KAKAMMPI News

Agence France-Presse MONTREAL—Canada began immunizing children aged 5-11 against COVID-19 Wednesday, joining a handful of nations including Israel and the United States in offering shots to this age group. At Montreal's convention center, a few dozen youngsters were among the first to receive the Pfizer doses authorized since last Friday for this age group. To help ease their fears of needles, additional measures have been taken such posting stickers of unicorns or hockey players on partitions between nursing stations, longer appointments than for adults, and a dog to pet. "I was not really scared, but I was stressed," Victor, 10, told AFP, gripping a coloring page with the words "bravo, you received your vaccine" in his hands. At his side, his mother Mathilde explains that he felt "excluded" from his family, being the only one who had not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19. For her, having her son vaccinated made sense, if only to "be to...

Bernard Barron with Sylvie Maligorne and Stuart Williams in Paris, Agence France-Presse Posted at Nov 25 2021 08:43 AM CALAIS, France—At least 27 migrants trying to reach England from France died on Wednesday when their boat sank off the northern French coast, the deadliest disaster since the Channel became a hub for clandestine crossings. President Emmanuel Macron vowed France would not allow the Channel to become a "cemetery" and also spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to agree on stepping up efforts to thwart the traffickers blamed for the surge in crossings. "It is Europe's deepest values -- humanism, respect for the dignity of each person -- that are in mourning," Macron said. The disaster caused the highest death toll since at least 2018 when migrants began using boats en masse to cross the Channel. It comes as tensions grow between London and Paris over the record numbers of people crossing. Prosecutors opened a manslaughter probe after t...

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin - The man accused of driving his vehicle into a traditional Christmas parade near Milwaukee made his first court appearance on Tuesday since the weekend rampage and was charged with homicide, as the death toll rose to six. The death toll was raised after prosecutors said an 8-year-old boy had died, marking the first death of a child in the incident. Darrell Brooks, 39, appeared in Waukesha County Circuit Court and the court commissioner set bail at $5 million. Authorities said Brooks deliberately drove an SUV through police barricades on Sunday and the annual parade in the city of Waukesha, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Milwaukee. The high bail comes after Brooks was released from custody in another case after posting $1,000 cash bond on Nov. 11, an amount that the Milwaukee County district attorney's office now says was "inappropriately low in light of the nature of the recent charges" against him. Brooks on Tuesday was charged with five counts ...

Jennifer Gauthier, Reuters Posted at Nov 24 2021 10:35 AM Renee Reeves delivers an apple crisp to a home in the evacuation zone after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods, shutting highways, in Abbottsford, British Columbia, Canada on Monday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to help British Columbia rebuild after the devastating floods last week caused by a phenomenon known as an "atmospheric river" brought a month's worth of rain in two days that submerged massive part of Canada’s westernmost province.

A total of 204 more "distressed" Filipinos have been repatriated from Macau, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday. In a statement, the DFA said the Philippine Consulate General in the city successfully conducted its 25th repatriation flight on Tuesday. Since March 2020, the consulate has brought home a total of 4,961 Filipinos from Macau due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The DFA requested those returning Filipinos in Macau to register their details at the consulate’s online registry at https://tinyurl.com/repatMacau. Meanwhile, the consulate also welcomed the recent decision of the government’s task force regarding fully vaccinated passengers from yellow list countries. “The consulate also welcomed the recent decision of the Philippine COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), in its Resolution No. 149-A, requiring fully vaccinated passengers arriving from places under the yellow list to undergo only thre...

Marino party-list Representatives Sandro Gonzales and Macnell Lusotan have filed a resolution urging the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to extend the passport validity of Filipino seafarers and land-based overseas Filipino workers by two years. In filing House Resolution 2367, the lawmakers pointed out that the delay in processing of passports might result in lost employment opportunities and the replacement of Filipino seafarers and land-based OFWs by other nationalities whose governments can immediately issue their workers' deployment documents. "Unfortunate as it may sound, there is an urgent need on the part of the government to support the deployment of OFWs through the extension of the validity of their passports to give them opportunity to be gainfully employed abroad while employment opportunities in the country remain scarce," the lawmakers said. Gonzales and Lusotan urged the DFA to extend the passport validity of OFWs due for deployment within 120 day...

By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA News The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Sunday that the United Arab Emirates is reopening its doors for pandemic-displaced OFWs and job seekers. According to Labor Attaché John Rio Bautista of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai the the Dubai Duty Free shops will be rehiring over 600 laid off OFWs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the pandemic, Dubai Duty Free needed to layoff some workers. But with the revival of the economy here, the management reached out to us and we have a special facilitation for them," he said. "More than 600 Filipino workers will be coming back and their salary is competitive. Every week we process not less than 100 contracts for OFWs who will be rehired,” he added. Aside from the retail sector, Bautista said there were employers who expressed interest in hiring Filipino health professionals. Over 8,000 job orders for household service workers (HSWs) were also verified by POLO sin...