A disgraced American antiquities dealer accused of running a multi-million-dollar looting network via his New York gallery was this week sentenced by an Indian court to 10 years in prison for smuggling offenses. Subhash Kapoor was convicted alongside five accomplices on charges including criminal conspiracy, burglary and the illegal export of 19 artifacts worth over 940 million rupees ($11.4 million), a police spokesperson confirmed to CNN. The verdict follows a years-long investigation into Kapoor, who stands accused of trafficking thousands of treasures plundered from temples, ruins and archaeological sites across Asia. The Indian American dealer’s looting network is believed to…
Author: PNG Haus Bung
Thanks to the many efforts made by the people of East Sepik around the country to campaign against Violence in the province, yesterday the Meni Settlement Community took the initiative to formally surrender their arms and are now coming together for the betterment of the province. Wewak District Administrator, Martin Maingu expressed great delight, stating that all the efforts that they have invested into awareness that was done is now paying off. “We have started awareness for the people and the outcome was that yesterday the first group surrendered their weapons,” Maingu said. He added that since the foundation of…
Ishmael Kalsakau has been elected unopposed as the 13th Prime Minister of the republic of Vanuatu by secret ballot. Kalsakau was elected by the 52 members of the country’s parliament on Friday 4 November. “Thank you, thank you for the election,” Kalsakau said after the vote. The former prime minister and president of the Vanua’aku Party, Bob Loughman, stood up at the session and said his group had no candidate to put forward for prime minister but would vote for Kalsakau. Under the national constitution, a prime minister must be elected by a secret ballot even if standing unopposed. Kalsakau…
At least one person was killed, and multiple people are missing after tornadoes hit Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas late Friday, damaging homes and knocking out power for thousands as officials launch search and rescue efforts. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued an emergency declaration on Saturday for Bryan, Choctaw, LeFlore and McCurtain Counties after damaging tornadoes blew through the state. On Saturday morning, Stitt toured the city of Idabel in McCurtain County, in southeastern Oklahoma, which suffered significant storm damage. The governor said more than 100 homes and businesses were destroyed due to the tornado and called the situation “heartbreaking” in a tweet.…
Papua New Guinea are through to the Women’s World Cup knockout stage for the first time in history, after a commanding second-half performance saw them down Brazil 70-0. Powerhouse centre Belinda Gwasamun was in devastating form for the Orchids, running in four tries on a night in which she broke 18 tackles and clocked 282 metres in yardage gained. While Brazil did themselves no favours with their expansive style of play in torrid conditions in Hull, they stuck with the Orchids in the first half to trail just 18-0, but had no answer for what happened over the ensuing 40…
The charred remnants of a rocket booster plunged uncontrolled back to Earth Friday morning, an event decried in the West as an irresponsibly risky move by the China National Space Administration. The rocket reentered the atmosphere over the south-central Pacific Ocean just after 6 a.m. ET, according to the US space command, which is part of the Department of Defense. “Once again, the People’s Republic of China is taking unnecessary risks with the uncontrolled rocket stage reentry of their Long March 5B rocket stage. They did not share specific trajectory information which is needed to predict landing zones and reduce risk,”…
A new study by UNICEF has revealed that child food poverty is increasing in the Pacific. The highest rate has been recorded in Kiribati with 91 percent of children living in food poverty. This is followed by Samoa at 80 percent, Tuvalu at 71 percent, and Tonga at 47 percent. Fiji follows with 45 percent of children living in food poverty. Child food poverty is a state where young children are not fed the bare minimum number of food groups they need in early childhood. UNICEF defines children living in food poverty as the percentage of children under five years…
The East New Britain provincial fisheries sector has been commended for partnering with the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) to deliver vital training to empower and equip its human resources for the marine industry. NFA provincial support manager Bolton Towok highlighted this during the graduation of 20 young men and women from a 10 weeks Competency Fishing Operations Level One training at Rabaul Hotel on Friday (Nov 4). The training was conducted by the National Fisheries College. He said as ENB prepares for the upcoming Rabaul Tuna Terminal project which will have ripple effects, it will need a skilled workforce in…
EU-STREIT PNG equips 307 local fish farmers including youths and women in the rural Sepik River community of Papua New Guinea with knowledge and skills in riverine fishing and agribusiness as well as addressing gender-based violence. To build and enhance the capacity of fisher groups, including youths and women folks with necessary skills in riverine fishing as well as to run an agribusiness, the FAO-led EU-STREIT PNG Programme conducted 15 days of intensive training in three separate locations of East Sepik Province which brought together 307 fish farmers inclusion of youths and women. The trainings which comprised many theory and…
The body of the late policeman Senior Constable Nelson Kalimda will be repatriated to Port Moresby on Sunday November 6, says the outgoing Hela Provincial Police Commander Senior Inspector Robin Bore. Mr Bore said the body would be repatriated to Port Moresby as the Tari Hospital Morgue was not working. He said the body would not be buried nor repatriated back to East Sepik Province until the suspects involved in the killing are captured or voluntarily surrender to police. He said they closed their funeral service in Hela yesterday with the contributions from the general public and the Hela provincial…