Africa Comoros Tayar, the first Comorian ride-hailing app, has been launched with support of Comorian Association of ICT and its incubator Comor'Lab; relying on geolocation, it is designed to enhance road safety and has an alert system connected to emergency services
Africa Rwanda The Tour du Rwanda, considered Africa's most important cycling race, has begun its 2023 edition and will take place in different parts of the country until 26 February
Asia Singapore Singapore and India launched a real-time link to facilitate cross-border funds transfers between bank accounts or e-wallets, using mobile phones by linking Singapore's PayNow service to India's unified payment interface
Africa Burkina Faso MSF said that following the attack in which two staff members were killed on 8 February 2023 in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, all activities in the country will be suspended in order to analyse the risks to which the teams are currently exposed
Europe Iceland Icelandic writer Sjón has been awarded the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize 2023 for his significant contribution to Nordic literature
Asia Japan Famous Japanese manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto, whose real name was Akira Matsumoto, has died at the age of 85; Matsumoto was known for his epic science fiction sagas, including Galaxy Express 999, Queen Emeraldas and Space Battleship Yamato
Asia Thailand The death of a 49-year-old Uighur asylum seeker in Thailand has prompted rights groups to call for a humane solution to the situation of some 50 Uighur men detained for nine years
America United States A record 6.542 guns have been intercepted at US airport security checks in 2022; experts say the figure mirrors how frequent and careless is the personal possession of arms in the country
Asia Maldives The new academic year 2023-2024 will start on 6 August, according to the calendar published by the Ministry of Education; the second school term will begin on 7 January and end on 13 June 2024
Oceania Papua New Guinea A mission is underway to rescue an Australian professor and three local researchers held hostage by an armed group in Papua New Guinea; he was captured while he was on a field study trip in the remote highlands at an unspecified date
Africa Mozambique Cyclone Freddy, which is intensifying as it approaches the coasts of south-east Africa, particularly Mozambique and Madagascar, has been labelled 'dangerous' by the UN meteorological agency; nations prepare for the impact with land
Europe Sweden Stockholm police rejected, for the second time in a row, a request to burn a Koran outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, as the protest could lead to an increased terrorist threat in Sweden
Africa Tunisia The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Irishwoman Esther Lynch, was declared persona non grata in Tunisia by President Kais Saied, who on Saturday gave her 24 hours to leave the country
Asia Taiwan Eight hotels and two spas in Taiwan were listed in the 2023 Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards published on 15 February, including the Mandarin Oriental in Taipei, which was awarded its seventh-straight five-star rating