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On 28 May, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala received Malawi’s instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies from Malawi’s WTO Ambassador Caroline Bwanali-Mussa. Malawi brings to 100 the number of WTO members that have deposited their instrument of acceptance with the WTO, WTO reported.

DG Okonjo-Iweala said: “The depletion of marine fish stocks globally requires our urgent collective action. I thank Malawi for joining this crucial collective effort. With Malawi's instrument of acceptance, we have reached a milestone for putting into motion a multilateral deal that will support more sustainable use of our oceans and fisheries for current and future generations. With this 100th instrument, we now need just 11 more to add the Agreement to the WTO rulebook!”

Ambassador Bwanali-Mussa said: “Malawi is committed to the multilateral trading system. Although we are not a coastal country, we fully support WTO members' collective efforts to protect the environment, conserve global fish stocks and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. These efforts are integral to the protection of the livelihoods of vulnerable populations who rely on aquatic ecosystems for food security, employment, health and socio-economic resilience.”

For the Agreement to enter into force, formal acceptances from two-thirds of WTO members are required — representing 111 members. The list of the 100 WTO members which have deposited their instruments of acceptance with the WTO is available here, according to WTO.

At the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) held in Geneva in June 2022, ministers adopted by consensus the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, setting new, binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. The Agreement prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, for fishing overfished stocks, and for fishing on the unregulated high seas. Ministers also recognized the needs of developing economies and least-developed countries by establishing a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to help governments which have formally accepted the Agreement implement the new obligations.

WTO members also agreed at MC12 to continue negotiating on remaining fisheries subsidies issues. The objective is to find consensus on additional provisions to further strengthen the disciplines on fisheries subsidies.

The Department of Health (DOH) has recommended declaring HIV a national public health emergency in the Philippines due to a 500 percent increase in cases among youth aged 15 to 25, Xinhua reported.

DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the country recorded an average of 57 new HIV cases daily from January to March 2025 — the highest rate in the Western Pacific region. In comparison, daily cases were at 21 in 2014 and rose to 48 in 2024.

From January to April 2025, the average rose to 56 cases per day, 44 percent higher than the same period last year. The predominant mode of transmission is sexual contact, mainly among males having sex with males, according to Xinhua.

The Kanti Highway is to be closed for four days beginning tomorrow for the construction of a Bailey bridge.

The new infrastructure is to be set up over the Bagmati River at the border of the Bhimphedi Rural Municipality in Makawanpur and Baguwa of Lalitur district.

The Makawanpur District Administration Office informed about this by issuing a public notice today.

During the closure period (from June 4 to 7), potential commuters have been urged to use an alternative route.

The bus park in Bhiman, Kamalamai Municipality-9, has not come into operation even two years after its construction was completed. Built at a cost of Rs 43.641m by the Bagmati Province government, the terminal is rapidly deteriorating due to neglect and lack of maintenance, locals say. Despite being fully constructed, the facility has never been used, and its structure is now crumbling and visibly worn.

The Bhiman Bus Park includes comprehensive infrastructure: parking for at least 100 vehicles, ticket counters, a waiting room, drinking water facilities, a flower garden, offices, employee quarters, restrooms for the disabled, a garage, service areas, solar lighting, separate toilets for men and women, and a Vishwakarma Baba temple. It is strategically located at the intersection of the Banepa-Sindhuli-Bardibas (BP) Highway and the Hetauda-Sindhuli-Gaighat (Madan Bhandari) Highway.

According to local resident Balram Ghimire, the double-lane terminal has not been handed over to the municipality, and is falling into disrepair as a result. Constructed through the Urban Development and Building Office, the bus park was inaugurated in Oct 2023 by then Bagmati Province Chief Minister Shalikram Jamkatel. Although it was scheduled to be handed over to Kamalamai Municipality on the same day, the absence of the mayor led to the handover being postponed. Since then, the municipality has refused to take ownership, citing incomplete procedures.

Durga Prasad Ghimire, chief of the Urban Development and Building Office, Sindhuli, said the handover letter was sent to the municipality two years ago, but it has yet to be accepted. “We wrote to the municipality asking them to take over and operate the bus park. However, they have neither responded nor initiated any operations,” he said. Ghimire added that the infrastructure is deteriorating because it hasn’t been used or maintained, and the contractor’s liability period for repairs has also expired.

Kamalamai Deputy Mayor Manju Devkota said the municipality will not take ownership until the damaged structures are fully repaired. “We had asked for all the damaged components to be restored, but they were never rebuilt after the inauguration and symbolic handover,” she said. Currently, the lights at the bus park are broken, windows and doors are unusable, and the roadbed has collapsed in several areas. The bus park was initiated to address traffic congestion and accidents caused by unorganized parking along the BP and Madan Bhandari highways. Construction began in fiscal year 2020/2021 under a contract awarded to Atreya Shree Krishna JV.