A state of emergency has been declared for areas of Vanuatu impacted most by severe tropical cyclone Judy. It comes as the country deals with a second cyclone, called Kevin, which is bearing down on the country. At 2am local time the now category 3 cyclone was about 165km south-west of Santo and 225km west north-west of Malekula. Red alerts are in place for Sanma, Malampa, and Penama, with damaging gale force winds expected to affect those provinces within the next 12 hours. Yellow alerts are in place for Torba and Shefa. Meanwhile, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake has struck just…
Author: PNG Haus Bung
The Melbourne Storm dug deep to down Parramatta 16-12 in a golden point thriller at CommBank Stadium on Thursday night, stretching coach Craig Bellamy’s remarkable winning streak in round one matches to 20. With Cameron Munster nursing a dislocated finger in the second half and Xavier Coates injuring a shoulder, the Storm stayed in the fight long enough to take the game to golden point before Kangaroos hooker Harry Grant scooted over from dummy half to break the deadlock in the 84th minute. The Storm have not lost an opening round match since Bellamy took the helm in 2003 and…
Slow internet could soon be a thing of the past in the Pacific’s most isolated locations with Elon Musk’s Starlink said to be looking to enter the regional market. The tech-billionaire’s company promises to deliver high-speed internet to the remotest regions, by using thousands of satellites orbiting close to the planet to deliver the service. Cook Islands Competition and Regulatory Authority chair, Bernard Hill, said Starlink wanted to enter the Cook Islands “as soon as they can”. “There’s a lot of interest in having the option of a Starlink antenna and having direct to the sky access,” Hill said. “That…
Having named a vastly different side to the 17 that went down to Penrith in last year’s Grand Final, Eels coach Brad Arthur is looking forward to the opportunity of testing new combinations in Thursday’s season opener against the Storm. It’s not the time of year a club wants to be staring down the barrel of a top 30 dispensation but the departure of several stars, followed by an injury-cruelled pre-season, has left Arthur looking to several new names to face a team that hasn’t lost in Round 1 since 2001. With Ryan Matterson (suspended), Nathan Brown (hamstring) and Shaun…
The Canadian government is banning TikTok from official electronic devices, making it the latest to announce restrictions on the short-form video app in light of cybersecurity concerns. The ban is set to take effect on Tuesday. Government-issued devices will be blocked from downloading TikTok, and existing installations of the app will be removed, according to a statement by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. “Following a review of TikTok, the Chief Information Officer of Canada determined that it presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,” the statement said. The statement by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said the decision…
Representative stars Nicho Hynes and Joey Manu join high-profile Broncos recruit Reece Walsh as the big names who will miss Round 1 of the new Telstra Premiership season through injury. Reigning Dally M Medal winner Hynes, who was the best player on the field in the NRL All Stars clash in February, picked up a calf injury at training last week and joins prop Royce Hunt (elbow) as the major omissions for the Sharks. The Roosters and Broncos meanwhile have opted not to risk their backline talents, who both suffered facial fractures recently. But it is believed the approach is…
Twitter has laid off at least 200 staff in another round of cuts, according to reports in the New York Times. It said the tech giant had cut 10% of its current workforce, which it estimated at 2,000 people. This is the latest round of job losses at Twitter since chief executive Elon Musk sacked about 50% of its 7,500 employees when he took over in October. As staff learned of their fate, Mr Musk tweeted: “Hope you have a good Sunday. First day of the rest of your life.” Esther Crawford, chief executive of Twitter Payments, who oversaw the Twitter Blue…
Police in Ecuador have found almost 8.8 tonnes of cocaine in a shipment of bananas bound for Belgium. Police commander Fausto Salinas said the drugs would have been worth an estimated $330m (£275m) had they reached their destination. Ecuador has become one of the main transit countries for cocaine produced in neighboring Peru and Colombia. Last year, more than 200 tonnes of the drug were seized in the Andean country, much of it in the port of Guayaquil. With Ecuador the world’s largest exporter of bananas, smugglers often try to hide their illegal consignments among the fruit which is shipped…
A New Zealand-based media research and publication group has called for an “urgent rethink” on Papua New Guinea’s draft media development policy, saying its proposed regulation plan for the country’s media council and journalists threatened a free press. The Asia Pacific Media Network Inc. (APMN), publishers of the research journal Pacific Journalism Review, said in a statement that it supported the Community Coalition Against Corruption (CCAC) plea for more time to be granted for public consultation. The CCAC is a loose coalition of NGOs chaired by Transparency International-PNG and the PNG Media Council and is supported by churches, chambers of commerce, the Ombudsman Commission…
Broncos prop Thomas Flegler will fulfil his contract with the club until the end of the 2023 season. Broncos Coach Kevin Walters said: “Tom has made his decision and I respect that – he has spoken to me and has assured that he will be ripping in for us for the rest of the season. Broncos prop Thomas Flegler will fulfil his contract with the club until the end of the 2023 season. Broncos Coach Kevin Walters said: “Tom has made his decision and I respect that – he has spoken to me and has assured that he will be…