Asia Laos New rules for intellectual property protection wereintroduced, allowing businesses to protect industrial designs internationally through a single application under the Hague System; It simplifies registration and administrative procedures, reducing costs
America Saint Kitts and Nevis The annual Prostate screening, organized by Nevis health promotion, took place after two years of hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and registered pre-pandemic participants’ numbers
Asia Azerbaijan Authorities spoke of “terrorist act” with reference to the gunman attack to the Azerbaijan embassy in Tehran that killed the Head of Security, while Iranian officials blamed the assault on “personal motivations”
Europe Monaco Isabelle Costa, currently advisor to the Prince's Cabinet, has been appointed High Commissioner for European Affairs and will oversee the negotiations between the Principality and the European Union
Africa South Africa Scheduled blackouts due to the inability of the state-owned energy company Eskom to ensure a sufficient supply of energy resulted in the death of 40.000 chickens on an industrial farm in the country
Africa Ethiopia According to data compiled by Quartz, the country lost $145,8 million due to government-imposed internet blackouts in 2022 that directly harmed over one million people
Europe Andorra The government has signed an agreement with the French company EDF to build a responsible, zero-emissions energy model
Asia Taiwan A group of 200-300 dolphins made their way into Taichung Harbor on Lunar New Year's Eve, swimming in the protected waters for over an hour; the very rare episode did not disrupt port traffic, authorities underline
Asia Jordan Sabaa Thnaibat is the first Jordanian woman to fly solo in an F-16 fighter jet; she embodies the words the King once told Jordanian women, vivid in her memory: “not be wary of participating” and to “always move forward”
Africa Somalia Pam's executive director stated that the support of donors such as the US and Germany had made it possible to slow down the famine in Somalia, but emphasised that "we are not out of the woods yet"
Asia Palestine Multiple airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have caused a rising exchange of fire, a day after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp, marking one of the deadliest raids in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli army
Asia Turkmenistan A draft agreement on the delimitation of the bottom of the Caspian Sea was discussed in Ashgabat by the delegations of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, reported the press service of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry
Asia South Korea Face masks will no longer be required indoors starting Monday 30th Jan, except in high-risk places such as hospitals and on public transportation; schools, kindergartens, child care centers and department store will be mask-free
America Bahamas Prime Minister has ordered an immediate, involuntary departure from Haiti of all diplomatic personnel, as soon as security conditions permit, out of an abundance of caution over the security situation that has become less stable over the past days