Asia

Home to about a fifth of the world's mangrove forests, the country has gained more than 50.000 hectares of mangroves; the government is counting on the forestry sector to contribute to its carbon reduction targets

A University of Tokyo team created calcium carbonate concrete, a new type of material, from waste cement and carbon dioxide captured from industrial waste gases; the process was inspired by the way some aquatic organisms harden into fossils over time

Since the beginning of the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, Jewish settlers have committed daily violent against Palestinian villages and inhabitants, damaging land and uprooting trees

The country has launched 'The Rig' which, with a surface area of 150.000 square metres, is the world's first offshore platform tourism destination

Lebanon-based American artist Brady Black drew more than 200 portraits to commemorate each victim killed in the 4 August 2020 blast in a memorial mural that took nearly four months

The Turkish lira has fallen hitting a new low; analysts do not expect any short-term respite, given rumors of an "irrational" interest rate cut later this week

Four out of five children are in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen and 10.000 children have fallen victim to the conflict since 2015 according to according to UNICEF spokesperson James Elder

According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, the number of complaints in the last fiscal year increased almost fourfold, with internet users becoming increasingly angry about poor service

The current zero growth rate per year will be maintained for cars and motorbikes until January 2025, due to both land constraints and the increasing availability of alternatives such as public transport; growth rates were frozen in 2018 to reduce cars

The country has backtracked on ambitious plans to become the world's first fully organic farming nation, reversing a total ban on chemical fertiliser imports imposed in May with the aim of making the country's agriculture 100 % organic

After pressure from ASEAN, hundreds of political prisoners and people who had protested against the coup were released, including Aung San Suu Kyi's party spokesman and famous comedian Zarganar

Lake Milh, once a tourist attraction with thousands of visitors a day, is now severely polluted and the fauna is disappearing, due to drought and a decrease in the flow of the Euphrates for dams built in Turkey