Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has appointed Michael Usi as the country’s Vice President, replacing Saulos Chilima who died in a plane crash on June 10.

The President announced on Thursday through Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, adding that the new Vice President will be sworn in on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Usi was the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change until he was appointed Vice President.

He is also the Vice President of the United Transformation Movement, a political party that Chilima founded and led as President.

Born in 1968, Usi is known for his significant contributions to the entertainment industry as an actor, playwright, and filmmaker. He is also known for his development work in Malawi.

In addition to his entertainment career, Usi has extensive experience with non-governmental organisations, focusing on community projects in health, education, and economic development.

Throughout his career, Usi has been an advocate for social justice, education, and community empowerment, earning him widespread respect and popularity among Malawians.

His appointment is reportedly seen as a strategic move to harness his charisma and experience to address the nation’s challenges and promote development initiatives. AGENCIES

 The National Committee for the Amendment of the Constitution is reviewing the content of the 2015 Constitution with a view to making revisions to suit Laos’ changing circumstances.

The committee will draft amendments from now until the middle of 2025 and has formed a secretariat and subcommittees to support its work, the local newspaper Pasaxon reported on Friday.

In preparation for the process, a meeting took place here on Thursday, when committee members discussed some amendments to be made, including more specific and accurate definitions of certain terms, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meeting summarised and interpreted the implementation of the 2015 Constitution to identify its strong points, weaknesses, achievements, main problems, and inconsistencies.

Meeting participants considered lessons learned and the various problems arising from the formulation of the 2015 constitution, which will be taken into account when making changes.

Changes to the existing constitution will be made to ensure greater accuracy, completeness and consistency, with the new version being more focused and practical.

Representatives of various bodies contributed opinions and suggested clarifications to the content of the Constitution, while several committee members promised to provide insightful content after holding meetings with other groups. AGENCIES

 Iranian Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has condemned the Canadian government’s “provocative and irresponsible” decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist entity”.

He made the remarks in a post on Thursday on social media platform X while reacting to an announcement on Wednesday by Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc that his country had decided to list the IRGC as a “terrorist group”.

Bagheri Kani said Canada’s act of blacklisting the IRGC, which is an integral part of Iran’s official armed forces, was a “provocation” of the principles and rules of international law and threatened regional peace and stability, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday condemned the Canadian government’s move as “unconventional and unwise,” saying the decision was a “hostile action in contradiction with international law, regarding the sovereign equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of states”.

Kanaani called it “an instance of aggression against Iran’s national sovereignty”.

In his remarks on Wednesday, LeBlanc vowed that Canada would use all the tools at its disposal “to combat the terrorist activity” of the IRGC while accusing the Iranian armed force of disregarding human rights both inside and outside of Iran.

Thousands of senior Iranian officials, including top IRGC members, are now banned from entering Canada, and those already inside the country may be investigated and removed, LeBlanc said.

As a consequence of the decision, Canadian financial institutions are required to immediately freeze the property of a blacklisted entity, and it is a criminal offence for anyone in Canada and Canadians abroad to knowingly deal with property owned or controlled by a terrorist group, according to a press statement issued by Public Safety Canada. AGENCIES

A car owned by Japan’s Finance Ministry struck and killed a pedestrian near the Diet building in Tokyo before overturning while attempting to flee the scene, local media reported citing police.

The driver, Nobuhide Nohata, 55, has been arrested near the prime minister’s office, reported national news agency Kyodo.

Employed by a company contracted by the ministry, Nohata was driving the vehicle when it hit a 67-year-old man on a pedestrian crossing around 5:40 p.m. local time on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The car drove several hundred meters before colliding with another vehicle at an intersection, then overturned, partially landing on a sidewalk.

“When I tried to turn right, I was rear-ended,” Kyodo quoted the driver of the other car, describing his shock at seeing the overturned vehicle.  AGENCIES

Five people were killed and 44 others injured in a forest fire in southeastern Turkey, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday.

A stubble fire broke out on Thursday night in the cultivated areas between the Cinar district of the Diyarbakir province and the Mazidagi district of the Mardin province, Yerlikaya said on social media platform X.

The fire was fueled by wind and quickly spread over a wide area, but it has been taken under control following firefighters’ interventions, reports Xinhua news agency, citing Yerlikaya.

Local authorities have issued warnings about the high risk of forest fires due to the forecasted extreme heat and dry weather conditions during the week.

Turkey is often subjected to forest fires in summer, especially in its western and southern regions. AGENCIES

Torrential rains have killed nine people in two places in south China’s Guangdong province, local authorities said.As of 4 p.m. Thursday, heavy rains left four people dead and four others missing in the Meixian district of the city of Meizhou, and another five dead and two others missing in Jiaoling County of Meizhou.

In Meixian, the rains have affected 32,083 people and more than 1,586 hectares of crops, causing direct economic losses of about 1.06 billion yuan ($146.4 million), Xinhua news agency reported.

In Jiaoling, a total of 64,947 people have been affected, with direct economic losses of about 3.65 billion yuan.

Rescue and disaster relief efforts are underway in the two places. AGENCIES

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled the federal government’s policy to deliver the National School Food Program across the country.

With an investment of 1 billion Canadian dollars ($730 million) over five years, the programme will provide meals to up to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programmes, according to a news statement from the Prime Minister’s website.

On average, the programme is expected to save participating families with two kids up to 800 Canadian dollars ($584) a year in grocery bills, the statement said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

The programme includes investments that will support school food programming for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities as well as Self-Governing and Modern Treaty partners, many of whom have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada, the statement added.

According to Statistics Canada estimates, in 2022, 22.3 per cent of families and more than 2.1 million children under the age of 18 in Canada reported experiencing some level of food insecurity over the past 12 months. AGENCIES

Australian police revealed on Friday that a woman was charged after wielding a knife and was injured during a police shooting in Victoria.

According to a report from Victoria Police, the 51-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of threats to assault police, two counts of assaulting police, two counts of common law assault, and reckless conduct causing serious injury.

On Sunday, emergency services were called to Penders Park near Collins Street in Thornbury at about 2:50 p.m. local time following reports of a woman armed with a kitchen knife, reports Xinhua news agency.

The involved venue is located approximately 8 km north of Melbourne’s central business district.

Despite officers’ negotiations with the woman to drop the knife, she refused to do so, and pepper spray was deployed afterward.

“The woman then allegedly ran at officers while holding the knife before one shot was fired by police. She was conveyed to hospital in a stable condition to be treated for a gunshot wound to her thigh,” said Victoria Police.Local authorities have launched an investigation into the incident under the oversight of Professional Standards Command, which is standard protocol when a police firearm is discharged. AGENCIES

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Thursday that 28 deaths were confirmed among the 50,752 officially registered Egyptian pilgrims during Hajj in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca.

Madbouly said in a cabinet statement that he was tasked by the president to lead an interdepartmental crisis unit to “provide support and assistance to the families of the deceased and to study the reasons for what had happened and work to prevent its recurrence.”

The unit will also probe into violations  those unregistered pilgrims, he said, adding that since some Egyptian pilgrims were not registered in the official Hajj database, it was difficult for the Egyptian medical team in Mecca to follow their conditions and provide necessary services.

Egyptian consular work teams were currently confirming the identity and number of hospitalized Egyptian pilgrims, including those receiving treatment and the deceased, according to the cabinet’s statement.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi highlighted “the need for immediate coordination with the Saudi authorities to facilitate receiving the bodies of the deceased and streamline the process in this regard,” said the Egyptian presidency in a statement.

On Wednesday Ahmed Abu Zeid said the ministry extended sincere condolences to the families of the deceased pilgrims, stressing its efforts around the clock until all Egyptian pilgrims return home safely.

Egyptian citizens who have lost contact with families in Mecca, Medina, or at holy pilgrimage sites are advised to contact the ministry or call the 24-hour emergency consular services in Jeddah.

Hajj, a key pillar of Islam, is annually performed in Mecca by pilgrims coming from all over the world. The number of pilgrims has exceeded 1.8 million this year, according to Saudi authorities.

The Hajj season coincided this year with a heatwave that led to hundreds of deaths among crowds of pilgrims. The temperatures in Mecca sometimes exceeded 51 degrees Celsius in recent days. AGENCIES

A shooting during a Juneteenth celebration at Lake Merritt in Oakland, US state of California, left 15 people injured, the police said.The crowds were peaceful until around 8:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday when an illegal sideshow involving vehicles and motorbikes occurred near Grand Avenue and Bellevue Avenue, Oakland Police Department said on Thursday in a press statement.

During the sideshow, someone walked onto the hood of a car, which led to the occupants getting out and assaulting that person. Then came the gunfire, Oakland Police Department Chief Floyd Mitchell said at a press conference on Thursday noon as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The Oakland Fire Department said it transported at least four gunshot victims to a local hospital.

Police also took some victims to nearby hospitals. Other victims were self-transported. AGENCIES