America Panama A tanker paid a record $5,3 million for priority passage through the Panama Canal before the number of daily transits will be reduced due to the El Niño weather phenomenon; rainfall deficits and drought deplete water reserves needed to operate the canal
Africa Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tomé and Príncipe won the award for the world's best chocolate at the Paris trade fair for Diogo Vaz chocolate
Oceania Tonga According to the International Monetary Fund, Tonga's economy is performing well, but faces increasing headwinds, following the recovery from the volcanic eruptions of January 2022 and the opening of borders after the long blockade of Covid-19
Asia Maldives President Solih awarded the Most Distinguished Foreign Service Medal to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khaleel, and to the Foreign Secretary, Latheef, after a long period of service in the Foreign Service, 41 years in the case of Khaleel
Europe North Macedonia The Commission for Elections and Appointments appointed Marija Janiceska as Director of the Technical Operations Agency
Asia Taiwan The four presidential candidates have all proposed policies on Taiwan's energy future, with broad agreement on the importance of renewable energy but considerable disagreement on whether Taiwan should continue to use nuclear power and in what form
Oceania Palau A presidential directive establishes a 'Commission for the Palau-Japan Special Economic Agreement' with the aim of building a 'special' relationship with Japan
Asia Qatar HMC's emergency departments received more than 700.000 visits in 2022; efforts to improve the level of care resulted in a reduction of waiting time for patients to be seen by a doctor to less than one hour after arrival
Asia Sri Lanka The country has started planning to recruit graduate teachers and teaching assistants to fill vacancies in Tamil language schools
Europe Liechtenstein A special stamp was presented at the Regional Museum on the occasion of Liechtenstein's chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
Europe Romania MedLife, the largest network of private medical services in Romania, will introduce a drone transport system for biological laboratory samples in western Romania; MedLife will be the first private medical operator in Central and Eastern Europe to do so
Africa Kenya Paul Mackenzie, the Kenyan holy man suspected of leading the hunger cult and being responsible for the deaths of over 400 people, was found guilty on separate charges
Europe Hungary An international migration research network involving five research institutes from three continents will be established in Budapest
Oceania Papua New Guinea The Papua New Guinea Department of Information and Communications Technology's cyber security team recently conducted a crucial awareness session at the Port Moresby National High School