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
Asia Bahrain Aluminium Bahrain registered a record-breaking production of 1.620.665 metric tonnes in 2023, +1,3% Year-on-Year on 2022
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
Africa Uganda A well-known Lgbtq rights activist in Uganda, Steven Kabuye, who works with the Coloured Voices Media Foundation, was stabbed, sustaining serious injuries
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
Asia Nepal An agreement was signed with India to export 10.000 MW of energy over 10 years; other agreements were also signed on earthquake reconstruction, satellite launching and renewable energy
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
America Colombia Colombian ornithologist John Murillo has discovered a Honeycreeper bird with blue plumage on the right (typical of males) and green on the left (typical of females), a rare phenomenon estimated to occur once in over 100 years
Africa Somalia Somalia declared null and void the agreement just signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia to grant the latter access to ports
Africa Egypt Egypt officially joined the Brics, a group of countries with emerging economies, namely 'emerging national economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa'; President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi welcomed 'the confidence of the Brics member states'
Asia Iraq $697 million have been allocated for Baghdad first metro project, following a delay of several years; the funds cover design studies and project management
America Argentina Argentina has resumed the export of seven previously prohibited beef cuts, including popular choices like asado and vacío, as the decree restricting their international trade, Decree 911/21, expired
Europe Ukraine Russia reportedly launched 500 missiles and drones at Ukraine in three days; two of the biggest cities have been hit in a wave of heavy air strikes and at least five civilians have been killed
Europe Latvia With three days to go until signature collection closes, 14,65% of the necessary votes have been collected for a referendum on repealing amendments to the law introducing a partnership institute in Latvia