Africa Uganda Uber has ended its operations in Uganda after having been a commodity in the local urban transport for over a decade; the exit takes immediate effect and follows extensive review of Uber's business priorities across Africa
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 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
America Canada Amid a worsening drug crisis, a B.C. ruling blocked Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act that would allow fines and imprisonment for people who refuse to comply with orders not to consume drugs within meters of key public spaces
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
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
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 Bahrain Aluminium Bahrain registered a record-breaking production of 1.620.665 metric tonnes in 2023, +1,3% Year-on-Year on 2022
America Bolivia Russia has secured a major contract with Bolivia's Uranium One Group, planning to invest around US$450 million in a pilot project for lithium production, aiming to tap into Bolivia's potential 23 million tons of lithium reserves, being the world's largest
Asia Myanmar The junta granted amnesty to 9.652 prisoners on 76th anniversary of the independence from the UK; the amnesty was conditioned on the agreement that, should they reoffend, they would be required to serve both the remaining sentence and any new punishment
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
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 Tanzania During the New Year festivities, there was a large influx of Tanzanian visitors (around 400) to the Mikumi National Park; according to the Tanzania National Parks Authority, the promotion campaign for wilderness visits was a great success
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