America Uruguay To restore police presence on the streets is priority for Montevideo's new police chief, who rejects the idea of heavy hand, defends use of armored vehicles to protect officers, maintains that Uruguay is far from falling into violence as Central America
Asia Iran Behrouz Chamanara, a language professor at the University of Kurdistan, was fired in September, shortly after the local intelligence office rejected his qualifications; Chamanara declared that dismissals are used to 'impose silence' in universities
Asia Cyprus The government and US Oil&Gas Company Chevron have agreed on the terms for developing the Aphrodite gas field in block 12 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone; the government had initially rejected proposed amendments submitted by the company
Asia North Korea The US, South Korea and Japan have imposed new sanctions on North Korea over the country's recent launch of a military reconnaissance satellite
Europe Moldova Around 50 employers from different business sectors made over 2.000 job vacancies available at the Job Fair held in Chisinau, at an event organised by the National Employment Agency and the General Employment Department of the Municipality of Chisinau
Asia Kyrgyzstan Hundreds of vendors in markets across the country demonstrated to protest the government's plan to introduce a new taxation system as of 1 January, which will increase taxes, demanding that the previous system, based on a fixed annual amount, be retained
Oceania Palau Twenty-three Palau High School students experienced what it means to produce, publish and tell a story as journalists during a six-day workshop conducted by members of the Palau Media Council as part of a project called "Nurturing Future Journalists"
America Canada As nations agreed to a landmark deal to create a global climate damage fund on the first day of climate talks at COP28, Canada pledged its own support with a contribution of $16M; other countries have pledged between $10M and $100M US
Africa Benin In order to open and operate a party venue in Benin, formal authorisation is now required, following a decree setting out the conditions to be met, including having adequately sized parking spaces and meeting sanitation requirements
Africa Uganda A 70 years old woman, Safina Namukwaya, gave birth to twins in Kampala after in vitro fertilisation treatment; the woman commented this as a 'true miracle' and the hospital emphasised not only the medical success, but the 'resilience of the human spirit'
Europe Portugal The President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro has called for early regional elections, following the rejection of the archipelago's budget for 2024 as he considers the presentation of a new budget to be pointless
Europe Norway Norwegian government officials are back in court, trying to fend off another legal challenge to their refusal to stop oil and gas exploration, sued by local environmental organisations demanding an immediate halt to the development of more oil fields
Europe Kosovo A group of young people from Belgrade and Pristina has created a new dictionary highlighting how much Serbs and Albanians have in common, with over 2.000 entries of shared words and surnames bridging ethnic and national divides
Africa Ivory Coast The country's first retirement home, opened in September, is still empty as no one wants to live in the facility, for economic, cultural and social reasons, as tradition sees the care of the elderly as a matter entirely entrusted to family and community