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4 terrorists killed in Cotabato encounter

Four suspected terrorists were killed in an encounter in Tugunan, Cotabato yesterday morning, according to the military.

The fatalities were reportedly connected to a local terror group, Dawlah Islamiya.

Reports said the fatalities and their companions opened fire at policemen and soldiers who were responding to a complaint regarding the presence of armed men in Barangay Manaulanan.

The lawmen retaliated, triggering a firefight that resulted in the death of the four suspects.

A Philippine Air Force helicopter provided aerial support to police officers and soldiers who pursued the fleeing terrorists.

Village officials said the slain suspects had been regularly collecting ‘protection money’ and rice from the residents.

The remains of the suspects were recovered at the scene of the encounter.

4 terrorists killed in Cotabato encounter

Four suspected terrorists were killed in an encounter in Tugunan, Cotabato yesterday morning, according to the military.

The fatalities were reportedly connected to a local terror group, Dawlah Islamiya.

Reports said the fatalities and their companions opened fire at policemen and soldiers who were responding to a complaint regarding the presence of armed men in Barangay Manaulanan.

The lawmen retaliated, triggering a firefight that resulted in the death of the four suspects.

A Philippine Air Force helicopter provided aerial support to police officers and soldiers who pursued the fleeing terrorists.

Village officials said the slain suspects had been regularly collecting ‘protection money’ and rice from the residents.

The remains of the suspects were recovered at the scene of the encounter.

Season of the hairy fruit: Rambutan in abundance

It is rambutan season in the Philippines!

Rambutan’s main harvest season is from August to October. The red, hairy fruit that opens up to a translucent white flesh, which you bite off from a single big seed, is in great abundance at this time of the year and therefore sells at an affordable price.

You know it is in season when you see rambutan being sold in markets and supermarkets, offered by neighborhood online sellers for free delivery, and peddled by street vendors everywhere possible.

Some varieties give you a bit of work, as part of the hard covering of the seed tends to stick to the flesh and come off with it when you take a bite, but tuklapin varieties, where the sweet flesh easily separates from the seed, are now available for easy and effortless consumption.

Major harvests of rambutan during this peak season come from Southern Luzon, including Batangas and Laguna, as well as from Mindanao, Mindoro, and Palawan. A fruit native to Southeast Asia, it got its name from the Malay word that means hair because of its appearance. Its look and taste reminds you of the lychee fruit, and rightly so because they are relatives. It is also related to the fruit longan.

Rambutan offers many health benefits, so it should be a light and healthy fruit to indulge in. Rich in vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds, it is a good source of Vitamin C, which helps the body absorb dietary iron. It also serves as an antioxidant, thus protecting the body against free radicals, and its copper content assists in the proper growth and maintenance of heart, bone, and brain cells.

The fruit also contains potassium, calcium, carbohydrates, protein, and iron. It comes with a good amount of fiber, which helps promote good digestion and address the problem of constipation.

Alvarez guaranteed of Asian Games MMA medal after KO win over Indonesian foe

Carlos Alvarez delivered another medal for Team Philippines after scoring a knockout victory over Indonesia’s Ananda Wahyu Setyo in the men’s MMA Traditional -77kg quarterfinals at the 2026 Asian Games.

After a tight opening round, Alvarez knew he had to step up the pressure in the second.

‘No’ng first round kasi medyo parang ganunan lang kami sa points eh. Medyo parang dikit. Tabla oh. Kaya no’ng second round sabi ko kailangan kong tapusin ‘to para manalo.’

With a medal already secured, Alvarez admitted the pressure has eased slightly, but the ultimate target remains an Asian Games gold medal.

‘At least nabawasan konti ‘yong pressure kasi malaki pressure dito. At least ngayon may medal na tayong siguradong maiuuwi at ang goal namin talaga dito sa MMA is makuha ang gold medal.’

Alvarez also drew inspiration from fellow Filipino fighter Jean Claude Saclag, who earlier secured a bronze medal and advanced to the semifinals.

‘Oo na-inspire din ako kay Jean kasi siya ‘yong unang lumaban and siya din ‘yong unang nanalo sa ‘min. Sabi ko sa sarili ko ‘di puwedeng matalo ko dito.’

Alvarez now has just one day to recover and prepare for his next challenge. He will face Yerkingali Burkutalin of Kazakhstan in the semifinals on Monday at 9:40 a.m. Manila time, with a place in the gold medal match at stake.

‘Rest lang kami mamaya ng mabuti at ayusin mga masasakit na parts ng katawan tapos ‘yon. Laban na ulit.’

For Alvarez, representing the Philippines provides an added source of motivation as he continues his medal campaign.

‘Ah sobrang motivation ‘yan kasi Pilipinas na ‘yong ni-represent namin dito eh. Hindi na team lang namin sa Baguio or something. Pilipinas na siya talaga. Napakagandang motivation at inspirasyon sa aming mga lumalaban dito.

KSM Lagos Metro launches N2bn endowment fund for charity

The Knights of St Mulumba (KSM) Nigeria, Lagos Metropolitan Council, is set to launch a N2 billion Endowment Fund aimed at establishing a sustainable financial foundation for its charitable activities, social interventions and other initiatives.

The initiative was announced during a visit by a delegation of the KSM Lagos Metro, led by the Metropolitan Grand Knight, Sir Nosa Ehigiator, to the Catholic Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Reverend (Dr) Alfred Adewale Martins, at the Lagos Archdiocesan Chancery on August 30.

The proposed endowment is expected to provide a long-term financial framework that will enable the council to sustain its programmes and reduce dependence on periodic fundraising for the implementation of its activities.

The endowment fund will be officially launched on September 26 at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja.

Speaking during the visit, Archbishop Martins welcomed the initiative, describing it as ‘a welcome development’ for both KSM and the Church.

He pledged to offer whatever support he could to the success of the initiative, stressing the importance of developing sustainable sources of funding for Church-related activities and charitable interventions.

The Archbishop noted that some older churches had been able to sustain their activities partly through strategic investments and other income-generating initiatives.

According to him, such financial arrangements could provide institutions with a more stable means of supporting their programmes and meeting their responsibilities over time.

Martins disclosed that the Archdiocese of Lagos was also considering similar initiatives through its Finance Council, indicating growing interest in sustainable financial models for supporting Church activities.

The Archbishop’s remarks underscored the importance of long-term financial planning in enabling faith-based organisations to maintain their charitable and social responsibilities while continuing to respond to the needs of their communities.

For KSM Lagos Metro, the proposed N2 billion Endowment Fund represents an effort to create a structured financial base capable of supporting its activities beyond immediate fundraising efforts.

The initiative is also expected to strengthen the council’s capacity to plan and execute its programmes on a more sustainable basis.

The September 26 launch at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, is therefore expected to mark a significant step in the council’s effort to establish a lasting financial structure for its charitable and other institutional activities.

The KSM Lagos Metro delegation’s visit to Archbishop Martins also provided an opportunity to formally present the initiative to the Archbishop and seek his support for the proposed endowment.

With the Archbishop pledging his support and the Archdiocese itself considering similar initiatives, the development points to a broader conversation within the Church on sustainable funding, investment and the long-term financing of charitable and pastoral activities.

Gunmen launch fresh attack in Plateau, kill five, injure others inside market

Gunmen in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State struck again at a vegetable market, killing five persons and injuring many others.

Sunday Tribune learnt that the gunmen attacked the market at about 8:45 p.m. on Friday when the traders were about closing for the day, opening fire at random on the people and forcing them towards various directions.

A source who escaped the attack told Sunday Tribune that in the confusion that ensued, some traders were injured and others hit by bullets, adding that the attack lasted for about 20 minutes.

The source said: ‘The unfortunate incident caused a pandemonium in Mangu town as people could not come out of their hiding even when the gunmen had gone. Five persons were killed and many were injured.’

President of the Mwaghavul Development Association (MDA), Deacon BulusDabit, who confirmed the incident, said the gunmen also shot at vehicles leaving the vegetable market.

Dabit said the identities of the victims were not immediately known, adding that several passers-by were injured and were being treated at the Jos University Teaching Hospital.

He said: ‘Around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, gunmen shot several times at a vehicle leaving the vegetable market in Mangu..

‘The names of the victims are not known yet. Several passers-by were injured and are being treated at the Jos University Teaching Hospital.’

The attack came only hours after the MDA raised concerns over continued threats to communities in Mangu, claiming that more than 750 Mwaghavul people had been killed since 2023.

In a related development, the Plateau State Police Command has recovered 10 rifles, 54 live ammunition and arrested 25 suspects in its August operations.

Addressing newsmen, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ayodeji Faniyan, said those arrested were linked to various offences, including arms possession, kidnapping, drug abuse, armed robbery, theft and sexual offences.

Faniyan said the achievements formed part of the command’s intelligence-led policing strategy, proactive crime prevention measures, rapid response to security threats and strengthened collaboration with communities and other security agencies.

PayMongo strengthens payment reliability

PayMongo continues to strengthen payment reliability to help businesses avoid lost sales and transaction disruptions, resolving 75 percent of system incidents before they affect merchants.

The company also reported cutting its average service restoration time from hours to minutes after consolidating its monitoring and security tools through technology provider Datadog.

In an interview with The STAR, PayMongo chief product and technology officer Jose Dalino Jr. said delays in processing payments can drive customers to abandon purchases or switch to another merchant.

Failed transactions can also create uncertainty over whether a payment went through, requiring businesses and payment providers to coordinate on refunds, disputes or another attempt to complete the purchase.

‘Uptime and transaction reliability are absolutely mission-critical for us,’ Dalino said. ‘Every second of downtime means real money lost for the thousands of businesses that rely on us to collect payments from their customers.’

Dalino explained that a digital payment passes through several systems, beginning with a merchant’s website or mobile application before reaching the payment gateway and the bank or electronic wallet involved.

These steps include verifying the transaction and checking whether sufficient funds are available. A bottleneck along the way can delay or interrupt the payment.

PayMongo brought its monitoring tools together to allow engineers to trace transactions across these systems and identify where problems occur.

Dalino said the company extended this monitoring to more than 60 software services that handle different parts of its operations. This allows engineers to spot rising errors and address capacity constraints before they develop into disruptions visible to customers.

According to the company, its systems can also detect when a payment partner becomes unavailable, notify merchants and automatically suspend the affected payment method.

PayMongo has also introduced safeguards allowing unsuccessful transactions to be retried without charging customers twice, Dalino said.

The improvements address a business concern for the payments provider itself. Dalino said reliability problems had previously prompted some merchants to move to competing platforms.

Alongside operational monitoring, PayMongo uses tools to identify unusual transaction patterns and scan application code for security weaknesses. Dalino said merchant and customer education remains part of its efforts to protect account credentials.

‘Reliability is what earns trust in payments,’ he said.

Asian Games: China’s 13-year-old Yu Zidi cruises as swimming begins

TOKYO-China’s 13-year-old prodigy Yu Zidi and Olympic champion Pan Zhanle cruised through their heats Sunday as swimming got underway on the opening day of the Asian Games 2026.

Yu became the youngest swimming world championships medalist in history last year when she won bronze as a 12-year-old as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

She also finished a whisker outside the medals in fourth in three world individual events.

She has embelished her growing reputation this year, notably with a victory over multiple American Olympic champion Regan Smith in March.

She opened her Asian Games campaign at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre by breezing through her women’s 200m butterfly heat, qualifying for Sunday evening’s final with the fastest time in 2 minutes 7.97 seconds.

It was 2.7 seconds quicker than the second-fastest qualifier, Chinese compatriot Chang Mohan.

Yu does not turn 14 until October.

Pan was in action in the men’s 100m freestyle, the event in which he won gold and set a world record at the Paris Olympics.

He qualified with quickest in 48.07 secpnds, ahead of South Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo.

‘The first 50 I felt I controlled my speed and then the second 50 I was at the max,’ said the 22-year-old Pan. ‘I think tonight I will be better.’

Pan is looking to rebound from a disappointing world championships last year in Singapore, where he failed to make the final in either the 100m or 200m freestyle.

He said his stunning success in Paris had taken time to get used to.

‘It’s such a big change year by year, especially after Paris. The change is in my training and in my life,’ he said. ‘I’m getting better at adjusting year by year.’

Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita finished fastest in the men’s 200m individual medley with a time of 1 min 58.56 sec.

Japan is looking for better results in the pool after winning only five golds and finishing a distant third in the swimming medals table at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Namayanja urges youth to take up leadership roles

Young people should take advantage of civic and community platforms to develop leadership skills instead of waiting to secure formal government positions before contributing to society, NRM Deputy Secretary General Rose Namayanja Nsereko has said.

Ms Namayanja said early involvement in leadership gives young people practical experience in mobilisation, dialogue, problem-solving and community engagement, which prepares them for greater responsibilities later in life.

She made the remarks on September 17, while addressing the opening ceremony of the Second Sitting of the 8th East African Youth Parliament in Arusha, Tanzania, held under the theme: ‘Different Contexts, Common Aspirations.’

The sitting brought together young leaders from East African Community partner states, including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

Ms Namayanja challenged the delegates to use available civic spaces to develop their ideas and engage institutions responsible for making decisions that affect their lives.

‘These safe civic spaces help young people develop their ideas and engage institutions that make decisions about their lives. My dear young leaders, when you say, ‘I cannot contribute because I am not in government or working for an organisation,’ you overlook the responsibility already within your reach,’ she said.

She urged young people to complement their formal education with participation in youth leadership structures, community initiatives and civic activities.

According to Ms Namayanja, such engagements enable young people to learn how to listen to communities, mobilise people, negotiate differences and find solutions to problems.

She used her own political journey to illustrate the importance of early leadership experience, saying her involvement in student and youth leadership prepared her for subsequent responsibilities.

Ms Namayanja became the Central Region Youth Representative in Parliament in 2001 before serving as Woman Member of Parliament for Nakaseke and later holding ministerial positions, including Minister of Information and National Guidance.

‘Mobilising people, listening to their concerns and earning their trust helped prepare me for those responsibilities,’ she said.

She said her participation in youth leadership structures, including the National Youth Council, also enabled young people of her generation to build networks and engage in discussions about the future of the East African region.

Ms Namayanja cited former East African Legislative Assembly Speaker Daniel Kidega, who also participated in youth leadership structures, as an example of how early exposure to leadership can lead to greater responsibilities.

‘We could not have predicted those journeys, but we were already learning to work with people and take responsibility,’ she said.

Ms Namayanja said her experiences had reinforced her commitment to supporting the East African Youth Parliament through the Rose Namayanja Foundation’s partnership with Faraja and other stakeholders.

Speaking at the same event, the State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs, Dr Mercy Faith Lakisa, also urged young people to take responsibility for shaping the future of the East African Community.

‘Leadership is not a title to be deferred; it is a duty to be claimed today,’ Dr Lakisa said.

She encouraged young people to position themselves to benefit from opportunities expected to arise from the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, particularly in entrepreneurship, employment, innovation, tourism and skills development.

Driver arrested over hit-and-run that killed boda rider, injured 3 pupils

A hit-and-run driver who allegedly rammed into a motorcycle carrying three Kiswa Primary School pupils and killed the rider has been arrested.

The driver, identified as Dennis Mulema, 33, was arrested by police at Jinja Road Police Division on September 19, 2026, a day after the crash near Muggies Hotel on Mutungo-Biina Road in Nakawa Division, Kampala District.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Rachel Kawala said the motorcycle was carrying three pupils from Kiswa Primary School when it was rammed into Mulema’s vehicle on September 18, 2026. The rider died at the scene.

Police preliminary findings indicate that the crash involved a white Toyota Hilux Double Cabin, driven by Dennis Mulema, a resident of Mutungo-Biina, and a motorcycle.

The motorcycle rider, identified as Reagan Muhindo, 22, a resident of Kasokoso in Wakiso District, died at the scene.

Three pupils of Kiswa Primary School, aged 7, 13 and 13, were also injured in the crash. Police said the children were travelling towards the Bugolobi area of Nakawa Division, where they were headed to school.

“The injured pupils were rushed to Mulago Hospital for medical attention,” Kawala said.

Police suspect careless driving

According to police, Mulema was driving from Biina towards Mutungo when his vehicle allegedly collided with the motorcycle carrying the three pupils.

The impact killed the motorcycle rider and left the pupils with serious injuries.

Police said the preliminary cause of the crash is suspected to be careless driving, although investigations are still underway to establish the full circumstances surrounding the collision and determine the exact cause.

“Mulema is currently being held by police at Jinja Road Police Station pending completion of investigations and subsequent court proceedings,” Kawala said.

The latest crash adds to concerns over road safety in Kampala, particularly on busy urban roads where motorcycles commonly carry passengers, including schoolchildren.

Police have renewed their call to motorists, motorcycle riders and other road users to exercise maximum caution, observe traffic laws and follow road safety guidelines.

The force said greater compliance with traffic regulations is necessary to prevent avoidable crashes and protect lives on Uganda’s roads.

Traffic death statistics

The Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety in April 2026 released the traffic death statistics that showed a significant rise.

According to the report, 5,383 Ugandans died in traffic accidents in 2025, translating to 15 daily deaths. This was an increase compared to 5,144 people who perished in road crashes in 2024, which translated to 13 road deaths every day.

According to AIGP Niwabiine, more road crashes were recorded during daytime hours, but the most fatalities were recorded between 6pm and 8pm, totaling 3,484 deaths, while the fewest occurred between 2pm and 3pm with 1,032 fatal crashes.

“The highest number of crashes was recorded in December with 2,443 and the lowest in June with 1,978. Fatalities followed a similar pattern, with the highest recorded in October with 523 and lowest in June with 390. The increased crashes and fatalities during peak periods are attributed to higher travel demand, increased commercial activity, and long travel distances during the festive season,” AIGP Niwabiine said.