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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea stories: 7 news summaries

 Giant Rat 
 Found in 
 'Lost Volcano' 

Fanged toads, mini 'Ewoks' among species discovered in New Guinea jungle

(Newser) - A new species of giant rat with no fear of humans has been discovered in a volcanic crater deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. It's the same kind of rat "you find in city sewers"—except it's 32 inches long, said a scientist traveling with a... More »

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BBC Papua New Guinea rats scientists species volcano exotic animals BBC Films international scientific expedition Bosavi

(Newser) - An increasing number of women are being tortured and murdered in a series of witch hunts in Papua New Guinea, reports the Independent. The problem is so severe that the government has launched a new commission to address it. Women are often blamed for any untimely death in a tribe.... More »

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torture crime Papua New Guinea murder witches Stop Snitching witch doctors witch hunt

'Bloodthirsty' New Guinea Tribesman Sues New Yorker

Tribe complains they were wrongly portrayed as murderous rapists and pig thieves

(Newser) - A Papua New Guinea tribesman portrayed as a bloodthirsty, revenge-driven killer in a New Yorker article is seeking payback from the magazine, Forbes reports. A $10 million lawsuit charges that the story wrongly accuses Daniel Wemp and another tribesman of rape and murder when they had only been recounting traditional... More »

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New Yorker magazine Papua New Guinea lawsuit tribes

'Witch' Burned
Alive in Papua New Guinea

Girl said to spread AIDS; outbreak fuels such sorcery killings

(Newser) - A young woman accused of witchcraft was doused with gasoline and burned to death on a pyre of car tires in Papua New Guinea, reports the Telegraph. The girl, aged between 16 and 21, was accused of spreading AIDS to one of her murderers in an extra-marital affair. Black magic... More »

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women Papua New Guinea murder HIV/AIDS witchcraft AIDS epidemic black magic

'Extinct' Bird Flies Again

Beck's petrel hadn't been seen since 1920s

(Newser) - The Beck’s petrel, a bird last seen in the 1920s and long thought extinct, appears to be very much alive, the AP reports. Spurred by unconfirmed sightings in Australia two years ago, an Israeli ornithologist set out for a group of islands off Papua New Guinea and brought back... More »

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endangered species Australia Papua New Guinea birds Beck's petrel ornithology Hadoram Shirihai albatross

Eek! A Giant New Rat

Papua New Guinea's 'lost world' yields more wonder

(Newser) - Amid the lush paradise of a so-called lost world, researchers ran into a little reminder of the developed world's sewers: A heretofore undiscovered giant rat five times the size of gutter-variety rodents. The group also came across a new pygmy possum and various rare birds in the remote area of... More »

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conservation Papua New Guinea rats Foja Mountains Mallomys giant rat

Coconut Oil Powers Papua New Guinea

On one island, mini-refineries are
turning coconut oil into diesel

(Newser) - It's the ultimate in energy independence. On Papua New Guinea's Bougainvillea island, residents are battling expensive and unreliable oil imports by making their own perfumed alternafuel—from local coconuts. The refined coconut oil functions as diesel, residents say, and has already generated inquiries from as far away as Iran. More »

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energy global warming alternative energy Papua New Guinea biofuel Bougainvillea coconut oil

7 Stories