Malawi, Myanmar, Ecuador.

Today's three stories you should know.

May 16, 2023

Malawi

At least 20 people are missing - and a child dead - after a hippo attacked a boat in Malawi’s biggest river, according to police. Rescue teams are searching for survivors but the likelihood of anybody being found alive is fading. Fourteen people managed to swim to shore or were rescued by residents who jumped into the river to help. Local MP Gladys Ganda is reported to have frequently called for a bridge to be built so that people didn’t have to use boats to cross the Shire River, which is home to both hippos and crocodiles. Poorly-maintained boats capsize on the river relatively often.

Myanmar

Hundreds of people may have died after Cyclone Mocha battered Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to an aid agency, but communication difficulties are making it hard to confirm. Rakhine is central to a civil war between Myanmar’s military rulers and insurgent groups, and the government does not entirely control it. Mocha, one of the most powerful cyclones to ever hit the region, made landfall between Sittwe in Rakhine and Cox’s Bazar in neighboring Bangladesh, where about one million Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar after a brutal crackdown in 2017. Late on Monday night, Myanmar’s government declared Rakhine a “disaster area.”

Ecuador

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso today passionately lambasted the opposition as impeachment proceedings began against him in the National Assembly. “You are anti-legislators,” he said. “I accuse you of trying to not only take down the credibility of the presidency, but that of democracy.” Lasso, 67, is accused of embezzlement related to contracts awarded to a state-owned oil transport company and it is the second time the opposition-controlled parliament has tried to have him removed since he took office in May 2021. He has repeatedly said the accusations are politically-motivated.