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
Europe Finland According to a poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat, the country's two largest parties that won the April elections, the liberal-conservative National Coalition Party and the nationalist and populist Party of Finns, are gaining support
Africa Sao Tome and Principe The government wants to increase the vaccination rate in the country, bringing it from 69% to over 80%
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
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
Africa Egypt The country intends to remove limits on foreign property ownership in a bid to attract more hard currency to the country; the premier said investment will lead to reduced inflation and eased pressure on commodity prices
Europe Slovenia The government revoked the decree that was the legal basis for the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism just hours before it was to be celebrated, triggering fierce criticism from the right and speaking of a 'new civil war'
Europe Ireland 2023 Climate Action Mandate was approved to achieve climate targets across the public sector such as -51%% in greenhouse gas emissions and 50% improvement in energy efficiency by 2030
Asia East Timor Parliamentary elections in East Timor are scheduled for today 21 May 2023; the President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two rounds
Europe Belgium The country entered the Council of Europe's Register of Damage Caused by Russia's Aggression in Ukraine
Europe France Current low unemployment - stable at 7,1% in the first quarter of 2023 - indicates that the country can reach its full employment target of 5% by 2027, President Emmanuel Macron said reminding the promise made in 2022
Asia Georgia Hundreds of Georgians took to the streets to protest the rapprochement after Russia restored visa-free travel for Georgian citizens on 10 May and lifted the ban on direct flights between the two countries imposed in 2019
Africa Namibia The Supreme Court ruled in favour of recognising same-sex marriages celebrated abroad with foreign spouses, making the country the second on the continent to do so after South Africa
Europe Latvia In the upcoming future, seven disaster management centres will be planned and built in the country as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan approved by the Council of Ministers