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Malawi’s Vice President Confirmed Dead in Plane Crash

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, left, greets people in Lilongwe, Tuesday, June 11, 2024 where he made an announcement that the Vice President and nine others had been killed in a plane crash. The wreckage of the military plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima was located in a mountainous area in the north of the country after a search that lasted more than a day. (AP Photo)

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine other people died when the small military plane they were traveling in crashed in bad weather in a mountainous region in the north of the country, the president said on 11 June. Chilima was 51.

President Lazarus Chakwera announced that the wreckage of the plane that went missing Monday morning had been located after a search of more than 24 hours in thick forests and hilly terrain near the city of Mzuzu. He said the wreckage was found near a hill and the plane had been “completely destroyed,” with everyone killed on impact.

It was a “terrible tragedy,” Chakwera said. “Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is, and I can only imagine how much pain and anguish you all must be feeling.” He called Chilima “a good man, a devoted father and husband, a patriotic citizen who served his country with distinction and a formidable vice president.”

Chakwera said the victims’ remains were being brought to the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe. The seven passengers included members of Chilima’s staff and security detail along with former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri, the ex-wife of former President Bakili Muluzi. There were three crew members.

Hundreds of soldiers, police officers and forest rangers had searched for the plane since it went missing on 10 June at around 10 am while making the 45-minute flight from Lilongwe to Mzuzu, around 370 kilometers to the north.

The group was traveling to attend the funeral of a former government minister. Air traffic controllers told the plane not to attempt a landing at Mzuzu’s airport because of bad weather and poor visibility and asked it to turn back to Lilongwe. Air traffic control then lost contact with the aircraft and it disappeared from radar.

Chakwera said the wreckage was found in the Chikangawa Forest south of Mzuzu. Images from the site showed thick fog over the hills and remnants of the plane in an open area near the tree line. The president described the aircraft as a small, propeller-driven plane operated by the Malawian armed forces.

Officials with Chilima’s United Transformation Movement political party — a party different from the president’s — criticized the government response as slow and said there was no transponder on the plane, concerning for an aircraft carrying a high-level delegation.

Chilima and Chakwera had led Malawi under unusual circumstances. They both ran for president in 2019 as opposition candidates but teamed up to challenge election results in court over irregularities, and won. They then won the rerun of the election — the first time in Africa that a court-overturned election result resulted in a defeat for the incumbent president.

Chilima had said Chakwera had agreed to step down after his first term and allow him to run for president in next year’s election as part of their alliance. However, Chakwera announced he would run for reelection, and there were signs of friction between the two.

Chilima also had recently faced corruption charges over allegations that he received money in return for influencing the awarding of government procurement contracts for the armed forces and the police. Prosecutors dropped the charges last month. He had denied the allegations.

Chilima had just returned from an official visit to South Korea on Sunday. He was in his second term as vice president after serving from 2014-2019 under former President Peter Mutharika.

The search for the plane prompted an international response. Chakwera said the US, the UK, Norway and Israel had offered assistance and provided “specialized technologies.” The US Embassy in Malawi said it had assisted and offered the use of a Department of Defense small C-12 plane. Malawi also asked neighbors Zambia and Tanzania if they could help.

Malawi, a country of around 21 million people, was ranked as the fourth poorest nation in the world by the World Bank in 2019.

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BY GREGORY GONDWE AND GERALD IMRAY, The Associated Press. Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writer Farai Mutsaka contributed from Harare, Zimbabwe.

Inaugural Virtual Debate Competition on Bigo Live, Moderated by UKM


KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 June 2024 – BIGO Live, a Singapore-based global leader in social livestreaming platforms, co-hosted a six-day intellectual and educational debate among Malaysia’s youth with the Public Speaking Unit at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UPUUKM) and Mr. Ezly Marzuki, a UKM alumnus and current head coach of the UKM Malay Debate Team. This event expanded the app’s for-entertainment content and sought to elevate the Malay language in public speaking. The debates had thousands of viewers so the Bigo Live Malaysia team aims to host this event annually.

Competition Champions

From 26th April to 31st May, thirty-five students and faculty of the University’s Public Speaking Unit served as committee members, basic debate trainers, moderators, and judges for the debate competition. All official Bigo Live hosts could register and so forty-five fantastic newbie debaters joined. Participants formed three-member groups to compete and followed the official inter-varsity rules and format.

Each debate hosted a government team and opposition. Every member of the group was required to give a seven-minute substantive speech and then teammates would follow with four minute rebuttals.

Throughout the debate, sportsmanship and respect were crucial. Heckling, harassment, disruptive behavior, and sensitive topics related to race, religion, or personal matters that may offend, humiliate or embarrass were strictly disallowed.

The debates approached a variety of culturally relevant topics:

  • The Decline of Moral Values in Teenagers Begins at Home
  • Malaysians Should Have Two Jobs to Improve the Cost of Living
  • This House Believes National Athletes Need to Enhance Their Personal Safety More Strictly
  • Awareness of Hosts Is More Important Than Law Enforcement in Addressing the Issue of Misuse of the Bigo Live Application
  • This House Believes the BIGO Annual Awards Should Separate Categories by Race
  • The Age Limit for Registering on Bigo Live Should Be Lowered to Increase the Number of Users

In the final round, the Gema Diversity team, made up of Bigo hosts SirMFJ, Yvonnelohyeeman, and 423133533 won the championship!

Hashtag: #BigoLive #UKM



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

BIGO Live

Bigo Live, the leading global live-streaming platform, was launched in 2016 and now reaches 400M users across 150 countries. Bigo Live empowers individuals including musicians, artists, gamers, and content creators to showcase their talents. The dynamic community allows people to share, discover, and engage with content that interests them.

China and Philippines enterprises agreed to cooperate in complementary seaweed industries

FUZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 June 2024 – On May 31, 2024, 6 members of the Seaweed Industry Association Philippines (SIAP) were invited to attend the ASEAN — China, Japan, and South Korea Seaweed Cooperation Meeting held in Fuzhou, China. Mr. Alfredo III Pedrosa, the former president of the SIAP reviewed the cooperation with China in the seaweed industry since 2018. He believed that China has advanced technology in seaweed processing, while the Philippines has the advantage of producing tropical seaweed. Therefore, the seaweed farmed in the Philippines mainly benefits from exports to China. Due to complementary industrial advantages, cooperation with China will, to a certain extent, enhance the Philippines’ position in the global market, especially the seaweed industry in the Asia-Pacific region. China and the Philippines are the dominant players in the global seaweed market, China’s seaweed processing enterprises source raw materials from countries such as the Philippines, promote good market and production, and attract many people and seaweed farmers to participate in this type of activity, which represents a good partnership and combination. Finally, they look forward to working together to achieve the development goals of the resilient and long-term sustainability of the seaweed industry.

Agromar Enterprises is a supplier of seaweed products in the Philippines, focusing on the production and export of seaweed products. With the help of Chinese partners, the company has successfully obtained the qualification to export seaweed products to China. Ms. Soraida T. Omar, manager of the company, said that China and the Philippines are friendly neighbors and there is great potential for trade cooperation between the two countries. Through the export of seaweed to China, it will actively promote the development of the Philippines’ international seaweed trade and inject new impetus into the economic development of the two countries.

Cultivating more seaweed can not only increase employment and help local people earn more through seaweed farming in the Philippines but also form a large number of blue carbon sinks, becoming an important way to respond to global climate change. It is believed that through the participation of more enterprises such as Agromar Enterprises, the Philippines’ seaweed trade with China will bring more opportunities, breakthroughs, and benefits to the two countries, and inject vitality into the regional prosperity and stable development of the Philippines and China.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Rural Laos Gets Lifeline with Second Phase of Nutrition Initiative

Laos has launched the second Reducing Rural Poverty and Malnutrition Project. Supported by the World Bank, this initiative aims to bring additional resources to improve nutrition and raise incomes in 25 of the country’s poorest districts.

Prime Minister Highlights Economic Growth Despite Challenges

Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (Photo: Lao National Radio)

Amidst ongoing economic difficulties, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone reported a 4.7 percent growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first half of 2024, reaching LAK 148,043 billion (USD 6.8 billion).

Singapore Airlines Offers Compensation to Passengers on Flight That Hit Extreme Turbulence

Singapore Airlines Offers Compensation to Passengers on Flight That Hit Extreme Turbulence
FILE - The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft of Singapore Airlines, front, is parked after the SQ321 London-Singapore flight, that encountered severe turbulence, at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, near Bangkok, Thailand, on May 22, 2024. Singapore Airlines said Tuesday, June 11, it has offered compensation to passengers on board a flight that hit extreme turbulence last month, in a rare case that killed one passenger and injured dozens. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore Airlines said Tuesday it has offered compensation to passengers of a flight that hit extreme turbulence last month, in a rare case that killed one passenger and injured dozens.

Severe Flooding Hits Vientiane Capital After Heavy Rains

Severe Flooding Hits Vientiane Capital After Heavy Rains
A woman stands in the middle of the floods in Dondok village, Vientiane Capital (photo credit: Lao Phatthana News)

Vientiane Capital is grappling with sudden flooding following two days of heavy rain from 9 -10 June, inundating many areas.

Celebrating Pride Month: Voices From the Rainbow Community in Laos

Celebrating Pride Month: Voices From the Rainbow Community in Laos
Picture of a young woman waving lgbti flag under the sky (photo credit: Cristina Moliner)

Pride Month in June marks a time of celebration and reflection for the LGBTQ+ community worldwide. In Laos, the momentum toward acceptance and inclusivity is gaining pace, highlighted by the efforts of dedicated advocates and positive shifts in societal attitudes. While there are no specific Lao laws directly addressing the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, the Lao constitution ensures that all citizens are equal.