Dede Sophie

Papua New Guinea will be well represented at the annual international climate change negotiations, the Conference of Parties or COP 27 in Egypt next month. Climate Change and Development Authority’s acting Managing Director,  William Lakain echoed this during a recent weeklong training of key government agencies who will be attending the meeting. These government agencies are CCDA, the National Energy Authority, the PNG Forest Authority, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Department of Works and Highways, the Office of the State Solicitors, the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, and the Department of Prime Minister and NEC among other key agencies. The week-long negotiation training ended successfully preparing participants from key government agencies for the annual COP 27 scheduled for November 6 to the18. The training enables participants to understand the negotiations’ history and players, how the country’s positions are formed, documentatio

A County Cork machinery salesman has recently found what happens when the odometer on his 16-year-old Kia Sportage reached 999,999.9 kilometres, writes Brian Byrne. No, it didn’t start at zero again, it just stopped at that figure and doesn’t record any more. At this writing, Ben O’Connor of Colemans of Millstreet has driven his trusty blue Sportage more than 10,000k further, but he relies on the trip computer to track the mileage. Ben is the Sales Manager of Colemans for the company’s New Holland division, right beside their Kia dealership. He says he’s known as ‘the man in the blue car who sells the Blue Tractors’. He has no plans to change his 4×4 any time soon, saying it has become part of his identity. Besides, it has been totally reliable over those million-plus kilometres, only needing a new clutch apart from normal servicing during its time. Even though his driving to see customers in Cork, Kerry and Limerick counties often takes him on poor roads in very rural areas, “the trac

Volvo’s XC40 is a deceptive car, writes Brian Byrne. The styling suggests it is smaller than it actually is, but its dimensions are similar to Nissan’s Qashqai and it is larger in most measurements than the Range Rover Evoque, which appears bigger. My neighbour has an Evoque and that visual comparison was easy when I had the electric version of the XC40, the Recharge, outside my house last week. I have liked the styling of the XC40 since it first arrived here in early 2018. There’s something about the angular details, almost boxy, that sets it away from the usually curvier competition in the compact SUV space. It kind of radiates ‘no nonsense’. As you’d expect from the Swedish brand. With a bit of swish added in the form of the diamond cut and black alloys. The vehicle was good enough to win Car of the Year accolades in both Europe and Japan as well as the Women’s World COTY in 2018, and the Continental Irish Car of the Year for 2019. The no nonsense ethos is also largely true for the