Further to the previous notice on the 13th of July 202, the polling for Western Highlands Province, and Simbu Province has being deferred to to Monday 18th July 2022. This is to allow ample time for preparations on the ground to be done accordingly so polling is conducted smoothly within the gazette period. All polling across the country will end on 19th July 2022. The decision has been made after consultation with Electoral Commission Officers and security personals on the ground. Polling for Jiwaka will proceed as scheduled for this Friday 15 July 2022. All voters within this concerned provinces are to take heed of this and prepare according.  

The SP PNG Hunters will play host to the Central Queensland Capras this Sunday, 17th July at Bycroft Oval, Runaway Bay in Round 15 of the QRL Hostplus Cup. The Hunters will ride a wave of confidence into this weekend’s contest, having produced their best performance of the season last week against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls to win 36-22. There were some notable changes to the Hunters’ squad who won that game – namely a new halves pairing of Kingstimer Paraia and Judah Rimbu, and skipper Keven Appo’s move from edge forward to lock – but the most significant difference between the Hunters’ of Round 14 and the 2022 season as a whole was their intent and aggression on both sides of the ball. The stats from that game make for interesting reading. The Seagulls spent more time in possession, took more runs and missed less tackles than the Hunters yet both sides were evenly matched in yardage. Wynnum clocked just 30 additional running metres across the 80 minutes despite enjoying the bulk of possession, as they spent much of their time working off their own try line thanks to the kicking game of Rimbu and Paraia for the Hunters. Completing at 82% - a vast improvement from their season average of 69% - allowed the Hunters to build pressure and play the game down Wynnum Manly’s end. It doesn’t show on the stats sheet, but the confidence and momentum the Hunters created with their kicking game flowed into how they used the ball in attack. It’s no coincidence that one of the Hunters’ better attacking performance of the season coincided with a dominate defensive display. The other thing that doesn’t translate onto the stats sheet is the force of contact the Hunters applied on both sides of the ball. In true PNG fashion, the Hunters’ front-loaded their defensive efforts to dominate Seagulls’ ball carriers around the ruck. Sylvester Namo, Dilbert Issac and Keven Appo led the Hunters’ line speed all game and consistently won the tackle to put Wynnum Manly on their backs in yardage sets. This was backed up in attack as the Hunters constantly bent the line to post-contact metres and generate ruck speed for their team. It's a blueprint for success for the SP PNG Hunters in 2022 and now the challenge is to back it up against another top four side this week in the CQ Capras. The Capras leaped to third place on the QRL ladder last week following the Hunters’ win over Wynnum Manly and on the back of their own narrow win over the Sunshine Coast Falcons. A two point margin was all that separated the Falcons and Capras when the siren sounded in Round 14, with Yee-Huang Tonumaipe’a scoring a late try for the Sunshine Coast as they threatened a comeback. That 22-20 win over the Falcons capped off a shaky month of football for the Capras, who also managed a close win over the Blackhawks in Round 11 before drawing with Redcliffe in Round 12 and losing to Tweed in the following week. The Capras’ recent winning record is a far cry from their 4-and-0 start to the season, which included a 26-16 win over the Hunters in Round 2 at Browne Park. Given the improvements the Hunters have shown since that game and their form in Round 14, the PNG side will be every chance of turning the tables and exacting revenge on the Capras this weekend at Bycroft Oval.

Blues five-eighth Jarome Luai has come under fire for standing over stricken Queensland flyer Selwyn Cobbo in what was an explosive opening to the State of Origin decider. Cobbo was left prone on the ground after a sickening collision with a Maroons teammate Patrick Carrigan, the third brutal head knock in the opening minutes after Cameron Murray and Lindsay Collins were also forced off with HIAs. But it was the image of Luai standing over a concussed Cobbo that enraged Queensland players and immediately sparked an all-in brawl. Queensland centre Dane Gagai, who immediately crouched over Cobbo to protect him from the melee, said Luai would come to regret his actions. “There is a line you don’t cross,” he told NewsCorp. “If Luai had his time again, he might not have said what he said. That is what this game brings out in you. “A couple of years back Jai Arrow was scrutinised for what he did to [James] Tedesco. I know speaking to Jai he wishes he had his time back. As soon as he did it he realised he f***** up. It is just passion and heat of the moment. I know Luai. He is a good man away from the field.” Cobbo was immediately tended to by the trainers but he was able to get to his feet and was taken from the field in a medicab wearing a neck brace. Gagai opened up on the concern he had for Cobbo when he saw the blow he sustained. “As soon as he went into that tackle I knew straight away it was bad,” he said. “He was locked up and there were bodies all around. It was just looking after your mate. He would probably do the same for me.” Luai was questioned about the incident on Thursday morning and said he was unaware Cobbo had been knocked out. “I didn’t know he was unconscious but that’s Origin,” he said. Luai also revealed he sought out Cobbo in the sheds after the game to check on his welfare.. The rugby league world, meanwhile, wasn’t impressed by Luai and slammed the Blues five-eighth for flexing on Cobbo while he was clearly knocked out. The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Crawley labelled Luai a grub. “At some point someone has to say to Jarome Luai that enough is enough,” he wrote. “Grow up. Don’t be a grub. “It’s not acceptable to stand over an opposition player who is laying concussed on the ground and give him a gobful. “Not even on the game’s toughest stage. It’s not tough.” CODE Sports’ Lachlan McKirdy tweeted: “Jarome Luai standing over Cobbo is going to become a defining Origin image.” The ABC’s Jacob Shields said: “Unfortunate start to Origin, but that was disgusting from Jerome Luai to stand over Cobbo flexing after he’s out cold on the ground clearly knocked out … could have been seriously injured and he’s flexing over him being all tough?? Very grubby, gross stuff.” Source: NRL.com

Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology company, today announced it has officially acquired Digicel Pacific in partnership with the Australian Government. Telstra will continue to invest in and operate the business across its six South Pacific markets – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Oliver Camplin-Warner, Telstra International CEO, said the deal was an exciting milestone for the Digicel Pacific business and its customers in Papua New Guinea. “We’re very pleased to welcome Digicel Pacific into the Telstra family. The Digicel Pacific team in PNG have amazing local expertise and are leaders in digital experiences for their customers. Together, we’ll work to ensure Digicel Pacific remains the top provider in PNG,” he said. Mr Camplin-Warner confirmed there would not be any local job losses in the Pacific as part of the acquisition and the current Digicel Pacific team would continue the day-to-day running of the business. “Digicel Pacific will still have the same people and products that their PNG customers know and love today,” he said. “ Telstra will add to these strengths with our more than one hundred years’ experience building and operating the largest mobile network in Australia, and our operations in more than 20 countries world-wide.” “As part of our commitment to building a strong and sustainable PNG, Digicel Pacific will invest in an additional 115 towers which will be built across PNG over the next two years,” Mr Camplin-Warner added. “This investment will mean continued improvements to 4G coverage, particularly in rural areas, which will bring with it opportunities to improve health, education, agricultural, commerce and cultural outcomes through the use of technology.” Colin Stone, CEO, Digicel Papua New Guinea, said Telstra’s expertise in rolling out world-class networks and connecting remote communities would greatly enhance the work to date of Digicel and benefit the people and businesses of PNG. “Telstra has experience connecting regional and remote customers in challenging geographies across mountains, deserts, rainforests and coastlines,” Mr Stone said. “We’re looking forward to Telstra applying its network experience as well as its innovation and technology solutions to PNG to continue increasing connectivity in the region as Digicel has been doing for the past 14 years.” Mr Camplin-Warner said the values of both Telstra and Digicel Pacific were a natural fit, with the companies committed to working together to build a connected future for everyone. “We strongly believe we are “better together”, and this includes how we both work to support some of the most vulnerable in our communities,” he said. “Telstra strongly supports Digicel Pacific’s grass roots community investments through the Digicel Foundation, and we are committed to seeing this work continue.” Mr Camplin-Warner said Telstra had been working closely with Pacific Governments and regulators on the acquisition and thanked them for cooperation and support.

After overseeing a win for the ages in his first Origin series as coach, Billy Slater confirmed what nearly anyone who witnessed the brutal 22-12 triumph was thinking. "That is as good a Queensland victory as I have ever seen," Slater said. "I don’t think I’ve been any prouder of a team I’ve been involved in.” Slater played 31 Origins from 2004 to 2018 and was a key member of the most dominant team in the 42 years since the concept began, so he knows only too well the story of Queensland's famous spirt inspiring the underdog Maroons to victory against all odds. However, there has never been a plot quite like the one at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night. First, the Maroons are rocked by the loss of superstar playmaker Cameron Munster and rookie winger Murray Taulagi due to COVID. Then they are forced to play 76 minutes with 15 players after Selwyn Cobbo and Lindsay Collins were forced out of the game with head knocks in a no holds barred opening to the match. If this wasn't Queensland’s greatest Origin win, it was at least on par with 1997 when Paul Vautin's underdogs achieved a series clean sweep, the 2011 decider in which Johnathan Thurston attended the presentation in a wheelchair and 2020's victory by the so-called worst Maroons team ever. Only the 16-12 triumph in 1989 in which the Maroons finished with 12 players after serious injuries to Vautin, Allan Langer, Mal Meninga, Michael Hancock and Bob Lindner may rank higher. “There is a lot of history that has gone before us and we unpacked a lot of that this week, and we just knew that based on all of those Queensland moments it was our turn to produce one," Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans said. The Queensland halfback was in tears at fulltime at the enormity of what his side had achieved, telling Channel Nine:  “We did it again”. The Blues were poised to write their names into Origin history by becoming just the third NSW team to win a series decider at Suncorp – and the first since 1994 to do so after losing the opening game in Sydney and winning the remaining two matches away from home. NSW had overcome a Munster-inspired 16-10 loss in Sydney to thrash Queensland 44-12 in Perth and with the star playmaker forced to watch from the isolation of his hotel room after he and Taulagi tested positive to COVID in camp, the Maroons were largely written off. Within four minutes of the kick-off, Cobbo and prop Lindsay Collins had joined them as spectators after being forced from field for HIAs, along with Blues second-rower Cameron Murray. Munster's replacement, Tom Dearden, had an Origin debut to remember just 12 months after his mid-year departure from the Broncos, while fullback Kalyn Ponga was outstanding. Interchange forward Tom Gilbert played 78 minutes on debut after being called on when Cobbo went down, with Kurt Capewell shifting to the centres in a move that proved a masterstroke after he scored on the last tackle before halftime. Cherry-Evans and hooker Ben Hunt guided the Maroons home, with the latter producing a 40:20 kick in the second half and scoring a 70-metre try that sealed the win two minutes from fulltime. Despite the early carnage, for the opening 20 minutes, the capacity 52,385 Suncorp Stadium crowd believed they were witnessing another Maroons miracle after the home team made three line-breaks and eventually produced the opening try. By fulltime, they were struggling to believe what they had seen as Queensland overcame the sin-binning of centre Dane Gagai and his NSW counterpart Matt Burton after a fiery start to the second half was a throwback to past Origins. “Probably the main message was we felt like the team that remained the calmest was going to win,” Cherry-Evans said. “The team that reverted back to just playing footy was going to win because there was so many different things out there that changed the game. “Those things can really impact the game of footy and it is whoever comes out the other side playing the smarter game and we did that. We played a style that wore them down by the end.” Source: NRL.com

The public is advised that polling for Western Highlands Province and Jiwaka Province, is being deferred from today 13 July to Friday 15 July 2022. The deferral will allow ample time for mobilization and deployment of members of the Joint Security Task Force who are currently within the upper highlands region. The election process is ongoing and decisions made are based on real time events and circumstances faced by the Electoral Commission and its officials on the ground as well as advise from the Joint Security Task Force on security issues. "Accordingly, I have made a decision to defer polling for Western Highlands and Jiwaka to Friday 15 July 2022". Polling for Simbu Province will proceed as scheduled, on Friday 15 July 2022. The polling period for the 2022 National General Elections ends on Friday 15 July 2022 and the public and voters in the concerned provinces are advised to take heed of these information and prepare accordingly to ensure polling is completed smoothly within the gazetted period.

Sick patients and their guardians admitted at Brown Memorial General Hospital in Finschhafen District, Morobe Province have been told to cast their votes in their respective ward areas if they wished to take part in the elections and will not be given any special treatment. Assistant Returning Officer for Finschhafen Urban and Kotte Rural Essau Lilibur issued the advice yesterday before allowing the polling to commence in the area. He said sick patients and their guardians from outside of the Finschhafen area admitted at the hospital had to find their own way to their polling locations to cast votes as ballot papers were set according to the population records for Finschhafen Urban and Kotte Rural. Lilibur also reminded the patients wishing to have their say in the 2022 elections had to consider their health status first before going out to cast votes in their areas. He said there's no legal document that guarantees patients to go cast votes and they have to make their own decisions either to go cast votes or not. Polling commenced yesterday morning in the area while Yabim Mape and Hube areas commenced today.

Air Niugini wishes to advise the travelling public that the airline will resume its Fokker jet services to Kavieng airport, New Ireland Province effective from Monday 1st August 2022. The resumption of Fokker flights follows the completion of runway maintenance and upgrading works by the National Airports Corporation (NAC). Since the works on the airport runway commenced over a year ago, Air Niugini has been operating to Kavieng using smaller Dash-8 aircraft, but with passenger numbers restricted to as few as 20 at times because of the shortened runway. Air Niugini General Manager Commercial, Mr Paul Abbot said “The last year of restricted operations at Kavieng has been inconvenient for both our customers, business houses in Kavieng, and the airline. However, we do appreciate the work done by NAC and Asian Development Bank (ADB) via the CADIP 1 program to upgrade the runway and build a new terminal. “ Mr Abbot added “Air Niugini is pleased that the works are now complete and we can resume our Fokker 100/70 jet services into Kavieng airport”. Effective from 01st August, Air Niugini will operate daily Fokker jet services between Port Moresby and Kavieng, as well as connecting the provincial capital of New Ireland with Rabaul, Hoskins, Lae, Manus Island and Buka. Flights to Kavieng may also be operated by larger Boeing 737 aircraft during peak demand periods. Air Niugini appreciates the travelling public’s patience and understanding on these matters.

Established in 2019, HRDF as a development partner to improve the quality of education, health and support sport functions in remote communities in Hela Province, HRDF continues to deliver projects through the support of donation partners and program support organizations in Papua New Guinea and Australia. With operation sites located in Port Moresby and Tari, the foundation has extended support to neighboring provinces in Southern Highlands and Enga. Founder and Chairman of HRDF Eric Yawas, explained that they currently have a total of ten donation partners and various program support organizations in both PNG and Australia. HRDF delivers range of materials from library books, computers, and teacher’s reading materials, to desks, tables, and chairs. The Foundation also supply mosquito nets, wheelchairs, and hygiene items to support the Health Centers. Nonetheless, provide sporting gears, balls, shorts, uniforms and sponsors to any sporting functions in schools within Hela province. “Onboarding the BSP online payments system, it will be now be seamless to receive donations that will help the foundation. “Online payments encourages our sponsor partners and donors to make payments conveniently without having to go visit the nearest branch. With just a click of a button, payments are sent through,” said Yawas. “Apart from donation partners overseas, the eCommerce platform provides the perfect avenue for anyone to donate money to assist with funding the logistics required to deliver the projects,” he added. “Digital is the way forward and the solution to all business banking needs, it saves time and adds more value to your business given that we are in the digital age,” he said. Individuals or businesses wishing to assist can visit www.hrdfpng.com, and donate using their Visa or MasterCard.  

Air Niugini has resumed flights to Kagamuga Airport, Mt Hagen this morning (Wednesday 13th July). The first flight departed just before 9am, this will be followed by another four flights throughout the day. Those passengers who were disrupted from yesterday will be accommodated on flights from today. The airline suspended services to Mt Hagen yesterday due to civil unrest. Air Niugini operates up to five flights to Kagamuga Airport daily.

The Controller of the national pandemic response David Manning has approved for three additional Covid-19 Antigen Rapid test kits for Covid-19 screening in the country. The three new COVID-19 rapid tests kits are Singclean Antigen RDT, Lookspot Antigen RDT and Flow Flex Antigen RDT for SARS CoV-2 screening and diagnosis Deputy Controller Dr Daoni Esorom said. “Quality diagnosis of diseases is crucial as it ensures appropriate clinical intervention is administered but equally crucial is having the testing kit that is validated for use in PNG. This ensures the diagnosis is reflective of the true status of the patient. Validation was undertaken by the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) in 2021 to ensure that process is carried out,” Dr Daoni said. These new rapid Antigen Testing Kits are in addition to BioPen Antigen RDT Kits that was initially approved by NCC for COVID-19 testing in the country in 2020. We now have four approved tests kits in the country. These are the only approved tests kits to use for COVID-19 testing.” Dr Daoni said. Singclean COVID-19 Antigen Test kit (Colloidal Gold) manufactured by Hangzhhou Singclean Medical Products Co. Ltd, is a solid phase immunochromatographic assay for the rapid, qualitative detection of antigen of COVID-19 in human saliva. Lookspot Antigen RDT test detects the nucleocapsid protein from SARS-CoV-2 in nasal swabs from suspected Covid-19 patients in the first eight days of the symptom onset. It delivers results in five to eight minutes. This rapid test kit is a smartphone-based diagnostic device with a lateral flow immunoassay developed from Laipac an internet medical developer. Meanwhile, Flowflex Antigen Rapid Test is manufactured by Acon Biotech Hangzhou Co. Ltd. The Flowflex SARS-CoV-2 Ag Rapid Test detects the presence or absence of the antigens specific for SARS-CoV-2 in nasal and nasopharyngeal specimens. Dr Daoni confirmed that these are the only Antigen rapid tests kits approved for COVID-19 screening and diagnosis in PNG.

It comes after Mr Musk announced he was walking away from his proposed $44bn acquisition of Twitter on Friday. He claimed Twitter had not given information about the number of fake and spam accounts on the platform. Now Twitter has asked a Delaware court to order Mr Musk to complete the merger at the agreed $54.20 per Twitter share. "Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, [Mr] Musk apparently believes that he - unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law - is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away," said the lawsuit. The lawsuit went on to accuse Mr Musk of "a long list" of violations of the merger agreement that "have cast a pall over Twitter and its business". Twitter chairman Bret Taylor tweeted that the microblogging site wanted "to hold Elon Musk accountable to his contractual obligations". The lawsuit said Mr Musk had backed out of the deal because it "no longer serves his personal interests". Mr Musk is the chief executive of electric car company Tesla. The lawsuit said that after Mr Musk agreed to the deal, the stock market fell, along with Tesla shares. "The value of Mr Musk's stake in Tesla, the anchor of his personal wealth, has declined by more than $100bn from its November 2021 peak. So [Mr] Musk wants out," it said. "Rather than bear the cost of the market downturn, as the merger agreement requires, [Mr] Musk wants to shift it to Twitter's stockholders," it added. Twitter's share price has fallen more than 8% in the past month, and in May tumbled from highs of more than $50 per share, as Mr Musk questioned the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter and said the deal was "temporarily on hold". On Friday, Mr Musk said he was pulling out of the deal, claiming a lack of information about spam accounts and inaccurate representations amounted to a "material adverse event". He also said Twitter sacking executives meant it was not living up to its obligations. In response, Twitter said it planned to pursue legal action to enforce the agreement, saying it was "committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr Musk". The original merger agreement includes a $1bn (£830m) break-up fee. Mr Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist", had pledged to loosen Twitter's content moderation rules once the company was under his ownership. He has been a vocal critic of Twitter banning some accounts, such as that of former US President Donald Trump. Mr Musk has also called for more transparency over how the platform presents tweets to users - a system that currently allows some to be promoted and given wider audiences. Source: BBC News.com