Asia Turkey Ankara is preparing for NATO Summit scheduled for 7–8 July 2026, the second hosted by Turkey with the one in Istanbul in 2004; this year's non-NATO guest list comprises East-Asian and Pacific powers, the absence of the central Asian block stands out
Europe Monaco The Monaco Oceanographic Museum is offering a special programme for July, August and September, reopening after 11 weeks of closure and applying a 20% discount to all visitors
Europe Lithuania Lithuania's electricity and gas transmission system operators, Litgrid and Amber Grid, plan to purchase systems capable of detecting and neutralizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and install them at 19 energy facilities
Oceania Vanuatu In the past two years (2021-22 and 2022-23 up until 23 June 2023), more than 1000 Vanuatu nationals have sought asylum through the onshore Permanent Protection visa program in Australia
Europe Iceland European Medicines Agency has begun investigating complications of diet drugs known as Ozempic and Saxenda, after Icelandic Medicines Agency stated that these appetite-reducing products could be linked to suicidal thoughts
Africa South Africa Caster Semenya, 2-time Olympic 800 metres champion, excluded from some races for refusal to take drugs to reduce her high level of testosterone, caused by genetic dysfunction, has been defined as 'discriminated against' by European Court of Human Rights
Europe Poland The government wants to hold a referendum on the country's participation in the EU's migrant relocation programme, with the likelihood that the vote would be held at the same time as next autumn's parliamentary elections
Asia Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has denied that Malaysia is a secular state, saying the concept of secularism, where there is a total separation of state and religion, is "not acceptable", not only to him as a Muslim, but to all Malaysians
Africa Burkina Faso The number of schools closed due to insecurity continues to rise: as of May 31, there were 6.149 schools closed, reports the latest monthly statistic
Europe Finland Faced with a decline since 2006 in the results of the country's young people for the Programme for International Student Assessment, the new right-wing government has said it will adopt minuses, including a law banning the use of mobile phones in schools
Europe Hungary Hungarian beer, one of the oldest sectors of the domestic food industry, is gaining popularity in Asia: in 2014, China accounted for 0,71% of Hungarian beer exports, while in 2021 it reached 10,6%
Africa Morocco Protection of intellectual property and targeted support to the various components of Morocco’s economic fabric were emphasised in Geneva at 64th meetings of Assemblies of Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO
Asia Myanmar Responding to questions from parliamentarians, Singapore Foreign Minister Balakrishnan admitted that 91 Singaporean entities provide various goods to the Myanmar military despite the 1 February 2021 coup
Europe Czech Republic The world-famous Czech writer Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, passed away on 11 July in Paris at the age of 94; in April, he had transferred his personal archive of 4000 books and 25 boxes of notes to Moravian Library in Brno