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 Argentina Along with water distribution experts, the government is seeking new measures to battle drought, as 50% of its territory is suffering from lack of water and over 26 million livestock animals are at risk
Africa Zimbabwe The speaker of Zimbabwe's parliament handed over a pre-election report to President Emmerson Mnangagwa; it is a constitutional tradition for the president to receive a report from parliament before elections
Africa Ethiopia Lionel Messi, Argentina's recent World Cup-winning football star, announced on social media that he will collaborate with the company OrCam to donate visual aids to visually impaired Ethiopians
Africa Uganda The country has issued a final tender to a TotalEnergies subsidiary for the construction of a $3,5 billion pipeline to Tanzania
Africa Gabon Foreign Minister, Michael Moussa Adamo, died on Friday after suffering a heart attack during a cabinet meeting; reacting to his death on Twitter, President Bongo paid tribute to Moussa Adamo, whom he called "a friend and a great diplomat"
Europe Germany According to official statistics, the number of people living in the country increased due to record immigration, reaching an all-time high of 84,3 million in 2022
Europe Sweden After the leader of the far-right Stram Kurs party, Rasmus Paludan, burned the Koran right in front of the Turkish embassy, strong dissent came from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Europe United Kingdom Brexit has caused the loss of 330.000 workers from the UK economy, according to new research published by thinktanks UK in a Changing Europe and Centre for European Reform
Europe Albania Thirty years after establishing diplomatic relations between Albania and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka announced the opening of an embassy in Kiev, a decision officially confirmed by the Council of Ministers
Africa Madagascar The first tropical storm of the season in Madagascar has flooded 700 homes; no casualties are counted but one person is missing
Europe Portugal Members of the Portuguese National Civil Aviation Staff Union (SNPVAC) rejected TAP's proposal during a general assembly and decided to maintain the strike notice between 25 and 31 January
Africa Ivory Coast The country has made progress in the fight against corruption, as stated by the president of the High Authority for Good Governance, with evidence by international rating agencies' assessments of good governance and observation of corruption in the world
Europe Austria The government wants to reduce the burden of high electricity prices for households by covering 80% of grid tariffs, while the authorities are trying to counter inflated prices from utility companies by investing an additional €200 million