Asia Israel The Knesset has passed a media overhaul law giving government greater regulatory control; PM Netanyahu attended the debate, skipping the vote; the news has been released by a number of online media in the late hours of 16 July
Africa Nigeria Cleaning up decades of oil pollution and restoring environmental health in just one of Nigeria's crude oil-producing states, Bayelsa State, will cost at least $12 billion
Africa Sao Tome and Principe The government wants to increase the vaccination rate in the country, bringing it from 69% to over 80%
Africa Kenya The country kicked off its wetland restoration and rehabilitation strategy in a bid to increase the country's climate resilience
Europe Iceland The Tindastóll team celebrated a historic victory by winning its first men's basketball championship
Africa Ethiopia Over 7 billion saplings are ready to be planted in the coming rainy season, as part of the Green Legacy Programme that has resulted in the planting of 25 billion saplings over the past four years
Asia Iraq UN officials urged the country to push ahead with planned political and economic reforms, preserve women's rights and continue talks with Kuwait for compensation of Kuwaitis who disappeared in 1990 Iraqi invasion
Asia Afghanistan In western Farah province construction has begun on the Bakhsh Abad Dam; expected to be completed in five phases, the major project will be able to irrigate more than 100.000 hectares of land, as well as generate electricity for the population
Asia Uzbekistan According to a new study by the Asian Development Bank, the adoption of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies could create more than 430.000 net new jobs in just two key sectors in Uzbekistan by 2025
Europe Greece The vote count so far shows that incumbent Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, conservative New Democracy, has a double-digit lead over his main challenger, the left-wing Syriza party of Alexis Tsipras
Europe Switzerland The Federal Department of Finance has set up a group of experts to study the role of banks and 'too-big-to-fail' regulations in the Confederation
Asia Cyprus Nicosia will host three distinct book bazaars this May, one coming up this weekend and the other two taking place just before the month ends
Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo Sexual violence has become a serious problem in the country, with an increasing number of victims; for example, Médecins Sans Frontières reported having treated 'more than 670 victims of sexual violence' in the east only in the period from 17-30 of April
Europe Spain National Police and Department of National Security are investigating online campaigns that undermine credibility of upcoming Spanish regional elections, afraid they may intensify before Spain's presidency of EU Council and general elections in November