Asia Bangladesh Recent studies demonstrated that microplastics are present in water, sediments, fish, salt, soft drinks, milk, edible oil and more products in Bangladesh, underscoring the growing concern that these pollutants are transferred to humans through food
Asia Turkey The Yunus Emre Institute is preparing to launch an artificial intelligence-based Turkish language teaching platform in 2026, a move expected to significantly scale the global reach of Turkish-language education
Europe Sweden According to Ticket – the largest private travel agency in the Nordics – the US is the only top-ten country where travel bookings are declining for 2026, -21% on 2025; figures could change ahead of this summer's planned World Cup in the country
America United States Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York in a private ceremony at an abandoned subway station before the public inauguration event outside City Hall; 34, a democratic socialist, he is the first Muslim and South Asian to govern US’s largest city
America Panama A Chinese monument at the Panama Canal has been demolished by local authorities amid Trump’s threats to retake control, prompting outrage from Panama’s government and calls for its immediate restoration
Asia Cyprus After 14 years, Cyprus has taken over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union yesterday 1 January; it will lead during a politically sensitive moment, and aims to shape the EU's role on the global stage
America Nicaragua The National Assembly has approved the creation of the International Mangrove Center in Nicaragua to restore coastal ecosystems, enhance environmental cooperation, and support climate resilience through research and sustainable management
America Guatemala A bus accident on the Interamerican Road has left 15 people dead and at least 15 injured in Guatemala, prompting the government to declare a 3-day national mourning period amid ongoing concerns over road safety
Asia Iraq For the Baghdad Metro project and for the development of a new Iraq's investment portfolio international institutions such as the IFC and the European Investment Bank will be involved in collaboration with relevant Iraqi institutions
Asia Israel For Israeli tech firms 2025 has been a record year, with unprecedented gains even amid war; despite optimism, the future of many business will be outside Israel due to exodus of talent and taxes: the country would then loose its main economic driver
Oceania Fiji Random Fiji Police sweeps in hotspot areas across urban centres are address the growing number of beggars and street children proving food rations; the operation begun weeks ago is continuing during the festive season
Europe Iceland The Order of the Falcon, Iceland's highest national honor established in 1921 and awarded twice a year, has been confered on fourteen Icelanders on New Year’s Day; for the first time the Office of the President announced number of recipients in advance
Africa Guinea-Bissau A power outage struck a large part of Malabo, affecting the city in the hours before New Year's Eve; it took some time to the electricity distribution company SEGESA to assess the cause and estimate time for its restoration
America El Salvador El Salvador has sparked political debate after approving constitutional reforms that allow indefinite presidential re-election, which President Bukele has defended as a democratic choice backed by citizen support