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 Taiwan Taiwan Customs Administration will step up inspections on items arriving from China and shipped to third countries and will order state-run Chunghwa Post to ensure freight industry complies with Taiwanese laws and the destination of the parcel
Asia Myanmar Yangon Eastern Union student Nyan Win Htet was sentenced to another five years in prison by the Myanmar court for alleged terrorism
America Costa Rica The country’s support for democracy has dropped from 67% to 56% in the past 3 years; support for authoritarianism has risen from 11% to 16% during the same period according to a recent Latinobarómetro study
Europe Montenegro Former Montenegrin police chief Veselin Veljovic has been arrested on the orders of the Special Prosecutor's Office for alleged abuse of office and membership of a criminal organisation
Africa Djibouti The World Bank said the Addis-Djibouti corridor will receive a significant upgrade with a $730 million grant following the recently approved Horn of Africa Initiative Regional Economic Corridor project
Asia Bahrain Bahrain and the US reaffirmed their joint commitment to freedom of navigation in international waters, emphasising the importance of ensuring safe passage for commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz
Africa Uganda 1.000-shilling paper banknotes will be phased out, as their frequent use in transactions dirties them, making them unusable or reducing their durability, announced the Bank of Uganda
Africa Malawi A Malawi court has ordered a Chinese national to leave the country within seven days after he was found guilty of racial discrimination against children
Asia Uzbekistan USAID's Uzbekistan Education for Excellence program has ended with significant improvements in preschool and school education, including an innovative pedagogy implemented to ensure the best learning outcomes for students
Africa Eritrea Eritrea's regional governors gave a seminar to citizens of the UK cities of New Castle, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, Coventry, Birmingham and London on the objective situation at home and the role of diaspora citizens in national affairs
Europe Sweden An enquiry to revise the Swedish penal code will be set up in order to address rising crime rates and focus more on victims; it could lead to an increase in prison space, tripling the number of cells
Europe Spain The Spanish People's Party, the main conservative camp, won the elections by winning 136 seats against the 122 of the Socialist Party led by the outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, but not enough to have a majority
Africa Angola 130 young people are being trained as community inspectors in an initiative of the Cacuaco municipal administration