papua new guinea

At least 10 women and five children were massacred in Hela Province, in a suspected revenge attack which reportedly left the victims mutilated and unrecognisable.

After news broke on Tuesday Mr Marape said it was one of the saddest days of his life and vowed to use "the strongest measures in law" against the killers.

On Facebook, the Prime Minister said the killings, which took place in his electorate, were led by gunmen from the Haguai, Okiru and Liwi tribes.

RLIF CEO Nigel Wood confirmed on the eve of Saturday’s opening round of Oceania Cup matches between New Zealand and Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium and Samoa and Papua New Guinea at Leichhardt Oval that the international body wanted to play games in the Pacific islands.

An RLIF meeting in Singapore earlier this month agreed that the Oceania Cup would be staged mid-year and at the end of the season on an annual basis, except in 2021 and 2025 when the World Cup is held.

The magnitude 7.5 tremor struck about 11pm Tuesday, local time (1am Wednesday, NZT) at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was centred about 40 kilometres off the coast of New Britain island, which sits in an archipelago to the north of the New Guinea mainland.

"It was very, very violent," said Frank Kilaur, a sergeant at the Rabaul police station, who said the town's electricity had been cut off.

"At the moment there's no damage, but we have to wait until daylight, we're in pitch black right now."

In a clash of two unbeaten teams, the Lewas restricted Samoa to 82 for 6 from their 20 overs, with Ravina Oa snaring the prized scalp of Samoa skipper Regina Lill'i for just 4 runs from 16 balls, marking the first time she had been dismissed in the tournament.

PNG captain Kaia Arua claimed 3 wickets for 9 runs from four overs and added 27 with the bat to earn player of the match honours as the Lewas reached their target with 20 balls to spare.

Speaker Job Pomat, in a press conference after the sitting, said he will now allow due process to take place.

“I have received it. When parliament meets on the 28^th (May), it will look at this notice, after it goes through the process of the Private Business Committee,” Pomat said.

He explained that Parliament may not necessarily vote on the 28^th but with the motion notice given yesterday afternoon, this will go for the notice paper when parliament next meets.

The epicenter of the strong quake was 127 km (79 miles) below the surface, the USGS said, in a region some 66 km southwest of the town of Lae at the eastern edge of the mountainous country.

The fire department in Lae said no one had yet called in to report damage or injuries so far following the quake.

The USGS-linked Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a tsunami after the quake.

This time the attack came from within. At midday, local time, Mr O'Neill's finance minister James Marape, who is also the deputy prime minister, announced his sudden resignation. He will continue as a backbench MP.

Hours later, Mr O'Neill's defence minister, Solan Mirisim, also resigned. Mr Mirisim is yet to make a statement, but his resignation has been confirmed by several media outlets. Two people with close ties to the PNG government also confirmed the resignations to RNZ Pacific.

New Zealand will play Mate Ma'a Tonga on 22 June at Mt Smart Stadium in the first match of the new Oceania Cup.

The Kiwi Ferns will also play against an unnamed opponent in the double header - they'll play a second match against Australia in October.

The Oceania Cup will be played in June and November during the international Test windows.

Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji and Australia make up the six-nation competition.

The scientists were undertaking fieldwork for the Institute of Medical Research when they went missing off the coast of West New Britain.

Despite numerous searches, little trace of them has been found, although their boat was later thought to have washed up on the Sepik coast.

Police previously believed the scientists had been kidnapped, but have now closed the case.

The director of the Institute of Medical Research, William Pomat, said the coroner's report was also inconclusive

They will kick off their much anticipated opening match against AS Tefana of Tahiti on Saturday.

Coach Peter Gunemba said the team has been in camp for the past three weeks and preparation had been going well.

“We played one match in the Kumul Petroleum Holdings National Soccer League and we are working to iron out our mistakes from this game but with the help of the high performance centre, the boys’ spirits are high and looking forward to their games in New Caledonia,” he said.