KAKAMMPI News

Three stranded overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia appealed to the government to help them get home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to JP Soriano's report on "24 Oras" on Wednesday, Lia, Hazel, and Joan have been stranded for months inside an accommodation facility of a foreign recruitment agency in Al-Qassim. The OFWs said their employers are not helping them anymore. They said they have no adequate supply of food and water. The three moved in the facility after their employers violated their contracts. "Ilang beses na po akong pinangakuan ng agency ko na uuwi na raw po ako pero wala po, hindi po sila umaaksyon," one of the OFWs said. Some of them even experienced maltreatment and human trafficking from their employers. GMA News has reached out to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regarding their situation and it has promised to help them return home. The OFWs will also be transferred to the shelter of the Philippine Oversea...

More than 1,000 business owners and franchisees have rallied behind the call to allow greater mobility to the fully vaccinated as a way to revive the economy, stressing they have already incurred tremendous losses since the start of the pandemic 18 months ago. In a manifesto, they lamented the financial losses and obligations they sustained due to the lockdowns implemented by the national government. "Of utmost importance, our employees have families to feed and stable employment is difficult to assure without a clear plan,” they said. As a way to revive the economy, they expressed full support for Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion’s push for the implementation of the Bakuna Bubble. Under the Bakuna Bubble, COVID-19 guidelines are eased for fully vaccinated individuals to help boost the economy and protect the employment of many Filipinos. "It would allow these severely affected establishments the opportunity to bounce back ...

Agence France-Presse HARARE - Zimbabwe's parliament on Tuesday banned anyone not vaccinated against Covid-19 from attending church services, the latest in a series of measure to boost uptake of the coronavirus jab. The southern African country had already made the vaccine mandatory for civil servants and teachers earlier this month. Getting vaccinated is also a prerequisite for trading in markets, working out at gyms, frequenting restaurants and sitting university exams. "With regards to churches, Cabinet has resolved that only vaccinated congregants can attend," said a statement issued after the cabinet meeting. Zimbabwe's under-supplied vaccine centers have struggled to keep up with growing demand fueled by the jab-linked restrictions. The country has so far relied on vaccine doses produced in China, India and Russia, but recently approved the emergency use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Just over 2.8 million of Zimbabwe's 15 million inhabitants ha...

It has been a month since the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, seizing the capital Kabul with barely a fight. Following are the main events in Afghanistan over the last month: Aug. 15 - Taliban fighters enter the capital Kabul, completing a lightning offensive that saw provincial capitals fall to the insurgents like dominoes. The speed and ease of their conquest surprised even the Taliban. - There is an immediate scramble by foreigners and Afghans to leave the country, leading to chaos at the international airport. Several people are killed. Aug. 17 - US President Joe Biden breaks his silence on the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan which presaged the Taliban's return to power. Desperate scenes at the airport lead to recriminations against Washington from around the world. - Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid gives the first press conference by the Taliban since their victory. He seeks to reassure Afghans and the international community, saying women's rig...

WASHINGTON - The latest coronavirus wave in the United States driven by the Delta variant could soon peak, but experts warn against complacency and expect the virus will be part of everyday life for years to come. The seven-day-average of daily cases as of Monday was 172,000, its highest level of this surge even as the growth rate is slowing and cases are headed down in most states, according to data compiled by the Covid Act Now tracker. But more than 1,800 people are still dying a day, and over 100,000 remain hospitalized with severe Covid -- a grim reminder of the challenges authorities have faced in getting enough Americans vaccinated in the face of misinformation and a polarized political climate. Bhakti Hansoti, an associate professor in emergency medicine at John Hopkins University and expert in Covid critical care told AFP she saw the US following a similar trajectory to India. Countries in western Europe have also seen similar downturns in their Delta surges. But while Ha...

Nathan Layne, Reuters A 504-pound alligator believed to have killed a 71-year-old Louisiana man in Hurricane Ida floodwaters has been captured with what appears to be human remains in its stomach, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said. The 12-foot alligator's capture ends a two-week search by local and state agencies for Timothy Satterlee Sr, who had last been seen on Aug. 30 checking the storm damage outside his home in Slidell, about 35 miles (55 km) northeast of New Orleans. The attack occurred the day after Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. Gulf Coast, slammed Louisiana, causing devastating flooding in some areas outside a new levee and floodgate system protecting the city. An alligator "weighing a startling 504 pounds" was caught on Monday in a trap set by two Louisiana Department of Wildlife licensed nuisance hunters, according to a statement Monday from St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. "Once the alligator...

Steve Scherer, Agence France-Presse RICHMOND, British Columbia—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in an increasingly tight election race, on Tuesday said he had no regrets over snapping at a protester who insulted his wife, Sophie Gregoire. Trudeau, who has been heckled repeatedly by people opposed to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, reacted sharply on Monday when preparing for an outdoor interview ahead of the Sept. 20 federal election. After one man standing across the road made derogatory remarks about Gregoire, Trudeau shouted back "Isn't there a hospital you should be going to bother right now?" Critics said the comment by the Liberal Party leader was insensitive, given protesters had gathered earlier in the day outside hospitals to protest moves by various authorities to insist people get vaccinated. "I think Canadians know that I've a pretty thick skin. And I am able to take all sorts of different abuse, especially if it means that someone is no...