KAKAMMPI News

August 24, 2020 ByAgence France-Presse People's Journal Medical personnel HONG KONG will offer a free coronavirus test to all 7.5 million residents next month, the city’s leader said, but it was unclear how many would take part in the scheme run by companies based in mainland China. Initially a poster child of the pandemic, Hong Kong has seen a third wave of virus cases — blamed on exemptions from quarantine rules for air and ship crews, and some business travellers. Carrie Lam, the finance hub’s leader, announced that voluntary mass-testing would start on September 1 and go on for two weeks. “There are still quite a number of silent transmitters in the community,” she said. “So the more that we could test... the earlier we could find the remaining outstanding cases,” she added, appealing to residents to take part. Health minister Sophia Chan had previously told a radio show she hoped five million people would participate. But Lam on Friday said the government has set “...

MALACANANG on Monday encouraged nurses affected by the deployment ban to grab the offer to attend to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in the Philippines, saying that availing of the emergency hiring program of the Department of Health (DOH) will help boost their chances of landing a job abroad when the ban is lifted. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said nurses with experience dealing with COVID-19 patients will give them the advantage which foreign employers are looking for. “Sa tingin ko po kung kayo ay mag-apply dito sa emergency recruitment ng ating gobyerno at nagtrabaho po habang may COVID, naku, pag-aagawan po kayo lalo pag natapos po itong pandemic na ito (I think that if you apply for a job in the emergency recruitment of our government and work while we continue to grapple with COVID, you’ll even be more sought-after when this pandemic is over),” he said in a virtual Palace briefing. Roque emphasized that nurses have to gain years’ worth of experience work...

Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 24 2020 03:37 PM WELLINGTON - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday extended a lockdown in New Zealand's largest city, saying more time was needed to ensure a stubborn cluster of coronavirus infections was under control. Ardern said stay-at-home orders would remain in place across Auckland until at least late Sunday, instead of restrictions easing late Wednesday as originally planned. "These extra four days are believed necessary to allow us to move down a level in Auckland, and stay down," she said. "We want both confidence and certainty for everyone." Auckland went into lockdown on August 12, a day after the virus re-emerged in the city, ending New Zealand's record of 102 days without community transmission. The cluster has since grown from four to 101 and its source remains unknown, despite extensive genome testing and contact tracing. Ardern said more cases were likely and health authorities needed to confirm ...

Kyodo News Posted at Aug 25 2020 02:29 PM TOKYO - Japan will allow foreign trainees, that include Filipinos who are unable to return home amid the coronavirus pandemic even after their technical internship programs have ended, to switch jobs and stay in the country from early September, the government said Tuesday. The Immigration Services Agency (ISA) said around 24,200 foreign trainees were stranded in Japan as of Friday and the number of such interns is expected to grow, either due to travel restrictions in place globally due to the pandemic, or workers unable to afford the airfare home. Most of the foreign trainees under Japan's technical internship program are from other Asian nations. At the end of last year, Vietnamese accounted for more than half of the total at 218,727, followed by Chinese at 82,370, Filipino at 35,874, and Indonesian at 35,404, according to the Justice Ministry. In April, the ISA made it possible for foreign interns who lost their jobs due to the imp...

Published August 25, 2020 3:29pm By JOJO DASS DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — These days, it is common to see Michael Malayan, an engineer from Iloilo City, running up to eight kilometers around his neighborhood in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, a large cosmopolitan area in the southern part of Dubai. “Simula ulit. Pero hangang ngayon, hirap ibalik ang dating pacing,” said Malayan, who had joined marathon competitions in the past. Malayan regularly posts selfies of his morning runs on his Facebook to the delight of friends and loved ones. They have reasons to be happy because back in April, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, Malayan was gasping for breath not because he was sprinting but rather the coronavirus had gotten him. “Nag-agaw buhay ako. Bago ako na-admit, confident pa ako na kaya ko, hanggang nawalan na ako ng malay,” recalled Malayan, whose wife and two sons are in Iloilo. He is staying in Dubai with his brother and sister. Malayan, who arrived in Dubai back ...

Some displaced Filipino workers have turned to selling their own kidneys online just to get, by amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In a “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” episode, “Gardo,” not his real name, shared that his license as a security guard expired and he was just about to look for another job when the lockdown was implemented in the Philippines. With no source of income for five months now, “Gardo” has been deep in debt and considered selling off his own kidney to survive. “Macoy,” not his real name, who worked at a horse racing field, also lost his job. “Macoy” then decided to sell his kidneys online. He found a Facebook group where members could sell their kidneys. Once they agree on a transaction, the two parties would discuss privately on Messenger and share their real names, details of the sale, and sometimes photos of the patients. According to “Macoy,” a person could sell his kidney for P350,000 up to P450,000. “Gagamitin ko sa maliit na negosyo. Kahit m...

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be offering group livelihood loans for overseas Filipino workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic, its administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said Tuesday. "Three weeks ago nag-approve ang OWWA board chaired by Secretary [Silvestre] Bello III ng group livelihood. It's a 500-M facility, it's a [loan] grant P150,000 to P1 million ang maiga-grant natin," Cacdac said in a Senate hearing led by the committee on labor. "It's a group livelihood program. We're set to roll this out in September," he added. The OWWA Board sees that group livelihood loans are more likely to be successful. "Batay sa karanasan, may malaki ang tyansa ng tagumpay kung grupo kaya ang pagapasyahan ng OWWA board ay i-encourage ang group livelihood program lalo na sa panahon ng pandemya, baka mas matibay ang negosyo kung grupo po sila," Cacdac said. Cacdac, however, did not elaborate yet on the application requirements f...

Hundreds of Filipinos are taking part in COVID-19 vaccine trials underway in the United Arab Emirates, either as healthcare workers or as volunteers, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. In a statement, the DFA said that Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42) is currently conducting Phase III trials of a potential vaccine, developed by Chinese company Sinopharm, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). Since July 16, the vaccine has been administered to 15,000 volunteers of different nationalities including Filipinos, the DFA said. There are also 180 Filipino nurses and a Filipino doctor working at the site. As she toured the facility with Group 42's chief research officer Dr. Waleed Zaher, Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn M. Quintana commended and thanked the Filipinos taking part in the endeavor. “There is a core Filipino value called 'pakikipagkapwa' which can be roughly described as 'one’s care for his or her fellow human b...

Published August 22, 2020 5:25pm By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, GMA News Fifty-eight more Filipinos abroad have recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019, bringing the total of those who have recovered to 5,927, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Saturday. But the DFA also said that the total case count also rose to 9,983 with eight new confirmed infections, while the death toll remained at 733. “Compared to last week’s percentages, the total number of Filipinos who have recovered from COVID-19 increased slightly to 59.37 percent of the total confirmed cases,” it said. “[T]hose who are under treatment saw a slight decrease to 33.62%. Meanwhile, the percentage of fatalities among COVID-19-affected Filipinos abroad remains at seven percent,” it added. At present, there are 3,323 patients still undergoing treatment. Data from the DFA showed a total of 1,106 cases in the Asia and the Pacific region. Among this, there are a total of 368 patients undergoing treatment, 730 recoveries, a...

(Agence France-Presse) - August 24, 2020 - 9:59pm ROME, Italy — An Italian hospital said on Monday it had innoculated a first volunteer with an anti-COVID-19 vaccine as part of human trials expected to last six months. The woman, in her 50s, received the first dose developed by Rome-based biotech company ReiThera at the capital's Spallanzani Institute for infectious diseases. The trials, developed between ReiThera and Spallanzani researchers, will be carried out on 90 volunteers divided into groups by age to test the efficacy of different dosages of the vaccine, developed since March. If the first results of Phase 1 of the human trials prove positive, researchers say they will be able to proceed to phases 2 and 3 by the end of the year, on a larger number of volunteers even outside of Italy. The vaccine has already passed pre-clinical tests on animal models. "It will take at least 24 weeks to complete phase I human trials of the vaccine," said Giuseppe Ippol...

Neil Jayson Servallos (The Philippine Star ) - August 24, 2020 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines —The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has attributed the spread of COVID-19 in communities and households to the Department of Health (DOH)’s belated release of results to patients who tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The PRC volunteered last week to help the government release results to positive patients as it cited its records that showed at least one-third of over 15,700 confirmed cases since July 30 have not yet been informed of their status as confirmed patients, which might have caused the spread of the virus in communities. In the latest development, however, the organization said it would start releasing positive results to patients who had themselves tested for COVID-19 in its facilities after getting the nod from the DOH. “We welcome the DOH authorization, given the urgency of the situation, where more positive COVID cases are recorded in our country. They may have been dange...

Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star ) - August 25, 2020 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines — China’s “nine-dash line” used to claim most of the South China Sea is a fabrication, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Sunday, as he accused Beijing of illegally occupying Filipino maritime territory. “Their so-called historical rights over an area enclosed by their nine-dash line don’t exist except in their imaginations,” he said. The remarks came amid a fresh row between Manila and Beijing over the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, which has long been a flashpoint between the two countries. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last week lodged a diplomatic protest over what it said was the “illegal confiscation” by China’s coast guard of fishing equipment near the shoal. China seized Panatag from the Philippines in 2012 following a tense standoff. The shoal, one of the region’s richest fishing grounds, is located 240 kilometers west of the Philippines’’ main island of Luzon an...

Michel Comte (Agence France-Presse) - August 24, 2020 - 7:38am OTTAWA, Canada — Canadian conservatives will reveal Sunday their pick for a new leader and main contender to challenge liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in possible snap elections. Four candidates vied to replace outgoing Andrew Scheer, including two former ministers, the first Seventh-day Adventist ever to be elected to parliament, and an outsider seeking to become the first black woman to lead a major federal political party in Canada. Frontrunner Peter MacKay, 54, was looking to mark his triumphant return to politics following a five-year hiatus. After leading Canada's foreign, defense and justice departments in the last Tory administration from 2006 to 2015, he ducked the limelight. He has faced a strong challenge for the party leadership from former air force navigator and former veterans affairs minister Erin O'Toole, 47, who ran twice previously for the job. Both have touted a need for the party to...

Franco Luna (Philstar.com) - August 25, 2020 - 12:20pm MANILA, Philippines — The national police is mobilizing all available security forces in the aftermath of the twin bombings in Jolo, Sulu that claimed the lives of at least 14 individuals. Police Brig. Gen. Manuel Abu, Bangsamoro PNP Regional Director, has also been directed by the chief of police to further intensify the conduct of checkpoints, police visibility patrols, and focused intelligence and law enforcement operations in close coordination with the military. Casualty count from Jolo blasts reaches 14 killed, 75 wounded The incident, which the PNP tagged as the latest act of terrorism in the country, killed one PNP personnel, seven AFP personnel and six civilians. It also wounded 72 others, including 6 six PNP personnel, 18 AFP soldiers and 48 civilians. The lone police casualty was identified as Senior Master Sergeant Joe Michael Langbis, a member of PNP Special Action Force. The PNP public information office said i...

Deborah Cole and Anuj Chopra, Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 21 2020 12:53 AM Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will not follow the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state has signed an internationally recognized peace accord with the Palestinians. The UAE last week became the first Gulf state to normalize relations with Israel, in a historic US-brokered accord that raised the prospect of similar deals with other Arab states including Saudi Arabia. But after days of conspicuous silence and in the face of US pressure to announce a similar deal, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan ruled out the possibility until the Palestinian issue is resolved. "Peace must be achieved with the Palestinians" on the basis of international agreements as a pre-condition for any normalization of relations, Prince Faisal told reporters during a visit to Berlin. "Once that is achieved all things are possible," ...

Florian Cazeres, Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 21 2020 04:28 AM BERLIN - European concerns were growing on Thursday over spikes in coronavirus cases in Germany and France but the World Health Organization (WHO) said the continent should be able to fight the pandemic without reimposing full lockdown measures. Germany, which has fared better than most of its neighbors, announced it would extend its quarantine rules to parts of Croatia, a popular holiday destination for many Germans, strengthening the idea that the new spread of COVID-19 is being fuelled by returning holidaymakers. The full extent of the virus spread in India was once again under the microscope as a new study suggested that more than a quarter of Delhi's 20 million people may have been infected without showing symptoms, following on the heels of several similar studies. There was more encouraging data from Africa, where health officials said they were "hopeful" after a drop in the number of infectio...

Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 21 2020 04:45 AM ROME - Italy has recorded its highest number of coronavirus infections since May 23, with 845 new cases reported over the last day, health ministry officials said Thursday. The new high comes after the health ministry on Wednesday counted 642 new cases, confirming an upward curve. Six people also died over the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 35,418 in a total of 256,118 cases, health officials added. "We are not in as bad a position as France and Spain, but the current situation is not satisfactory," said Professor Massimo Galli, who heads the infectious diseases department at Milan's prestigious Sacco hospital. "The end of confinement has resulted in an excessive feeling of false security," he told the La Repubblica newspaper. Italy in May emerged from a severe lockdown after becoming one the first European countries to report cases of COVID-19. We have to be careful, otherwise, we will find ...

Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 21 2020 12:43 AM Russia said on Thursday it would start clinical trials of its controversial coronavirus vaccine next week, involving tens of thousands of people. President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Russia had become the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, though the announcement was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization who said it still needed a rigorous safety review. Russia's sovereign wealth fund, which finances the vaccine project, said in a statement Thursday that tests of the "immunogenicity and safety of the Sputnik V vaccine" will begin next week involving more than 40,000 people. It said the tests were the equivalent of the Phase 3 trials that other vaccines are undergoing. Kirill Dmitriyev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told an online briefing that the vaccination of at-risk groups, including medical personnel, would also start next week on a ...

Mariëtte Le Roux and Jan Hennop in Rome, Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 21 2020 09:35 AM PARIS, France - Global health authorities said Thursday European countries should be able to ride out a surge in coronavirus cases without reimposing full lockdowns, as the World Bank warned the crisis could push 100 million people into extreme poverty. Worrying spikes in cases reported Thursday in France, Italy, Spain and Germany showed the pandemic was rebounding across the continent -- often due to travel, summer holidays and parties. While Italy registered 845 new cases on Thursday, its highest daily tally since May, France reported 4,700 fresh infections -- a massive increase on the previous day. Spain's daily increases topped even those of France, and Germany was concerned about its own resurgence. Despite the rise in cases, a top World Health Organization official said additional lockdowns should not be necessary. "With the basic nationwide and additional targeted measure...

Health professionals with existing employment contracts abroad may leave the Philippines to work overseas, Malacañang said on Thursday. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that healthcare employees who had government-issued overseas employment certificates (OEC) and verified work contracts as of March 8, 2020 were exempted from the temporary deployment ban on medical and allied health workers. Also exempted from the ban are balik-manggagawa or returning workers. Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) made the clarification after the policy-making body maintained the deployment ban early this week due to the continuing state of public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force then urged the Department of Health and all hospitals and healthcare facilities of local government units to hire these health workers to supplement their current workforce. In a message shared to reporters, Filipino Nurs...

Published August 19, 2020 3:39pm By JOJO DASS DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes is urging Filipinos with expired visit visas to avail of the UAE government’s three-month grace period for them to leave the country without incurring fines and penalties, including a waiver on a re-entry ban. “We urge our compatriots to keep themselves abreast of developments regarding the immigration and visa policies of the UAE and ensure that they plan accordingly so as not to accrue any fines of overstaying or other penalties relative to violations of these policies,” Cortes said. The official’s announcement came on the heels of a move by the UAE Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) to further extend the grace period for those with expired visas for three months until Nov. 17, 2020. Cortes said another batch of repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has been scheduled for the end of this month, which so far has some 100 passengers. The mass ...

Published August 18, 2020 3:59pm By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA News The joint House panel on Public Accounts and the Good Government and Public Accountability has moved to remove Overseas Filipino Workers from the list of direct contributors to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) under the Universal Healthcare law. Presiding officer and Representative Michael Defensor of Anakalusugan party-list carried the motion to amend the law made by representative Dan Fernandez. The amendment to the UHC would delist OFWs as direct contributors via inserting a line which tasks the PhilHeath and the Labor department and attached agencies to issue a separate circular on a PhilHealth payment scheme for OFWs in full consideration of the Filipino migrant workers’ peculiar employment situation and a scheme that is responsive to their needs while ensuring maximum medical coverage. Prior to the adoption of the said motion, OFW rights advocate Susan Ople noted that it would be unfair f...

Published August 18, 2020 10:53am By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News As far as the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is concerned, the circular stating the increase in the premium payments of overseas Filipino workers could still take effect after the COVID-19 pandemic. PhilHealth social health insurance officer Antonio Danao made the remark on Tuesday during the continuation of the House joint panel inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the agency. Back in April, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that OFWs no longer would be required to pay premiums, and that it would only be made voluntarily. But Danao said that PhilHealth's interpretation of the President's directive was that the voluntary payments would only be made during the pandemic period. "Ngayon after the pandemic, dahil ang batas ay hindi pa na-amyendahan at yung PhilHealth circular na aming nailabas ay hindi pa na-amend, after the pandemic, magt-take effect pa rin ang PhilHealth circular," he...

Posted at Aug 18 2020 09:58 AM Filipino nurses prepare for school opening in UAE School nurse Ethel Lydia Matias, left, helps nurse Quenie Pabalate from the Philippines put on protective gear at the GEMS Wellington Academy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday. Schools across the United Arab Emirates are preparing for the opening of classes at the end of August amid the coronavirus pandemic.

ABS-CBN News Posted at Aug 18 2020 01:33 AM MANILA - The Philippine embassy in Kuwait announced Monday it has suspended its operations starting Aug. 16 after five of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. "In accordance with the protocols of the World Health Organization and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, the Embassy announces the suspension of its services effective 16 August 2020, until further notice," the Embassy said in a statement released Saturday. Aside from the embassy, on-site operations in Kuwait of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Social Security System (SSS), and Pag-IBIG Fund are also suspended from Aug. 16 until further notice. Those who need assistance from the embassy may reach it through the following hotlines and social media accounts: Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PHinKuwait Twitter account: www.twitter.com/PHinKuwait Consular (Passport) Section hotlines: 6518-4433; 6990-2188 ATN...

Agence France-Presse Posted at Aug 17 2020 07:10 PM BEIJING - Thousands of partygoers packed out a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life. US says 'evidence' virus came from China lab as Europe eases lockdown The popular Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park was filled with people frolicking in swimsuits and goggles for an electronic music festival, many perched on rubber dinghies or wading up to their chest in water. The water park reopened in June after Wuhan gradually opened up after a 76-day lockdown and strict restrictions to try and control the spread of the virus. The park -- which local media says has capped attendance at 50 percent of normal capacity -- is offering half price discounts for female visitors. A performer in a stage show at the front of the water waved at the crowd, packed close and waving their arms back, some snapping photos on...

Published August 17, 2020 10:37pm Eight overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong were fined for allegedly foregoing social distancing protocols at the Central District last August 9. According to a report on “24 Oras” on Monday, the OFWs were fined 2,000 Hong Kong dollars each or almost P13,000. About 50 police officers came to Chater Road and Statue Square and told the OFWs to go back to their employers immediately. A leader of an OFW group in Hong Kong, however, argued that fining them was not the right action in fighting the virus. She said OFWs were just taking their time to unwind as they were not allowed by their employers to go out from Monday to Saturday. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News

Published August 17, 2020 2:00pm Updated August 17, 2020 2:58pm A chartered flight from Lebanon carrying 386 Filipino workers, including the remains of those killed in last week's deadly blasts in Beirut, arrived in Manila Monday afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. will receive the returning workers at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The group is the latest batch of Filipinos in the series of ongoing repatriations from Lebanon. The DFA said it has brought back 1,918 distressed workers to Manila in the past several months. The DFA said Qatar Airways flight QR 3150, which arrived at 1:45 p.m., carries the remains of eight Filipinos, four of whom were killed as a result of the recent explosions in Beirut Port Apart from the four Filipino fatalities, 47 workers from the Philippines were injured in the blasts triggered by ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse for years. The DFA said it will mount a...

Batch of more than 400 Pinoys arriving from Lebanon Sunday Published August 16, 2020 10:52am More than 400 Filipinos are expected to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Lebanon on Sunday afternoon. Citing information from the Department of Foreign Affairs, a Super Radyo dzBB report from Mao Dela Cruz said that chartered flights have been arranged for the repatriation of Filipinos from protest-troubled Lebanon, following the deadly blast in its capital city Beirut.

Published August 14, 2020 11:47pm All residents of Japan, including Filipino workers, were given ¥100,000 or P50,000 in financial assistance amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a nurse in Tokyo said in a Friday report on “Stand for Truth.” “Walang mahirap, walang mayaman, foreigner or Japanese, bata man or matanda, binibigyan nila ng suporta na ¥100,000. Binibili namin ‘yun ng mga needs namin like, for example, mga pagkain,” Excelsis Borbon said. A culture teacher in Chiba, meanwhile, said that she and her sister received additional financial assistance on top of the ¥100,000. “‘Yung sister ko, on top of her ¥100,000 from the government dahil part siya ng family namin, may ¥100,000 pa siya na ‘yung school naman niya ‘yung nag-process,” Sheka Matz said. “I’m pregnant, meron din akong natanggap form the local government na financial assistance para naman sa expecting mothers,” she added. “Bumalik ‘yung mga classes nung June. Kung kakain ka sa labas, you can do ...

Published August 18, 2020 9:23am The magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit Masbate on Tuesday morning has caused cracks in some buildings, according to the province's Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. Initial reports received by Masbate LDRRMO said some walls fell, and a coliseum in Cataingan had cracks. "May mga LSIs na naka-quarantine doon ngayon sa coliseum," Junie Castillo of the Masbate LDRRMO said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV. Castillo said they are verifying reports of damage. He added that cellphone and internet signals have been intermittent, but they are awaiting field reports. The earthquake struck at 8:03 a.m. in Cataingan, Masbate. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said aftershocks and damage are to be expected. —KG, GMA News

POPCOM, PLCPD: Education, laws to halt teen pregnancy boom About one in 10 Filipinas 15 to 19 years old have already given birth, as this age group continues to register increasing fertility rates, the lowest usage of contraceptives, and is burdened with serious, unfulfilled requirements for family planning (FP). This statistic from the most recent National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) was jointly cited by the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) and the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) as the country observes International Youth Day on August 12. Both organizations are actively campaigning to raise public awareness on the adverse impacts of teen pregnancies, in relation to sexual and reproductive health and rights, while calling on legislators and policymakers to effect decisive actions to address the issue. Civil registry data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that there are teen...

President Hage Geingob of Namibia said his government has turned down Germany’s offer of compensation for colonial-era killings, calling it “not acceptable.” Geingob said in a statement that Germany has continued to call efforts to seek redress with the government and those affected in the conflict “healing of wounds” instead of reparations. German troops killed tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people between 1904 to 1908 in response to an anti-colonial uprising. It is thought that 75% of the Herero population and half of the Nama population died. The two countries started negotiations over reparations in 2015 and have so far held eight rounds of talks. President Geingob was on Tuesday briefed about the negotiations by the Namibian negotiating team led by special envoy Zed Ngavirue. “The current offer for reparations made by the German Government remains an outstanding issue and is not acceptable to the Namibian Government,” the president said in a statement. No details of ...

Security forces in the Malian capital Bamako fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators on their second day of protest demanding the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. The protesters spent the night on the streets after holding a march which started on Tuesday. The rally marked a resumption of opposition protests after a weeks-long truce in the June 05 Movement’s push to topple the 75-year-old leader. The loose alliance of opposition and religious leaders has been channelling deep anger in Mali over a dire economy, perceived government corruption and an eight-year jihadist conflict. Its campaign plunged Mali into crisis last month when 11 people died during three days of unrest following an anti-Keita protest, in the worst political strife Mali has seen in years. Regional efforts to bring an end to the crisis have failed, with the opposition refusing to compromise on their demand that the president resigns. (Source: BBC)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday has denounced the latest US sanctions on the country, claiming the measures were part of the long-standing US efforts to “choke” the living standards of Syrians. The leader blamed new US sanctions – called the Caesar Act – for a drop in Syria’s currency, which resulted in Syrians buying dollars over fears that their economic situation would worsen. In a speech to deputies at the presidential palace, Assad claimed the sanctions were part of the US’s economic war against Syria, and called for the nation to root out corruption and to enact measures that would promote food self-sufficiency. Assad urged his subjects to support the currency, which has lost around almost two thirds of its value since the start of Syria’s nearly decade-old conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made millions refugees. “Our support of the pound is a source of our strength,” Assad said, criticizing a scramble by ordinary Syrians to buy fore...

Fr. Shay Cullen 14 August 2020 At no other time in the history of mankind has there been so many humans enslaved throughout the world. The population explosion in the past fifty years, the great disparity of rich and poor and the vulnerability of the impoverished youth and women has made human trafficking, the modern name of the age-old slave trade, so prolific. It is a practice by which we humans dominate, control, abuse and exploit other human beings for power, pleasure and profit. We must know, think and act to change it as the 23rd International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition is upon us. Slavery is one of these abominable violations of human persons that only humans, save one other species, practice. That exception is a species of slave-making ant. The human species, the one with the large brains, some with intelligence, with access to knowledge, compassion, conscience and free will, chooses to reject such endowments and instead imitates the ants...

As Lebanon continues to reel from the triple shock of the devastating blast in Beirut, economic meltdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Food Programme (WFP) is racing to prevent food shortage in the country. WFP chief David Beasley announced the agency will deliver 17,500 metric tons of wheat flour and a three-month supply of wheat to help replenish food reserves. The first wheat flour shipment is expected to arrive within the next 10 days. “It is hard to comprehend the sheer scale of the destruction caused by the explosion until you have seen it for yourself. I am heartbroken,” Mr. Beasley said after spending three days in Lebanon. “Today, because of the port explosion, thousands of people have been left homeless and hungry. WFP is racing to provide help for the most vulnerable and to prevent food shortages across the country.” While in Lebanon, Mr. Beasley visited the Ports of Beirut and Tripoli, witnessing food distributions and the provision of food in communal kitchens...

Needing about 1.2 million skilled workers, mainly in construction, health and nursing, gastronomy and IT sectors, Germany has started implementing a new law that relaxes its visa rules for migrant workers. The new law called Fachkraefteeinwanderungsgesetz (or “Skilled Workers Immigration Law”) and implemented since March, anyone who is qualified and speaks good German can get a six-months visa to look for a job. Also, anyone who has passed vocational training that meets German standards will be given a working visa, provided the worker has passed at least B1-level German language tests administered by the Goethe Institut. The new law also created a new agency to speed up the visa processing, which had previously taken up to six months. The goal now is three weeks. But German critics said the language requirement should be scrapped because it means a prospective worker must fork out a small fortune to be able to study and learn the German language. Agency board member Daniel Terze...

More than three dozen independent rights experts issued a call for justice and accountability on behalf of the Lebanese people, for the catastrophic blast in Beirut, which led to the deaths of more than 200, thousands wounded, and at least 300,000 rendered homeless. Dozens remain missing. According to the UN experts, Lebanon is suffering a devastating political, economic and financial crisis against the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, and there has been a sharp deterioration of human rights protection and much suffering across the city. “The scale and impact of the lethal explosion are unprecedented,” the UN human rights experts said in a joint statement issued on Thursday. “We are deeply concerned about the level of irresponsibility and impunity surrounding human and environmental devastation on this scale.” The experts called for “urgent assistance, support and reparation to victim without discrimination”, as Beirut Port and the country’s main grain storage silos almost completely...

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) has taken down a podcast that featured an interview with pro-democracy activist Nathan Law after being warned that it could be in breach of the new national security law. The program, which aired on July 31, was removed due to reports that one of the interviewees (Law) is wanted by police for violating the national security law. Law was discussing the upcoming Legislative Council elections on the show. Law was specifically talking about the recent decision by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to postpone legislative elections by a year. The interview was stricken off the RHTK website out of “caution”, the station’s news department reported. Law said the decision seemed to have been taken after unconfirmed reports that he is now on a Hong Kong’s police list of overseas suspects under the national security law. “I can only assume that they did this not because of the content of my interview, but because of my identity as a ‘wanted suspect’ under...