Asia Iraq New national planning strategy focuses on relocating government institutions and major investment projects from large cities to districts to ease population density and service pressure in major urban centers, especially Baghdad
Europe Estonia Shuttle ships on the Tallinn–Helsinki route are increasing the use of cleaner fuel and will soon be fully powered by renewable energy: in January, 74% of the fuel used was liquefied biomethane and Tallink is set abandon LNG for liquefied biomethane
Asia Azerbaijan Azerenerji has started building the Zangezur high-voltage power transmission line to connect the enclave of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic to Azerbaijan’s main power grid, as well as to establish the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Europe international energy corridor
Africa Lesotho A major coordinated field campaign of Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2, one of the region’s main long-term biodiversity monitoring initiatives, is involving birdwatchers, conservationists, citizen scientists in Lesotho that hosts its highlands leg
Asia Lebanon Another building has collapsed in Tripoli, leaving at least 2 dead as rescues fear up to 20 people could be trapped under the debris; Qobbeih, where a building collapsed on an entire family last weekend, is among the neighborhoods most at risk
Africa Morocco Over 150.000 people have been evacuated from 4 provinces in northwestern Morocco due to flooding danger caused by continued heavy rains and preventive water discharging from dams
Oceania Australia Armed carjackings have almost doubled in Victoria, increasing to an unprecedented extent, despite “tough new laws” being introduced to combat the crime in 2016, with rideshare drivers and delivery workers increasingly targeted
America Grenada On Petite Martinique, Grenada’s smallest inhabited island, the solar-powered ice facility is now fully restored and operational; it is a critical lifeline for the island’s fisheries sector and the livelihoods of more than 50 local fishers
Africa Ivory Coast Ivory Coast could be buying its entire stockpile of cocoa beans as stocks pile up in a low of the international market; the move would help thousands of smallholder cocoa farmers, who are the backbone of the world's largest producer
Africa Senegal Hundreds of apartments remain empty in Dakar, while thousands of households struggle to find housing in the capital; the unprecedented phenomenon for a city where rental demand has long exceeded supply reflects a market in complete imbalance
Europe Andorra 17 of the 114 films and documentaries released in Catalan throughout 2025 were screened in Andorra, 15% of the total says report by Plataforma per la Llengua on the presence of cinema in Catalan
Africa Zimbabwe A mass seizure of stray dog has started earlier this week in Chegutu; the campaign at municipal level has been organized in partnership with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and aims to curb increasing dog bites episodes
Africa Sao Tome and Principe The International Conference on the 150th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery will culminate in an academic dialogue between two São Toméan historians and several foreigners: excluding reputable local historians from the panel has left many doubtful
Oceania Tonga Food sales and food-related gatherings in Hofoa have been restricted from 27 January to 27 March 2026 as a preventative measures to contain the spread of typhoid fever; the announcement came from the Ministry of Health earlier this week