Walking back through the doors at Red Hill, Walsh is among his childhood friends - in many ways it’s like he never left. But there is no doubt the 20-year-old has returned with much more confidence and experience. “I’m really excited to be back. I spent two years away and it was a really big learning curve for myself,” Walsh said. “I really took a lot out of those two years away, I think I’m better off for it, now I’m back, I’m bit more experienced and can bring a lot more back to the team. “It feels good to be back, around the boys and the staff and the facilities, it brings me back to when I was a bit younger, I’m really enjoying it at the moment, it’s really exciting times.” Walsh has been around the Broncos since he was 14. Before that, he was a fan, dreaming of playing in the NRL. He came up playing with a core group of young players who have now all transitioned into the top squad. 20 of the Broncos top 30 have come though the Broncos elite development pathway, many of whom, played alongside Walsh in the junior grades. “It’s awesome to have home grown and local talent, it makes it an awesome culture and club,” he said. “It’s interesting for me, I never really thought about first grade when I first got signed. “I followed the Broncos ever since I was a little kid, when I got the opportunity to come up into the EPD system when I was young, there were a lot of good players in there. It was awesome.” Walsh left for an opportunity to play at the Warriors – one he took with both hands. He returns to Red Hill with 38 NRL appearances -- and had it not been for an unfortunate injury -- an Origin jersey to boot. “I still get those butterflies, because I haven’t pulled on that Broncos jersey yet,” he said. “Every time I think about it I get a bit emotional, I just think about the jersey presentation and what that is going to be like when I do get that jersey, and the number. I’m really looking forward to it, I can’t wait.” While Walsh is yet to pull on the Brisbane jersey, it is clear he has an innate connection to the club. “It means everything being here, If I’m being honest, it wasn’t until I left the Broncos it really hit how much I love the club and I want to put on that jersey.” Reece Walsh “I didn’t miss any games when I left, even though I was playing for the Warriors, I still watched every single Broncos game. “I still had a lot of mates who played for the Broncos, that’s when I really thought that I loved the club and that I hoped one day if I get the opportunity to go back, I will. “Being back feels like I’m at home, brings back a lot of memories and I can’t wait to make a lot of memories too.” His time at the Warriors gave him a lot of lessons on and off the field, and he’ll be forever grateful to the club who gave him his first grade debut. “When I left and went to the Warriors - I’m a kid now – but I was a lot younger - I think I had only played two Q Cup games and went straight in and was playing first grade,” he said. “I took a lot out of those two years, I had a really good coaching staff and senior players around me, I loved my time there, they taught me a lot. I’ve come back a much more mature player, I’ve learned a lot of lessons on the ball and off it. “It was a blessing in disguise to leave and come back, I don’t think I’d be in the position I’m in now, had I not taken those learnings and the opportunity. I learned a lot about what goes into being a first grader, what are the right and wrong things to do. “I learned a lot of Nathan Brown and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck about finding a voice and telling the team which numbers and where to go, because if I don’t do that, I’m not doing my job for the team. “I’ve come back and I want to bring that knowledge into here and then have a growth mindset and keep growing as a player. When you think of good fullbacks, you think of Teddy, Gutho, Papenhuyzen, Drinkwater, you watch them and they are doing everything. Their defence is good, they are involved in the game for 80 minutes. “I look at my time at the Warriors and I’d have a moment in the game, then I would float in and out. Here I want to be on the ball, in the defence, I want to be doing everything and keep working hard. Those are my goals.” Walsh knows there are no guarantees - he won't simply be handed the fullback role - but he didn’t return to Red Hill to make up the numbers. He desperately wants the No.1 jersey. He’s prepared to fight for it too. “There’s obviously a lot of depth through the whole squad, in the fullback jersey you have Tesi, I think Herbie wants to have a crack there and then Me and Cobbo, have been doing reps there at fullback, it’s awesome competition and we are all pretty close, I think it makes it even better,” he said.  “It’s healthy competition, but I didn’t come back here to play any other position, I signed as a fullback and I want to take that jersey. “I’ve got to keep working hard and keep trying to get better every day, I think it is really good and healthy for the squad.  For myself, it will keep me accountable and keep me working hard, I’m really looking forward to it.” And the ultimate goal is well and truly in his sights. “It would mean everything to me to be able to be in a team that goes all the way and wins a grand final one day,” he said. “When I was younger I was watching all these players, I watched Oatsey a lot, it would be pretty awesome to look back one day if we are really successful - the impact it has on the kids, that will bring more talent who wants to come to the club and pull on the Broncos jersey and represent the club.” Source:broncos.com

Let us do a bit of time travelling back across the seas and continents and across some 2000 years to that first Christmas in a small town in Judea called Bethlehem. There on a bed of straws staring back at the stares of farm animals silenced by wonder, we find the baby whose birth has divided the human calendar into two - that before and that after his birth. The simplicity of the message implicit in the humble setting of his birth combines with the powerful impact of his later spoken messages of peace, love and salvation and the humility of his suffering and death that has endured down through the ages to inspire everyone. The message that comes to us is one of Humility, of Simplicity, of Love and of Hope. It is that message we must share this season with one and all. And where such messages seem lost by circumstances, let us inspire or give it back where we can. It is with this spirit that we turn our minds to those who are unable to celebrate for many reasons. Families in the European country of Ukraine will greet this Christmas with howling missiles, with cries of the injured and wailing air raid and ambulance sirens. Yet amidst the screaming shells and the burning buildings there are health and rescue workers mingling with combatants, placing their lives at risk in order to rescue those trapped and injured. Many children in all parts of the world, including in many parts of PNG, will go hungry and thirsty. Somewhere along the way the Salvation Army or Red Cross or a charity organization will bring much needed food, water, or clothing to those children. May be the help arrives late for many, maybe it is not enough, but it is enough to inspire hope that there is always a helping hand out there in this tumultuous world. In the Carteret of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and Duke of York islands of East New Britain families are facing rising water levels that are drowning out their homes and gardens. Those waters will not recede. We have plenty of land throughout PNG. We must relocate our first refugees of climate change. The scare of Covid-19 has diminished but the danger is ever present. Rising prices of our goods and services make it difficult to balance daily needs and leave something over for gifts for family and friends. These are evidence of the adverse economic effects of Covid-19 and of the Ukraine war. Yet the government has announced rescue packages in the form of school fee subsidies, payment of school project fees, and taxation relief packages that should ease the pains of many. Tragedy we will always have but it is the help that is to be found in those dire circumstances that give us hope. It is hope that drive us on when all seems lost. There is nothing so important and no job so high that you cannot reach down to lend a helping hand to those most in need. If there is anything we can do this festive season, let us give each other and especially those most in need, that most wonderful gift of hope, first extended to us by an infant boy whose very birth gave humankind hope. Christmas 2022, however we celebrate it, must remind us of that HOPE, both as we receive it and in how we give it to others. Let us remind ourselves that that sun light will always come bursting out of that overcast sky.

Three divisions under the United Church (UC) congregation in the Gazelle districts held a combine fellowship on Sunday at the Navunaram UC to meet with the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) consultant Tony Restall. Mr. Restall who is also known as Mr. Free World was accompanied by the FTZ chairman Smael Sam Manikot and the technical working team. According to Mr. Manikot this is part of the consultant visit plan visiting the people, churches and doing awareness and observing doing research as part of the projects initial planning stage. He said following the decision for the Rabaul tuna exporting processing project one of the pilot project under the national government apart from the Gazelle Agro-Industrial Special Economic Zone (GAISEZ) tuna project will be house under the UC land. Mr. Manikot said the technical team already had a special meeting with the New Britain clergies at Kabakada early this year purposely to resolved the principal for the church land at Unairima in the Rabaul district to anchor the Tuna Processing Project. The GAISEZ team presented the overview of the study report to the United Church’s council. The study report pointed two geographical scenarios, that Unairima land parcel is outside the Volcano risk area and secondly Atalilikun Bay can cater for maximum shipping traffic at any one time. Chairman Mr. Manikot said these two FTZ projects will be a result of the Public Private Partnership and church partnership is one of them. The chairman said that the church’s decisions to anchor the Tuna processing facilities development under the Free Trade Zone concept, will give confidence to boost the level of socio-Economics connecting SMES, Livestock and poultry farmers, cooperatives in various farming activities. Mr. Restall told the congregation that he is in the province to create and build something that can provide wealth and development to the lives of the people in the wards. He said people in the province need to stop inviting foreigners to your province or country for them to take your land and resources. He thanked the PNG government and the prime minister for their invitation stating that the Prime Minister is in support of the projects through the political will of Fisheries minister and Gazelle MP Jelta Wong. Mr. Restall further stated that East New Britain is way ahead of the other 13 Special Economic Zones announced in the country because it already has legislation in place and locations confirm for both projects.

A car driver escaped a crime attack last night and alerted police, who arrested three men and recovered a home made gun, loaded with high powered rifle bullets, and a bush knife. The motorist was driving out of Dorido street at Port Moresby's June Valley surburb when he was approached by several suspects armed with guns and knives at around 2am last night. Two gunshots were reportedly fired, but no injuries or damages were sustained in this crime attack. The complainant sped to the Waigani Traffic lights and and saw Sector Patrol Fox 204 coming from Morata way. He flagged them to stop and told them about his ordeal. The policemen quickly drove to the aforementioned location and arrested three suspects all from the highlands region. The police found a home made pistol loaded with five 5.56 bullets and a bush knife, discarded in some nearby bushes. The suspects were detained and will be charged by the NCD Armed Robbery Squad. Source: NCD/Central Divisional Command

The National Capital District Provincial Health Authority (NCDPHA) and PNG St John Ambulance (PNGSJA) renewed the Agreement for SJA to provide emergency ambulance services for the PHA in NCD. NCDPHA CEO, Dr Steven Yennie acknowledged the continuous support and the tremendous work carried out by the St John Ambulance in serving the people of National Capital District, and throughout the country. In 1983 St John Ambulance was handed over the responsibility for providing the National Capital District Ambulance Service. This Agreement extends over 40 years of service that St John has provided to the community in partnership with the National Capital District. Dr Yennie added that ambulance services are an integral part of the health system and must be supported to ensure lifesaving services are continuously available. In response to the comments by the CEO of NCDPHA, Commissioner Matthew Cannon, CEO of Papua New Guinea St John Ambulance, expressed gratitude for the trust and confidence the NCDPHA has placed in St John Ambulance and its people. For more than 65 years, St John Ambulance has been on the frontline of emergency medical response in Papua New Guinea. St John Papua New Guinea is a trusted Papua New Guinea charity, saving lives and providing the nation’s primary emergency ambulance and medical retrieval service.

In 2022, the ambulance service responded to over 22,000 calls for help from people across Papua New Guinea. It was a mammoth achievement made possible because of some 130 ambulance staff stepping forward when help is needed across four regions, using 40+ ambulances and emergency vehicles, travelling thousands of kilometers each day. We thank all community members who have who have supported the life-saving work of the Green Angels across communities in NC, Central Gulf, Morobe, East New Britain and Simbu. The St John Ambulance Council members are volunteers and they have worked tirelessly this year to help the organization prosper. Our St John people recognize and honor the significant voluntary work these incredible leaders contribute as members of PNG St John Ambulance Council. Most admirably, I share my deepest respect and appreciation to my fellow St John people. They work in all kinds of roles to serve our community and keep people safe, secure and healthy. I am privileged to work alongside such passionate and dedicated people.

The Taliban government has suspended university education for all female students in Afghanistan, the latest step in its brutal clampdown on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women. A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education confirmed the suspension to CNN on Tuesday. A letter published by the education ministry said the decision was made in a cabinet meeting and the order will go into effect immediately. Girls were barred from returning to secondary schools in March, after the Taliban ordered schools for girls to shut just hours after they were due to reopen following months long closures imposed after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Human Rights Watch criticized the ban on Tuesday, calling it a “shameful decision that violates the right to education for women and girls in Afghanistan.” “The Taliban are making it clear every day that they don’t respect the fundamental rights of Afghans, especially women,” the rights watchdog said in a statement. The US condemns “the Taliban’s indefensible decision to ban women from universities,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during a Tuesday briefing. The Taliban’s recent decision, he said, will “have significant consequences for the Taliban and will further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them the legitimacy they desire.” he March closure of secondary schools to girls had a “significant impact” on US engagement with Taliban representatives, Price added. “With the implementation of this decree, half of the Afghan population will soon be unable to access education beyond primary school,” he said. US Ambassador Robert Wood, the alternate representative for special political affairs, earlier reiterated those criticisms, telling a United Nations’ Security Council briefing that the “Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all Afghans, especially the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls.” The Taliban, which ruled over Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when the US-led invasion forced the group from power, have historically treated women as second-class citizens, subjecting them to violence, forced marriages and a near-invisible presence in the country. After seizing power in Afghanistan last year, the Taliban attempted to project a more moderate image to gain international support. But while it has has made numerous promises to the international community that it would protect the rights of women and girls, the Taliban has been doing the opposite, systematically clamping down on their rights and freedoms. Women in Afghanistan can no longer work in most sectors, require a male guardian for long-distance travel and have been ordered to cover their faces in public. They have also imposed limits on girls’ education, banning women from certain workplaces as they stripped away rights they had fought tirelessly for over the last two decades. In November, Afghan women prevented from entering amusement parks in Kabul as the government announced restrictions on women being able to access public parks, Reuters reports. Source: CNN

Actor Amber Heard said in an Instagram post on Monday that she would settle her defamation claims against ex-husband Johnny Depp. The 'Aquaman' star called the decision to settle with Depp "very difficult" adding that it followed "a great deal of deliberation." In June, a US jury found that actress Amber Heard had made defamatory claims of abuse against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, and awarded him $15 million in damages. The seven-member jury in Virginia found that a 2018 article penned by Heard on the "sexual violence" she had suffered was defamatory to Depp, and was written with malicious intent -- making her guilty of libel. The jury also found that Heard was defamed by statements made by Depp's lawyer, Adam Waldman, who told the Daily Mail that her abuse claims were a "hoax," and awarded her $2 million in damages. Depp originally filed the defamation claim against Heard in March 2019 after she published the op-ed in the Washington Post describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The couple had been married for two years before divorcing in 2017. Heard later filed an appeal with her lawyer citing “errors” made by the court. However, it appears the “Aquaman” actor has now agreed to withdraw her appeal. In a statement announcing the decision, Heard made clear that “There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward” and blasted the U.S. legal system for turning her testimony into “entertainment and social media fodder.” She also compared her experience of the U.S. legal system to the U.K., where Depp sued British tabloid The Sun in 2020 for calling him a “wife beater” in an article. Heard was a chief witness for The Sun. In that case, the judge called the allegations “substantially true” and found in favor of The Sun. "I make this decision have lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder," she said. "When I took before a judge in the UK, I was vindicated by a robust, impartial and fair system, where I was protected from having to give the worst moments of my testimony in front of the worlds media, and where the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual violence. In the U.S., however, I exhausted almost all my resources in advance of and during a trial in which I was subject to a courtroom in which abundant, direct evidence that corroborated my testimony was excluded and in which popularity and power mattered more than reason and due process. In the interim I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live. Even if my U.S. appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a re-trial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence age. I simply cannot go through that for a third time. Source: tribune.com

Police in Paraguay are searching for six members of a criminal gang who broke out of prison through a hole in the ground. The escapees belong to Brazil's largest criminal gang, First Command of the Capital (PCC), which has been expanding to neighboring Paraguay. It is not clear if the hole was dug by construction workers or the inmates themselves. Three fugitives have so far been captured. The jail break happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the city of Coronel Oviedo, Paraguayan newspaper ABC reported. ABC said that the hole in the ground had been left after construction work had been carried out and that police had not been informed of the "improvement works". But another Paraguayan newspaper, La Tribuna, reported that the hole and the tunnel leading from it had been dug by the inmates themselves. Photos shared on social media by journalist Anibal Emery showed a pair of flip-flops abandoned next to the hole. The hole led from the prison's washroom to a tunnel which emerged in the exercise yard. From there, the prisoners only had to jump over a fence to reach freedom. Paraguay's justice minister told local radio that "clearly there was negligence on the part of the prison authorities because a tunnel like this isn't built overnight". All of the escapees are considered extremely dangerous, police said. They are serving lengthy sentences for crimes ranging from kidnapping to murder. The youngest escapee is 19 and the oldest 40, police said. The PCC is a powerful gang which has its power base in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. Its jailed members control prisons across Brazil and in Paraguay. Gang members on the outside, meanwhile, smuggle drugs internationally to locations as far away as Europe and engage in large-scale bank robberies. This is not the first mass PCC jail break in Paraguay in recent years. In 2020, 75 inmates escaped from a prison in the eastern city of Pedro Juan Caballero.   Source: BBC

 Argentina’s World Cup-winning squad arrived home to a jubilant Buenos Aires on Tuesday as millions of people lined the streets and celebrated their champions’ return. On arriving in the country on Tuesday morning, team Captain Lionel Messi stepped off the plane first, holding the gold trophy aloft, followed by his triumphant team onto a red carpet at the airport. As the team bus departed the airport, it was immediately swarmed by cheering supporters dressed in the national colors of blue and white. Videos show the bus inching forward slowly behind a police escort, surrounded by tens of thousands of people waving the Argentine flag and setting off firecrackers in the night. The air was filled with cheers as the crowd sang and danced; the players, standing on the open top deck, waved to their adoring supporters. [caption id="attachment_32817" align="alignnone" width="906"] Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to take to the streets and celebrate.[/caption] Some 4 million people came out to see the victory parade in the capital, state media agency Télam reported, citing police. Tuesday had been declared a national holiday following the team’s thrilling penalty shootout victory over France in Qatar on Sunday. The bus carrying the entire team was meant to make its way to the Obelisk, a historic monument in the center of Buenos Aires, but was not able to progress due to the swarming crowds, Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, the president of the Argentine Football Association said Tuesday. “They won’t let us go to greet all the people who were at the Obelisk, the same security agencies that escorted us, won’t allow us to move forward,” Tapia said, “A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players.” A helicopter including Messi, teammate Rodrigo De Paul and Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni flew over the crowds, police said Tuesday, soaring over the parade before being flown back to the the football association’s training site in Ezeiza, on the city’s outskirts. [caption id="attachment_32823" align="alignnone" width="906"] Argentina players wave from the top of a bus after their arrival in Buenos Aires.[/caption] The team will spend the night at the Argentine Football Association’s training facility, according to Télam. Crowds of supporters had camped out at the training site on Monday ahead of the team’s arrival, with photos showing fans spilling out of cars parked on its grounds. Some laid on blankets on the grass while others lounged on picnic chairs around coolers. The team’s highly-anticipated return continues several days of nonstop celebration across the country and among fans overseas, following Argentina’s explosive win against France. Superstars Messi and Kylian Mbappé faced off on the pitch, in what has widely been called the greatest World Cup final of all time. Mbappé was defending France’s 2018 win at the tournament in Russia, while 35-year-old Messi was playing in what may be his final World Cup match, looking to claim the trophy which had eluded him for so long. Argentina took an early lead in the first half – but France roared back in the second half, reaching a 2-2 tie that forced the match into extra time. Messi scored his second goal of the match to restore his team’s lead – but Mbappé scored a second penalty to grab his hat-trick and take the final to a penalty shootout, which ended with triumph for Argentina after France missed two shots. Hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the streets of Buenos Aires after the World Cup triumph, flooding the central 9 de Julio Avenue. Social media videos showed jubilant fans climbing on top of street poles to wave the Argentine flag; others on the ground danced, sang and chanted in celebration. [caption id="attachment_32825" align="alignnone" width="906"] Fans climbed up high to try and get a view of the Argentina bus.[/caption] The triumph in Doha was Argentina’s third World Cup win and its first since 1986, when the legendary Diego Maradona led the team to victory in Mexico. Sunday’s win also marked a change in fortunes for Argentina after three recent defeats in major finals – the 2014 World Cup, and the Copa America in 2015 and 2016. Those losses prompted Messi at one point to announce his retirement from international football – though the almost-unanimous national outcry convinced him to reverse track, before wining the Copa América in 2021. Now, with the World Cup also under his belt, Messi has cemented his status as one of the all-time soccer greats alongside Maradona and Brazil’s Pelé. “I cannot believe that we have suffered so much in a perfect game. Unbelievable, but this team responds to everything,” said Scaloni after the match Sunday, according to Reuters. “I am proud of the work they did,” he added, fighting back tears as he was embraced by his players. “I want to tell people to enjoy, it’s a historic moment for our country.” Source: CNN News

Hundreds of offshore workers could spend Christmas in the North Sea after weather conditions cancelled more than 50 helicopter flights. About 300 staff, many of whom are Scottish, have been unable to leave platforms off Denmark as scheduled. French firm TotalEnergies said a phenomenon called "triggered lightning" was responsible for the disruption. The company said it would never compromise with the safety of employees. It also denied reports it was refusing to reschedule cancelled flights and put extra transport on to get workers home for Christmas. A spokeswoman said: "Helicopter transports during wintertime around the North Sea are always challenging due to ice, fog, wind speeds and other factors. "This year has been particularly impacted by so-called "triggered lightning" which is caused by polar air passing over a warmer sea surface. "This phenomenon has led to the cancellation so far of 52 flights in November and December 2022 which can be compared to zero cancellations caused by triggered lightning during the same period in 2021. "Unfortunately, the phenomenon cannot be eliminated with de-icing systems, as has been mentioned in the media." The company, which runs the Tyra Redevelopment Project, said manned offshore installations were normally serviced by helicopters. They usually transports 130 people back and forth every weekday out of a total offshore staff of about 1,250. "Since the flights have not been able to take place to the required extent, there are approximately 300 people who should have left and are now awaiting transport to shore," the spokeswoman said. "We never compromise with the safety of our employees, neither on the platforms offshore nor during the transport back and forth between Esbjerg [Denmark] and the fields 250km out in the North Sea. "We are in close dialogue with our supplier of flights, Offshore Helicopter Services Denmark, and other parties, so that we can best keep our employees informed and restore flights when it is safe. " TotalEnergies has also called in helicopters from another supplier to increase the number of flights when weather allows them to resume. The spokeswoman added: "In addition, we have committed three boats at short notice, which can dock close to the platforms and establish a safe footbridge if the wave height is not too great. The first one left Esbjerg harbour the night between Saturday and Sunday, and new boat trips are planned for this week. "We will do our outmost to bring all stranded people back before Christmas." Source: BBC

Netflix has announced its next project with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – a Nelson Mandela-inspired docuseries titled “Live to Lead.” Dropping December 31, the series will feature interviews with several familiar and famous faces, from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and South African rugby player Siya Kolisi, to the late United States Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a statement, the streaming giant summarized the seven-part series as “extraordinary” leaders reflecting on their lives, while highlighting the “fundamental values, daily disciplines and guiding principles that leaders employ to motivate others and create meaningful change.” “Live to Lead” is executive produced by Harry and Meghan in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, it said. Geoff Blackwell, the series’ creator and director, said in the statement that he and co-executive producer Ruth Hobday wanted to “honor Mandela’s values by surfacing the stories of leaders who distinguish themselves through their moral courage, the conviction of their ideals and values, and their prioritization of others.” A trailer for the series, released Monday, features both the subjects and the Sussexes, with Harry quoting Mandela as saying, “‘what counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived,’” and Meghan concluding “it is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Other interviewees include climate change activist Greta Thunberg, social justice campaigner Gloria Steinem, and anti-apartheid activist and former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Albie Sachs. This project follows the release of the eagerly anticipated docuseries “Harry & Meghan” on the streaming platform earlier this month. Source: CNN News