Asia Myanmar Peace talks with several smaller ethnic armed organizations have been promoted by Myanmar’s military government as evidence of ongoing national reconciliation; Critics argue the discussions exclude many of the country’s most powerful resistance groups
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
Africa Ghana The country has declared a 46-day visa-on-arrival regime for visitors, from 1 December 2023 to 15 January 2024, part of government's ambitious 10-year 'Beyond Return' campaign designed to encourage Africans in the diaspora to reconnect with Ghana
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
Europe Russia Russia's Supreme Court has ruled that the LGBT 'movement' is 'extremist', sparking a global outcry over fears that the designation will allow the country to tighten repression against gays and transgender people
Europe Liechtenstein Liechtenstein and Switzerland will improve cooperation and protection of gamblers with agreement to exchange data on gambling suspensions; until now, people banned from gambling in one of the two countries could still access casinos in the other country
America Dominica The Dominica Chess Federation held its first Queens Gala, a women-only chess tournament, at the UWI Open Campus, with 10 women participating in six rounds of chess matches
Europe Italy The European Commission approved Italy's €1,7 billion state aid mechanism to support photovoltaic installations, part of the Instrument for Recovery and Resilience and part of the strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions increasing renewable energy
Asia Sri Lanka Sri Lanka's garment exports continued their downward trend, falling 20% year-on-year to $330,95 million, according to data compiled by industry body Joint Apparel Association Forum
Africa Algeria The second edition of the Treg Algeria Trail has kicked off, a race and trek in the middle of the Algerian Sahara, with 4 categories with lengths from 50 to 182 km; participants are self-sufficient in food and self-navigating via GPS
Africa Chad The campaign leading up to the referendum scheduled for 17 December began; citizens will be asked to vote for or against a new fundamental law, between a centralised, unitary form of state and one that provides for federalism
Africa Tunisia Nejib Guesmi, a Tunisian researcher, has developed 12 new types of transparent plastics made of non-polluting biological materials
Europe Serbia Novak Djokovic and his Serbian teammates at the Davis Cup finals sang a song seen by many as support for so-called Greater Serbia, calling for the Serbian tricolour to be flown over parts of neighbouring Kosovo and Montenegro
Africa Sierra Leone Eugenia Kargbo, 35, has been appointed as Freetown's city heating manager and is one of seven women appointed worldwide to help cities adapt to extreme heat, the first on the African continent