Asia India Indian Railways' first hydrogen-powered train made its maiden journey covering an 89-km route between Jind and Sonipat in Haryana state; the 10 coaches were powered by a 1.200 Kw hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system, the world's most powerful for a train
Africa Liberia Illegal mining taking place on the Lofa River is damaging the river and threatening sustainable forestry and biodiversity
America Nicaragua State authorities have closed the Superior Council of Private Enterprise - the country's largest private business association - therefore shutting down numerous enterprise bank accounts and causing great distress among entrepreneurs
Asia Japan The head of an upscale inn and onsen in Fukuoka apologised for only changing the water in its hot-spring bath every six months, allowing legionella bacteria to breed 3.700 times over the standard limit
America Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Out of a total of 118 applications, 20 fishing loans were approved for the purchase of two dugouts and 12 engines under the Fleet Expansion Programme launched in June 2022
Asia Turkmenistan Meetings of the 258 candidates elected by organizations and citizens began; they compete for 125 seats in parliament in the elections to be held on 26 March 2023, announced the “Watan” news program of the Turkmen television
Africa Ivory Coast A special project promoting arts and culture is trying to develop knowledge of the traditional xylophone known as the balafon, as a significant cultural heritage of mankind
America Canada Two First Nations have reached an agreement with Ontario to build a road to potential mining sites in the Ring of Fire area, about 500 km north of Thunder Bay, thought to be rich in critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries
America Panama The country has now extended its protected ocean area to over 54% of its total waters, to fortify the preservation of valuable marine ecosystems, endangered species, and essential fishing resources located in its territorial waters
America Venezuela As part of the 10th anniversary of former leader Hugo Chavez’s death, who boosted cooperation with Russian oil, government officials met with their Russian counterparts to boost crude oil production and seek new business opportunities
Asia Palestine UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East launched appeal for $16,2 million to meet the humanitarian and early recovery needs of Palestinian refugees affected by earthquake in Syria and Lebanon
Africa Malawi The country received 20.000 tonnes of fertiliser from Russia, expressing gratitude to the Russian Federation for the gesture, saying it was an act of goodwill resulting from good bilateral relations
America Bolivia The government is currently working on a plan to fully industrialise lithium by the end of this year, by carefully studying and selecting the companies that will be extracting and processing the good for its commercialisation in the next years
America Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso and his Costa Rican counterpart, Rodrigo Chaves, have signed a historic free trade agreement between both countries, which includes free trade for 97% of Ecuadorian products and over 90% of Costa Rican products