KAKAMMPI News

BEIJING, China — China said on Tuesday it has "no intention" of violating foreign airspace after Japan accused a Chinese military aircraft of entering its skies. Japan condemned Monday's incursion as a "serious violation" of its sovereignty, saying Beijing was becoming "increasingly active". Washington's closest ally in the region, Japan said it scrambled fighter jets after the two-minute incursion by the Y-9 surveillance aircraft on Monday off the Danjo Islands in the East China Sea. Asked about Japan's claims, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said "the relevant Chinese departments are in the process of gathering information and verifying the situation". "The two sides have maintained communication through existing working channels," he said. "I would also like to emphasise here that China has no intention of intruding into the territorial airspace of any country," Lin said. The uninhabited Danjo Islands ...

TOKYO, Japan — Japan slammed on Tuesday what it called the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace as a "serious violation" of its sovereignty, saying it was part of a pattern by Beijing. "The violation of our airspace by Chinese military aircraft is not only a serious violation of our sovereignty but also a threat to our security and is totally unacceptable," chief government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said a day after the incident over the East China Sea. Japan said it scrambled fighter jets after the two-minute incursion from 11:29 am (0229 GMT) on Monday by the Y-9 surveillance aircraft off the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. "We understand that this is the first confirmed and announced airspace incursion by a Chinese military aircraft since we started the anti-airspace incursion measures," Hayashi told reporters. "We refrain from giving a definite answer as to the intended purpose of the Chinese aircr...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Condom use among sexually active teens has declined significantly in Europe over the past decade, with rates of unprotected sex "worryingly high", the World Health Organization said Thursday. "This is putting young people at significant risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies," WHO Europe said in a statement. Data from a survey of more than 242,000 15-year-olds across 42 of the 53 countries that make up the WHO European region, which includes Central Asia, showed that the proportion of sexually active teenage boys who used a condom the last time they had sex fell from 70 percent in 2014 to 61 percent in 2022. The figure for girls who said a condom had been used the last time they had sex fell from 63 to 57 percent. Almost a third of adolescents said they used neither a condom nor a contraceptive pill the last time they had intercourse, largely unchanged from 2018. Use of contraceptive pills also remained re...

GENEVA, Switzerland — The WHO on Tuesday said droplets were a minor route of transmission for mpox compared to physical contact, adding that more research was needed to understand how the outbreak is spreading. The World Health Organization declared an international emergency over mpox on August 14, concerned by the surge in cases of the Clade 1b strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its spread to nearby countries. The UN health agency says on its website that mpox spreads between people mainly through close physical contact with someone who has the virus. "Close contact includes skin-to-skin (such as touching or sex) and mouth-to-mouth, or mouth-to-skin contact (such as kissing)," it says. It can also include "being face-to-face with someone who has mpox (such as talking or breathing close to one another, which can generate infectious respiratory particles)". WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said Tuesday that if a person with the virus had lesions, ...

WASHINGTON, United States — A person in the northeastern US state of New Hampshire has died after contracting the rare mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus, health authorities announced Tuesday. The patient, identified only as an adult from the town of Hampstead, was hospitalized with severe central nervous system disease and later succumbed to the illness, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said in a statement. "The last reported human EEEV infection in New Hampshire was in 2014, when DHHS identified three human infections, including two fatalities," the department said. The new infection and death comes amid rising concerns from state officials across New England about the increasing risk of EEE, a threat believed to be exacerbated by climate change. Earlier this month, Massachusetts announced the year's first human case of EEE in the state -- a man in his 80s -- and officials have asked the public to observe voluntar...

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Francis Escudero on Wednesday urged the solicitor general to explore ways to secure the 2016 arbitral ruling, which affirms the Philippines’ claim to the West Philippine Sea, against potential policy changes by future administrations. Escudero raised the issue during the Department of Justice's 2025 budget hearing, suggesting that mechanisms might exist to recognize and enforce the arbitral award through a legal ruling. He further noted that if a law were enacted to enforce the arbitral award, any sitting president would be obligated to uphold it. “It is precisely to bind and tie the hands on whoever our chief executive [is]... he cannot change policies simply because he’s the chief architect of our foreign policy,” he said. What the process entails Guevarra said that while the process is currently under study, he noted that the Supreme Court might refrain from ruling on the issue, as it is political in nature. He suggested that the initi...

MANILA, Philippines — Several countries have been reaching out to the United States Coast Guard for support, including training, as China pursues its sweeping South China Sea claims more aggressively, a USCG official said. USCG Pacific Area deputy commander Rear Admiral Andrew Sugimoto said the USCG is deploying an Indo-Pacific support cutter, which is going around Pacific island nations providing training and assistance. “There have been many nations that have reached out to the United States Coast Guard, and we look forward to working with each and every one of them. We have shifted some resources to the Pacific, specifically to be able to meet those commitments,” Sugimoto said at a virtual press briefing last Tuesday. US ships have been conducting exercises with the Philippines, Japan and South Korea. The USCG Cutter Waesche recently returned from patrol in the Western Pacific. It recently hosted observers from the Coast Guards of the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam for 13 days o...

MANILA, Philippines — Disasters will increase by 40 percent by 2030 amid the ongoing threat of climate change, according to United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific chief Marco Toscano-Rivalta. “This stark projection indicates that we are going off course from the goal we set in the global blueprint for disaster risk reduction, the Sendai framework in 2015. We are building risk rather than decreasing it. Therefore, while we need more and better disaster preparedness and response, most fundamentally we need to double down on prevention and risk reduction,” he added. Toscano-Rivalta announced this during the media launch of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR). The country is expected to host the international gathering of the APMCDRR in October, which will be attended by at least 2,500 delegates from 62 countries. The APMCDDR highlights the Philippines’ leadership and commitment on disaster ris...

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law the "Loss and Damage Fund Board Act," the enabling measure that grants legal personality to the board governing the international climate change fund. The Philippines was selected as the host of the Loss and Damage Fund, an initiative from the United Nations Climate Conference aimed at assisting countries negatively impacted by climate change. The law was signed on Wednesday and uploaded to the Official Gazette on Thursday. “To accelerate access to critical climate finance and investments for future-proofing the economy and ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth for all Filipinos, the state supports the hosting of the governing Board of the Fund in the Philippines,” Republic Act 12019 read. “Towards this end, the State recognizes the need to grant judicial personality and legal capacity to the Board to enable it to discharge its roles and functions,” it added. Under the "Loss and Damage Fund...

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr defended on Tuesday the deployment of 2,000 police officers at the weekend to arrest an influential pastor accused of sex trafficking who is a longtime friend of the country’s former president. Police think Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of god”, is hiding in a bunker at the sprawling compound owned by his church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), in the southern city of Davao. Quiboloy is wanted on charges of child and sexual abuse and related allegations of human trafficking. He denies wrongdoing. Marcos said Saturday’s police deployment aimed at ensuring the area around the church premises was safe and secure. “And considering that this is a 30-hectare (74-acre)compound, you really need plenty of people, not just a dozen police,” Marcos told reporters. His remarks follow criticism over the handling of the case by former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte...

A type of bacterium called Escherichia coli (E. coli), found in the feces of humans and animals, is often released into bodies of water such as streams. Although most E. coli strains are harmless, some can cause foodborne diseases such as gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and dysentery. Feces are a major source of microbial contamination in fresh produce. With the rise of urban farming in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to monitor fresh produce from urban farms to recognize and address food safety issues immediately. Scientists from the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science (UPD-CS), supported by the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), assessed vegetables from wet markets and urban farms in Metro Manila during the peak of the pandemic to detect and quantify the presence of E. coli. Dr. Pierangeli Vital, Donnabel Sena, Czarina Jay Catapat, and Ma. Christine Jasmine Sabio from the UPD-CS Natural Sci...

The large-scale exercise is an effort to strengthen their combined defense. SEOUL, South Korea -- U.S. and South Korean troops kicked off a large-scale exercise Monday aimed at strengthening their combined defense capabilities against nuclear-armed North Korea, which again accused the allies of practicing an invasion. The annual summertime exercise comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the pace of both North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and the U.S.-South Korea combined military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat. The exercise began hours after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement repeating the North's contention that such exercises are “provocative war drills for aggression.” It said the North’s nuclear ambitions are thus justified, adding that it is crucial to "constantly maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence.” The United States and South Korea described their joint d...

The current situation in Lebanon remains dire due to a combination of ongoing conflict, economic hardship, and humanitarian crises. The violence at the Lebanon-Israel border has escalated, resulting in significant casualties and widespread destruction in southern Lebanon. More than 98,000 people have been displaced, and critical infrastructure, including housing, healthcare, and schools, has been severely damaged. Food security is a major concern, with over a quarter of the population affected by food shortages. Additionally, healthcare services are struggling to cope, especially for vulnerable populations such as children under five. The agricultural sector has also been impacted due to conflict, further exacerbating the food crisis. International efforts, including those by the UN, aim to de-escalate the situation and prevent further regional instability. However, the outlook remains challenging as conflicts continue to disrupt essential services, and the humanitarian needs are imm...

GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation. Worried by the rise in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the spread to nearby countries, the WHO hastily convened a meeting of experts to study the outbreak. "Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference. A PHEIC is the highest level of alarm under the International Health Regulations, which are legally binding on 196 countries. "The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying," said Tedr...

In a significant legislative development, the House of Representatives has swiftly passed a bill seeking to exempt all legitimate financial rewards and fees received by Filipino athletes from taxation. This move comes after the unfortunate fate of the "Hidilyn Diaz Bill" in 2022, which was approved by the lower house but failed to clear the Senate. Republic Act No. 10699, known as the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, provides substantial rewards to Filipino athletes who achieve podium finishes in international competitions. For example, a gold medalist receives ₱10 million, a silver medalist ₱5 million, and a bronze medalist ₱2 million. Gymnast Carlos Yulo, who recently won two gold medals, is set to receive ₱20 million, while other medalists like Peticio and Villegas will receive ₱2 million each. The law also extends benefits beyond cash incentives. Athletes and coaches are entitled to a 20 percent discount on transportation, restaurant, and hot...

PASAY City, Philippines – The Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc. (KAKAMMPI) continues to be a leading force in promoting the rights and welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families. Established with the mission of empowering OFWs through integrated services and programs, KAKAMMPI has long been an advocate for the rights of Filipino migrant workers across the globe. Vision and Mission With a vision "to see the day that working overseas is a matter of choice rather than necessity," KAKAMMPI remains steadfast in its commitment to empowering OFWs. The organization’s mission focuses on providing essential services, from organizing and advocacy to gender responsiveness and strategic partnerships, aimed at improving the lives of OFWs and their families. Community-Driven Advocacy KAKAMMPI serves as a community-driven haven for Filipinos aspiring to pursue their dreams abroad. Its essence lies in bayanihan—communal unity—driving the organization...

Zionists rattled by Sinwar appointment as Gaza war enters 11th month KUWAIT/GAZA: Kuwait’s armed forces must remain “alert” given the current developments in the wider region, First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior and Defense Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah said on Wednesday. Kuwait’s political leaders “firmly back” all measures taken by the military to ensure national security and stability, Sheikh Fahad was quoted as saying during talks with senior defense ministry officials. These talks underlined the need for cooperation across state bodies to achieve these goals. The discussions also reviewed major plans and initiatives within the military, according to an army statement. In a related development, the Cabinet reviewed the precautions set by each government agency to address the accelerated developments of the security situation in the Middle East. During a Cabinet meeting held at Bayan Palace on Tuesday, ministers reviewed the preparations made by their respective m...

VINHEDO, Brazil — Brazilian authorities on Saturday finished recovering the bodies of the 62 people who died when their plane tumbled from the sky, as experts began examining the doomed aircraft's black boxes to determine the cause of the disaster. Videos showed the ATR 72-500 plane in a sickening downward spin Friday before it crashed into a residential area in the town of Vinhedo, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Brazil's financial capital Sao Paulo. The plane operated by airline Voepass fell almost vertically, landed on its belly and exploded in flames, striking with such force that it was nearly "flattened," said Sao Paulo fire lieutenant Olivia Perroni Cazo. "A total of 62 bodies (34 male and 28 female) were recovered and taken to the morgue in Sao Paulo for identification and delivery to their families," the regional government said Saturday evening. Two have already been identified through fingerprints, with Vinhedo Mayor Dario Pacheco s...

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh's new interim government said Sunday it was working to resolve attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities reported after the dramatic ouster of autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina. Hindus are the largest minority faith in mostly Muslim Bangladesh and are considered a steadfast support base for Hasina's party, the Awami League. After Hasina's abrupt resignation and flight abroad on Monday brought an end to her 15 years of autocratic rule, there were numerous reports of attacks against Hindu households, temples and businesses. "The attacks on religious minorities in some places have been noted with grave concern," the interim cabinet said in its first official statement since its Thursday appointment. The cabinet said it would "immediately sit with the representative bodies and other concerned groups to find ways to resolve such heinous attacks". Sunday's statement from the self-styled "council of advisors...

MANILA, Philippines — China completed a historic clean sweep of all eight Olympic diving gold medals after Cao Yuan won the men’s 10m platform final in Paris on Saturday. The diving powerhouse finally achieved the feat after going so close in the past two Games. At both Tokyo and Rio they swept to seven of the eight finals, Britain preventing them from the full house on both occasions. At their home Games in Beijing 2008 they also let one escape, with Australia the party spoilers.

VINHEDO, Brazil — An airplane carrying 57 passengers and four crew crashed Friday in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, killing everyone on board, the airline said. The aircraft, an ATR 72-500 operated by Voepass airline, was traveling from Cascavel in southern Parana state to Sao Paulo's Guarulhos international airport when it crashed in the city of Vinhedo. Voepass initially said the plane was carrying 58 passengers, but a statement on the airline's website later revised the figure to 57. Images broadcast on local media showed a large plane spinning as it plummeted almost vertically, while other footage showed a large column of smoke rising from the crash site in what appeared to be a residential area. "There were no survivors," the city government in Valinhos -- which was involved in the rescue and recovery operation in nearby Vinhedo -- said in an to AFP. Vinhedo, with about 76,000 residents, is located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo...

WASHINGTON, United States — Donald Trump amplified a wave of false social media claims that his opponent Kamala Harris used artificial intelligence to fabricate a picture of her supporters at a Michigan rally last week -- an allegation disproved by photos and videos. "Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she 'A.I.'d' it, and showed a massive 'crowd' of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN'T EXIST!" the Republican presidential nominee wrote in the first of a series of posts Sunday on his Truth Social platform. "There was nobody there!" he added in a second post. Live footage and photos from numerous media outlets, including AFP, showed the crowd of supporters, who packed an airfield hangar and spilled onto the tarmac to see Harris and her freshly announced running mate Tim Walz. The photo appeared to have been first posted by a Harris campaign official who received it from another staffer....

LOS ANGELES, United States — Elon Musk's much-trailed interview with Donald Trump got off to a rocky start on Monday after what the controversial entrepreneur said was a cyber attack on his social media platform. What was billed as a "no limits" conversation started more than half an hour late, with many people unable to listen in live, in an embarrassing setback for both men. "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down," Musk, the world's richest man, wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter. The conversation between the two men was intended to help reinvigorate Trump's stuttering campaign, which has flagged since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Musk, who has said he previously voted Democrat, has thrown his weight -- and his wealth -- behind Trump since a gunman tried to assassinate the Republican at a rally last month. But apparent technical difficulties -- which come after Musk fired swathes o...

MANILA, Philippines — Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) died under unknown circumstances in Saudi Arabia, prompting the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to request for autopsies. During yesterday’s public hearing of the Senate committee on migrant workers, chairman and presiding officer Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he received complaints from the families of OFWs Jelyn Arguzon and Riolyn Sayson. In his opening statement, Tulfo said Arguzon’s husband sought help to uncover the true cause of his wife’s death as he was only vaguely told by the agency that the cause of death was unknown. Tulfo said Arguzon was deployed to Jeddah as a household worker on June 16. The last time she spoke to her husband was on June 27, and she was found dead at her employer’s house on July 19. When Tulfo asked about the result of the autopsy on Arguzon’s body, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the report showed that she died of natural causes. “We do not accept this so the next course of acti...

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:33 p.m.) — The Philippines plans to file a new diplomatic protest against China after two Chinese aircraft dropped flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force aircraft patrolling Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) last week, an incident that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has "strongly" condemned. Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo bared this during an ambush interview on Monday, where he also noted that the latest incident comes at a time when tensions between the two countries are "already calming down." "I don't know why they did it. ... It took us by surprise," Manalo said on the sidelines of the government's commemoration of the 2024 International Humanitarian Law Day and the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. On Saturday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines accused China of "dangerous and provocative actions" after two Chinese Air Force aircraft exec...

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Rescuers in Gaza said an Israeli air strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians killed 93 people on Saturday, sparking international condemnation despite Israel's insistence that it was targeting militants. AFP could not independently verify the toll which, if confirmed, would be one of the largest from a single strike during 10 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants since Hamas's October 7 attack. The bombardment of Al-Tabieen religious school and mosque drew criticism from across the Middle East and beyond alongside calls for a ceasefire, after international mediators invited the warring sides to resume talks towards a long-sought truce and hostage-release deal. Civil defense rescuers in the Hamas-ruled territory said three Israeli missiles hit the complex in Gaza City while people were performing dawn prayers. The military confirmed it had used "three precise munitions." Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for th...

Filipinos seeking to visit South Korea may now get their visas easier as the South Korea Embassy in the Philippines announced the simplification of visa application documents until the end of the year. The Embassy said the following visa applicants may avail of the eased visa application starting Thursday, February 1, to December 31, 2024: 1. Credit card holders Only applicable for BDO Gold or BDO Elite credit card (excluding supplementary credit card); and Their immediate family members (parents, spouse, minor children, adult children who can prove to be students through documents, and spouse's parents) They must submit an original certificate of employment, copy of credit card (front only with complete information), and copies of the latest three months of credit card account monthly billing statements. The submission of bank certificates, bank statements, and ITR are exempted for credit card holders and their family members. Other documents such as proof of relationship a...

The Philippine Embassy in Korea has reminded the Filipino community in South Korea to observe safety precautions to prevent heat-related illnesses amid the summer heatwave. In an advisory, the Embassy said Filipinos in South Korea should drink plenty of water and move to a cooler area whenever they feel symptoms of heat-related illnesses. “Drink plenty of water, go to a cool place when you feel nausea, dizziness, or headache, and constantly check the news for heatwave warnings or updates are among the ways our community can keep safe during the heatwave,” it said. Heat-related illnesses such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke become more prevalent with extreme temperatures. —Giselle Ombay/KBK, GMA Integrated News

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Arab Gulf states of poorly protecting migrant workers exposed to severe heat stress as climate change threatens to make already-sizzling summers hotter and longer. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are among the hottest places in the world with summer temperatures often edging towards 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). To protect laborers, the three states ban work under direct sunlight and in open-air areas at peak heat hours from mid-June until mid-September as part of a longstanding "midday break" policy. But in a new report, HRW called the measure "inadequate," saying it failed to prevent heat-related health risks such as fainting, vomiting and in some cases, death. "As temperatures reach unprecedented levels globally, Gulf states should be leaders in implementing strong heat protections to safeguard outdoor workers, not passive bystanders," said Michael Page, HRW...

Bombing, uncertainty over full-fledged war trigger anxiety, panic attacks BEIRUT: Fears of a major escalation between the Zionist entity and Hezbollah have left many Lebanese on edge, exacerbating mental health problems and reviving traumas of past conflicts in the war-weary country. One 29-year-old woman, who lives near the southern city of Sidon, said she dreaded the thunderous, explosive boom of Zionist jets regularly breaking the sound barrier. “I feel the house will fall down on top of me ... Sometimes I freeze ... or start crying,” said the woman, a contract worker for a non-governmental organization. She was 11 years old when the Zionist entity went to war with Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, and said bombs fell near her house. “Sometimes, unconsciously, you remember it,” said the woman, requesting anonymity in a country where mental health issues are often stigmatized. “These sounds give you flashbacks — sometimes you feel you’re back at that time,” she said. Lebanon has b...

Western nations had ‘indirect’ role in incursion; father, son die in Russian missile attack KYIV: Ukraine has deployed thousands of troops in a major incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region, in a bid to “stretch” and “destabilize” Russia, a senior Ukrainian security official told AFP. Ukrainian units stormed into Russian territory on Tuesday in a surprise attack that has developed into the most significant cross-border assault by Kyiv since the conflict began in February 2022. “We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilize the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,” the official said late Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Russian army earlier said Ukraine had deployed around 1,000 soldiers in the incursion which appeared to catch the Kremlin off guard with Ukrainian forces successfully penetrating Russian defensive lines. Asked whether 1,000 Ukrainian troops w...