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PNG’s Notorious Cult Leader ‘Black Jesus’ Killed Escaped prisoner Steven Tari mutilated by villagers

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, September 2, 2013) – Gory details have emerged of how angry village mobs plotted the murder of infamous Madang cult leader Steven Tari, known to his followers as "Black Jesus", last week.

A village court magistrate said the villagers, fed up with Tari’s cult beliefs and practices, which included the killing of young girls as "sacrifices", trapped Tari and one of his followers, killed, castrated, dragged him with a cane tied around his neck and dumped him in a shallow pit .

The body was dug up by police, prison and health workers on Friday about 1km from Gal village in the south Ambenob LLG.

Dr Juith Gawi of Modilion Hospital and two mortuary officers who dug him up said the body had several knife wounds.

"He was chopped and slashed with bush knives on both arms and legs, chest and stomach which revealed...

Auditor Find ‘Massive Corruption’ In Bougainville Bureaucracy President Momis agrees public servants are ‘law unto themselves’

By Malum Nalu

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, September 2, 2013) – Massive corruption among the bureaucracy on Bougainville is the order of the day as it pushes for full autonomy and possible independence, according to deputy auditor-general, Peter Siparau.

He told the ‘Sustainability of Bougainville’ seminar last Friday that public servants on Bougainville were a law unto themselves, who were seemingly answerable to no one, including the governments of Bougainville and PNG.

President John Momis, concurred with Siparau, saying the audacity and arrogance of some public servants there defied imagination.

Siparau said things were totally out of control from 2006-2010, when millions of kina were stolen through outright fraud and corruption, with "disclaimer audit opinions" issued – meaning the auditor-general was...

Effort to develop common platform for Bali conference

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post, September 2, 2013) – The Government of the Republic of Vanuatu through its Embassy to the European Union based in Brussels, kingdom of Belgium is organising with the financial support of the ACP MTS project facility a preparatory meeting for the Pacific ACP WTO members in preparation for the next WTO Ministerial conference that will take place in Bali, Republic of Indonesia in early December this year.

The ACP MTS project is a EU funded Programme initiative that supports the integration of ACP states into the Multi Lateral trading system. A major component of the technical assistance delivered toward strengthening the capacity of ACP WTO members to negotiate and defend their interests at the World Trade Organization WTO in Geneva.

The entire objective of this event according to the Head of the Vanuatu Embassy in Brussels H E Ambassador Roy Mickey Joy is to collectively...

$5 million to be used for ‘prior obligation’ says Governor

By Haidee V. Eugenio

SAIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, September 2, 2013) – The CNMI government expects to close the fiscal year on Sept. 30 with a few million dollars extra in its pocket—as much as $5 million—as a result of steady growth in tourism arrivals and strict expenditure controls, according to Gov. Eloy S. Inos yesterday. However, he said the money will be used to address prior obligations instead of being set aside for a 2014 supplemental budget that will go to the NMI Retirement Fund.

He said new revenue sources will be needed for an estimated $12 million supplemental budget for fiscal year 2014 to comply with the Fund settlement agreement, on top of the $123.4 million budget that he hopes the Legislature will pass soon.

The estimated revenue available for government operations in fiscal year 2013 was $114 million. Inos said that actual collections by the end of the fiscal year will be...