Asia Syria Germany's Ministry of Transport lifted the landing ban and normalized passenger traffic with Syria from 27 July 2026, thus opening to direct flights Düsseldorf-Damascus today 29 July, Berlin Brandenburg-Damascus and Cologne/Bonn-Aleppo on 1 August
America Antigua and Barbuda A total of 409 fire calls, out of which 376 classified as major calls, while the remaining 33 minor, were received in 2023 by the Fire Department of Antigua and Barbuda according to official report
Asia South Korea Around 100.000 people gathered at various locations across Busan to see the first sunrise of the year, though it was delayed by 20 minutes due to heavy clouds; Haeundae and Gwangan Beach areas drew around 65.000 individuals, while 20.000 visited temples
Africa Cameroon A new tax compliance certificate, which can be downloaded online via the Harmony platform, has been established to obtain an exit visa in order to boost the fight against tax evasion by forcing those who have to travel to comply with their payments
Asia North Korea The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is his 'most likely successor', according to the man listed as the next head of Seoul's spy agency
Africa Malawi Temwa Chawinga has been named the best female goalscorer of 2023 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics: she is the first non-European to achieve this goal and the third winner of the award since it was established for women
America Costa Rica As of January 1, 2024, Costa Rica has revised minimum wages, witnessing nearly a 2% increase for the private sector
Europe United Kingdom Junior doctors demanding better working conditions have begun an unprecedented six-days strike expected to bring massive disruption of non urgent care and tens of thousands services cancelled, amid flu peaks and a surge in the need of hospital care
Europe Moldova Moldova is officially a member of the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, an initiative of coordination in crisis situations and natural dangers, since the beginning of this year
Europe Switzerland Around one million counterfeit Swiss watches were confiscated worldwide in 2023, says the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry despite a constant monitoring for fake "Swiss Made" on websites or socials and training for customs officers in many countries
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina In a series of indictments announced over the New Year period, 15 suspects were charged with various wartime crimes including attacks on villages that left dozens of Bosniaks and Croats dead and executing hundreds of men from Srebrenica
Africa Zambia Health authorities recorded 4.162 cases of cholera with a peak of 257 new cases in just 24 hours, with 8 people dying; the total number of deaths is 124 since the outbreak of the disease in January 2023
Africa Guinea The ruling military junta has officially announced that a constitutional referendum will be held in 2024, a key step towards returning power to civilians, without specifying a date
Asia Malaysia Gerbang Alaf Restaurants, licensee of McDonald's in Malaysia, has sued the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Malaysia movement alleging that it published a series of social media posts linking the fast-food franchise to Israel's military offensive in Gaza