Oceania Marshall Islands The fish aggregation devices FADs that fishing boats use to make catches easier, lately equipped with satellite communications gear to pinpoint location, are now being built by drug cartels that wrap packs of cocaine and radio transponders to trace troves
Africa Republic of the Congo In June 2023, Congo Terminal, in collaboration with Renatura, an NGO specialising in the promotion of sustainable development, announced that it had successfully raised more than 300.000 children's awareness of environmental issues
Europe Italy 30% of newly published books don't even sell a single copy, despite continuous growth in book production since 2016, reveals a Nomisma study; publishing houses have fallen from 5.491 in 2012 to 4.623 in 2021
Africa Mali The draft of the new constitution, presented by the Malian transitional authorities, was approved with 97% of the votes, with a turnout of 39,4%; the no vote received only 3%
Africa Guinea The country wants the French justice system to clarify the conditions in which the 19-year-old Guinean died during a roadside check on 14 June, as stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the arrival of the young man's body at the airport in Conakry
Africa Tunisia The Italian Cooperation's project aimed at improving production and consumption models - in a frame of reaching healthy and sustainable economic growth in Tunisian coastal areas - has closed in Tunis
Africa Guinea Some political parties risk disappearing because they do not comply with the provisions of the new text of the future Constitution currently being drafted by the National Transitional Council
Asia Cambodia 12 rubbish trucks and 10 tuk-tuks have been donated by the Japanese government to the Ministry of Environment, an initiative that aims to improve environmental services in 14 provinces
Europe Germany German intelligence services have reported an increase in hybrid security threats, with events such as espionage, illegal influence peddling, disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks becoming significantly more frequent in 2022
Asia East Timor Xanana Gusmao, leader of the National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor party, returns to power as Prime Minister in a coalition government between his party and the Democratic Party
Europe Belarus The duration of the current embargo on the import of various types of Western agricultural and food products from hostile countries was extended by another six months, until 31 December 2023
Asia Laos The use of electric cooking, instead of traditional charcoal or wood, is increasing in the country, benefiting air quality, climate and human health; 8000 deaths per year are linked to domestic pollution
Europe Latvia Due to Saeima's non-compliance with a 2020 Constitutional Court ruling, the Constitutional Court declared the regulations on the language of implementation of university curricula to be unconstitutional and thus annulled as of 1 July 2024
Europe Netherlands The Council of Ministers is allocating additional funds for €12 million to help current and former prisoners reintegrate into society with the aim of reducing recidivism rates