights. Her mother and Coach, Pauline Boyama, said that Yvette took up Taekwondo when she was 12 years old and has come a long way in the 4 years training and taking part in competitions. “Our preparations have been very busy, she trains hundreds of hours, she is very dedicated to her Taekwondo career and she loves fighting,” said the coach. “We always go step by step because Taekwondo is a very physical sport, you can always get injuries and it can set you back, but our first and foremost goal is to get to the Pacific Games.” Yvette is currently in Grade 12 and she has been balancing school and Taekwondo and so far it has been a good journey for her. Last year Yvette competed in the Junior World Championships where she represented Papua New Guinea in Bulgaria. She had lost in the first round; however, it was a good experience for her to be able to compete against world champions. Yvette is the current Taekwondo Champion for 46kg Division in Queensland, Australia. Meanwhile, the team manager for Xtreme Taekwondo Club said that Rahab was very happy to have gone up against Yvette as it was her first time to fight with an international fighter. She has gained confidence and will be taking a lot home from the fight. There will be 8 males and 8 females who will be chosen to be part of the Taekwondo Team for Team PNG. The National Taekwondo Championships took place over the weekend at the Sir John Guise Indoor Stadium.  

A whisky collection rescued by divers from a 128-year-old shipwreck is expected to fetch thousands of pounds at a Glasgow auction. The SS Wallachia sank in the Firth of Clyde in 1895 while carrying a collection of whisky and beer. The precious cargo was thought to have been lost forever until it was found in 1977 by the Girvan Sub-Aqua Club. One diver is now selling his find which experts believe could go for between £3,000 and £5,000. His collection features what is thought to be one of only two decanters of Wilkinson's Famous Liqueur Whisky recovered from the wreck. It goes under the hammer on 14 April at McTear's. Sir William Burrell, best known for the famous and extensive Burrell Collection of artwork in Pollok Park in Glasgow, bought the Wallachia to ship goods to the British Empire. The cargo on board the steamship, which also included coal, clothing and books, was due to be taken to the West Indies. The SS Wallachia set off from Glasgow on 29 September 1895 in poor conditions, with the fog gradually thickening throughout the day. But as the crew slowly eased down the river, a Norwegian steamship suddenly appeared out of the fog. The vessels collided and the Wallachia sank within 25 minutes. It lay undisturbed for more than 80 years until the steamer was found by the Girvan Sub-Aqua Club divers, who were diving on an unknown obstruction which had entangled a fisherman's nets. Ewan Thomson, McTear's whisky specialist, said: "This is a wonderful collection, with a truly historic story to tell. "Although individual bottles of 'Wallachia whisky' have been sold in the past, this is the largest and best preserved selection to go under the hammer. "The decanter is a particularly notable find, being one of only two recovered from the ship and, as far as we know, it is the only one to ever come to auction. "The lot includes seven bottles and half bottles of whisky from historic brands Robert Brown's Four Crowns blend - a popular brand that received a royal warrant from Edward VII - and Charles Wilkinson, along with two bottles of McEwan's Export beer." Mr Thomson said there has been a lot of interest in the collection, but he believed most were interested in the bottles as collectors' items rather than for drinking. He said: "Reports from those who have been brave enough to sample these whiskies in the past range from 'elegant and moving' to an 'utter abomination', suggesting that anyone looking to sample this particular 125-year-old amber nectar should tread carefully." Source: BBC

New Ireland Province Governor Sir Julius Chan has expressed deep sadness and sorrow after hearing about the loss of former prime minister and close friend Sir Rabbie Namaliu on Friday 31st March. He was in Brisbane for medical checkup when he received the news late yesterday afternoon. He described Sir Rabbie as a one of a kind Papua New Guinean amongst other distinguished Tolai's of his time including Oscar Tammur Snr, Sir Paulias Matane, Sam Piniau, and the living giant Dr. Alan Marat and Sir John Kaputin. “He was a very cool, calm and collected leader, and naturally classed as a true gentleman by anyone who had the good fortune of meeting him,” said Sir J. Sir J said New Ireland was honoured to have Sir Rabbie as one of its high profile delegates to the Grand Opening of the New Ireland Legislative Assembly in 2020, alongside late founding Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare. He was also a guest during the grand opening of the Kavieng Government Official Residence in 2018 amongst other former Prime Minister’s including Paias Wignti, Peter O’Neil and Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare. “He will be deeply missed, and I thank the people of East New Britain for trusting in his leadership and electing him into public office back in 1982. Rest in Eternal Peace my dear friend.”

National Capital District Commission (NCDC) is continuing to ensure that the road and drainage systems in the Port Moresby city are maintained to high standards and quality. NCDC has engaged contractor Niugini Engineering and Procurement Services Limited (NEPS) to fix the much publicized Hohola tunnel road as part of their ongoing commitment to maintaining roads and drainages. The wet season has wreaked havoc on the roads when the floods overwhelmed the drainage system, affecting local traffic. National Capital District (NCD) Governor Powes Parkop said that the municipal government has been held accountable for their mistakes and failures on their part address this issue. “We thank our city residents for holding us to account.It is all our responsibility together to ensure a clean and healthy city.” He also reminded the city residents that the storm water drains were not places to dumb rubbish in because the drainage system is usually blocked during heavy rains due to rubbish being dumped in them by the residents.

The Dragons have bounced back from consecutive thrashings to outclass the Dolphins 38-12 at WIN Stadium on Saturday. After conceding 80 points in their losses to the Broncos and Sharks, the Red V discovered their defensive resolve to restrict the Dolphins to just two tries. As is so often the case, skipper Ben Hunt was the driving force behind the victory with a try, seven tackle breaks and a try assist as the Dragons spoiled the party for rival captain Jesse Bromwich's 300th NRL game. Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako had a chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute after Jacob Liddle was penalised for a strip but the attempt sailed wide. Just a minute later Isaako made amends when he dived into the corner after some nice hands by halves Anthony Milford and Isaiya Katoa. The winger converted his own try for a 6-0 lead for the visitors. The Dolphins then suffered a blow in the 18th minute when Milford left the field with a hamstring injury and shortly after the Red V had their opening try when Jacob Liddle darted over from dummy half. Liddle then turned provider in the 27th minute when he delivered a short ball to Blake Lawrie to power over for his second try of the season. Zac Lomax converted for a 12-6 Dragons lead. A penalty against Jack de Belin for a dangerous tackle late in the half handed Isaako a chance to add two more points and he duly landed the shot to make it 12-8 at the break. Two minutes into the second half the Dragons extended their lead when Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow failed to clean up a Talatau Amone grubber and Lomax pounced to make it 16-8. Hunt found his way to the line in the 54th minute as the Dragons opened up a 14-point lead with the breeze at their backs. In the 62nd minute Hunt delivered a superb long ball for Mikaele Ravalawa to steamroll defenders and score out wide as the home side put the result beyond doubt. Dolphins prop Mark Nicholls was sin binned with 13 minutes to play for a professional foul and the Dragons capitalised on their one-man advantage with Jack Bird feeding Ravalawa for the winger's second of the night to make it 32-8. With eight minutes to play the Dolphins hit back with a spectacular long-range try featuring great work by Isaako and finished off by Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who now has six tries for the season. Tyrell Sloan then exploded into a hole from 40 metres out and got the ball down for the Dragons' seventh try despite Tabuai-Fidow's best efforts to deny him. Source: NRL.com

At the end of a 90-minute game which saw 12 tries scored, the Sea Eagles and Knights couldn't be split in a 32-32 draw in Mudgee on Saturday afternoon. In what was the first drawn NRL match since Round 3 in 2020, the lead changed hands multiple times, with the Sea Eagles having appeared to have won the game after scoring three tries in the last 22 minutes, before Dom Young got over for his fourth try three minutes from time to force golden point. Both Daly Cherry-Evand and Jackson Hastings had wayward field goal attempts in golden point, but in the end a draw felt like the fitting result. Earlier the Sea Eagles got out to a 10-0 lead before the Knights, off the back of a 95 percent completion rate through the first 40 minutes, battled back to lead 22-16 at the break. After being dropped to reserve grade last week, and initially being left out of the squad for Round 5 before a late call-up, Young was exceptional, scoring four times and running for 227 metres. On the other side of the park tireless Manly forward Jake Trbojevic played every minute in the middle, making 49 tackles including a couple of crucial interventions late in the game. Both sides emerged with injury concerns, with Ben Trbojevic injuring his hamstring and Tyson Gamble failing a HIA. Source: NRL.com

The Broncos continued their unbeaten start to the season with a blistering 46-12 win over Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night. The last time Brisbane started a season 5-0 was 1998, when they went on to win the inaugural NRL premiership with current coach Kevin Walters calling the shots in the halves alongside Allan Langer. Playing in his 50th NRL game, Jordan Riki got the scoring started for the Broncos when he stepped past Luke Brooks to dot down for the ninth try of his career. In the 16th minute the home side jumped to a 10-0 lead when Ezra Mam put in a perfectly timed grubber for Kurt Capewell to score before Payne Haas powered over from dummy half to make it 16-0. The Tigers got themselves into an attacking position in the 30th minute but a John Bateman offload was spilt by Isaiah Papali'i and Selwyn Cobbo pounced, racing 85 metres to score Brisbane's fourth. Another try from a grubber came the Broncos' way in the 35th minute when livewire fullback Reece Walsh nudged the ball through for Riki to score his second of the night. Down 28-0 at the break the Tigers found the line four minutes into second half when Brandon Wakeham launched a bomb for Papali'i to follow through and score his first try as a Tiger. The Broncos then went left in the 47th minute and Walsh's speed got him outside Wakeham and he put the ball on a platter for Herbie Farnworth to cross. Adam Reynolds' conversion made it 34-6 to Brisbane. When Walsh surged into a hole and set up Kotoni Staggs for a try the Broncos had raced to a 40-6 lead as they continued to pile on the punishment. The Tigers had a second for the night when Jake Simpkin slid over from dummy half after Adam Doueihi had been held up just short of the line. Doueihi converted to make it 40-12. Wakeham then earned the Tigers a repeat set with a deft kick into the in-goal but the Broncos went the short dropout and Farnworth flew high to tap the ball down to Keenan Palasia. Continuing his dazzling form Walsh got clear with five minutes to play and kicked back infield for Mam but the five-eighth was unable to control the bouncing ball and that chance went begging but the Broncos had their eighth soon after when Reynolds set up Staggs with an inch perfect grubber. Source: NRL.com

A series of avalanches in Norway's far north has claimed the lives of four people, police say. In the most deadly incident, a house and barn were swept into the sea on the island of Reinøya. Two people were confirmed killed and 140 goats were in the barn at the time, according to the authorities. Two tourists were killed in two other avalanches. Both are believed to be foreigners, although their nationalities are not yet known. In the first avalanche, in Lyngen, one person died and two others were hurt. "There were five people of foreign origin that were on an outing in the area. We can confirm that one person is deceased," police spokesman Morten Pettersen told journalists. Two others were hurt, one critically and one with "moderate injuries", the spokesman added. Later in the evening, police said a fourth person had been killed in another avalanche at Storslett in the Nordreisa area. "The person was part of a larger foreign travelling party. Another member of the travelling party who was at the scene located the person and alerted the emergency services," a police statement said. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre described the deaths as "a tragic start to Easter". At this time of year, avalanches occur almost every day in Norway, with as much as 7% of the country's territory at risk, experts say. Earlier on Friday, several small towns in the Troms region were evacuated because of the high risk of avalanches, as authorities warned of snowstorms and strong winds. Source: BBC

The Porgera Gold Mine in the Enga province is a step closer to reopening after the government, Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL) and New Porgera Limited signed an agreement to go ahead with the resumption of operations at the mine, which has been suspended since 2020. The New Porgera Progress Agreement (NPPA), signed yesterday, confirms that all parties are committed to reopening the mine at the earliest opportunity, in line with the terms of the Porgera Project Commencement Agreement and the New Porgera Limited Shareholders Agreement both concluded in 2022. Porgera hosts an orebody with measured and indicated resources of 10 million ounces and inferred resources of 3.4 million ounces. After initial ramp up and optimisation of the Wangima pit, the mine is forecast to produce an average of 700,000 ounces per year, achieving a milestone towards its potential Tier One3 status. The New Porgera project team will now move ahead with the filings for a special mining lease and progressing the other conditions set out in the Commencement Agreement for the reopening of the mine. The equity in New Porgera is shared 51% by Papua New Guinea (PNG) stakeholders, including local landowners and the Enga provincial government. Economic benefits will be shared 53% by the PNG stakeholders and 47% by Barrick Niugini Limited, which will operate the mine. After the signing ceremony, Barrick president and Chief Executive Mr. Mark Bristow said there was strong support from all stakeholders to get Porgera reopened as soon as possible. “It’s been a long journey but in the process we have secured the buy-in of all the stakeholders. For Barrick, the reopening of the mine would represent another victory for our host-country partnership model which has been so successful in Tanzania and has now also been adopted for the new Reko Diq copper gold project in Pakistan,” Bristow said. “ Localization is an essential part of our partnership philosophy so New Porgera will, whenever possible, source the goods and services it requires from businesses genuinely based and owned in Porgera, the Enga province and Papua New Guinea. Similarly, it will give preference to locals in recruiting employees for the reopening mine.”

A stoic defensive effort, led by the tireless work of hooker Harry Grant, saw the Storm edge past the Rabbitohs 18-10 for their third win of the season on Friday night. With their side leading by eight inside the final 10 minutes, Grant and fullback Nick Meaney both produced tackles to save certain tries, headlining a gutsy effort from their side across the 80 minutes. In a high-quality contest at Accor Stadium, which saw both sides complete over 80 percent of their sets, tries were traded through the opening 10 minutes before the Storm eked out a 12-6 lead at the break. It was Cameron Munster's try three minutes into the second half, which came off the back of left-side shift that set Xavier Coates free down the left, which wrestled momentum the visitors' way when they led by six points. While they did give up a try to Campbell Graham on the hour mark, Melbourne soaked up prolonged periods camped on their line in the second half, with their best saved for the final 10 minutes. First Meaney knocked the ball free from the grasp of Alex Johnston on his way to the line seven from time, before Grant took Izaac Tu’itupou Thompson into touch to deny a four-pointer minutes later. The Rabbitohs lost Johnston to a failed HIA, sustained while attempting to score the try stopped by Meaney, leaving him in doubt for the Good Friday clash against the Bulldogs.     Source: NRL.com

The Panthers scored a point per minute in the second half to run out 53-12 winners over the Raiders on Friday night, in what was the biggest score put up by a team so far in 2023. While you wouldn't have known it by watching the second half, the game was closely contested through the opening 40 minutes, and the Panthers led by just seven points after a Sunia Turuva double and a Nathan Cleary field goal. But after an admirable first-half effort, the Raiders had no answer for what the defending premiers came out of the break with, as the Panthers found their attacking mojo and ran in seven tries to their opponent's one. The real damage was done in the first 12 minutes of the second period, during which time Izack Tago scored a quickfire double and Cleary got over for his 50th NRL try to shoot the Panthers clear. Further strikes from Zac Hosking, Tyrone Peachey, Stephen Crichton and Jaeman Salmon made for a miserable night at GIO Stadium for much of the 15,334 in attendance. The result gave co-captain Isaah Yeo a win in game number 200, while improving Penrith to a 2-2 record, having had the bye in Round 3. One potential negative to come out of the win was a knee injury to Test prop James Fisher-Harris, who left the field on 21 minutes and didn't return, although reports suggested he could have if required. Source: NRL.com

The Ministerial Vaccine Taskforce has successfully completed the last leg of its visits to the Southern region in the Northern Province from 27th-30th March 2023. During their supervisory provincial visits around the country, they have indentified both challenges and success stories in terms of Routine Immunisation and Covid-19 Vaccination within the communities. Even though they have found that there was a drop in routine immunisation when the covid-19 vaccination was first rolled out, Saiho Village in the Northern province has seen improvement in both the routine vaccination and the covid-19 vaccination statistics over the last 2 years. This is due to consistent advocacy and community awareness done in the area. Speaking to members of the Ministerial Vaccine Taskforce in Saiho village, Officer in Charge (OIC) Mr Donald Salapwi said all it took was continuous positive advocacy about the COVID-19 vaccine among both men and women that led to the community improving its vaccine rates. “We are proud of the progress we have with our routine immunisation and COVID-19 vaccination here at Saiho. Many young people are voluntarily coming to the clinic to get vaccinated.” “Only yesterday we witnessed 20 young men come in for COVID-19 vaccination.” “Even when mothers bring in their babies for immunisation, we advocate to them and surely, that fear and hesitancy has lessened as we see mothers bringing their babies for immunisation as well as being vaccinated themselves against COVID-19.” Protecting ourselves from COVID-19 takes a collective effort and the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines is the best way to ensure the protection of one’s health and that of their families.