Oceania Marshall Islands The Marshallese Christmas is celebrated with Jepta, or 'group', dancing and signing competitions, Wojke - a handmade container filled with small gifts and Biit Dancing - an energetic, modern church dancing, often loud and with amplified music
America Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ms Isola Giddings has been elected for a second consecutive term as President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Hotel & Tourism Association at its Biennial General Meeting elected a new Board of Directors
Asia Kuwait The first Hearth Summit in the Middle East is taking place at the American University of Kuwait; organized by Kuwait-based social development organization en.v with global Wellbeing Project, it promotes individual, collective, and ecological well-being
Oceania Tuvalu At WCPFC22, Tuvalu said that key fisheries rules are falling behind and must be strengthened to protect the region’s tuna stocks and the economies that rely on them; the strongest warning came on high seas’ transshipment
Europe United Kingdom Skipton in Yorkshire has been named happiest place to live in Great Britain: access to nature and essential services as well as friendliness of the people led the ‘gateway to the Dales’ to top Rightmove index 2025
Oceania Kiribati Former Kiribati president Anote Tong, a leading voice on climate change, says Australia's failure to secure its bid to host the next United Nations climate conference COP31 with Pacific nations is a missed opportunity in several ways
Africa Lesotho Bishop of Lesotho, Anglican Reverend Dr Vincentia Kgabe, who ended her mandate on 30 November and now serves in Pretoria, has been accused of mismanaging and bringing the church into disrepute by a priest of the Church of Southern Africa- Lesotho chapter
Europe Finland Over 700 students and staff at the University of Helsinki walked out of classes to protest academic cooperation with Israeli universities; similar demonstrations took place at universities in Tampere, Turku, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Oulu and Rovaniemi
Europe Czech Republic The hepatitis A outbreak in Czechia is not abating; almost 3.000 cases of the disease have been recorded so far this year, which is twenty times more than 2024 and the highest figure in 30 years
Asia Iraq Iraq has become the champion in the Worldwide Mental Arithmetic Competition WAMAS—Dubai 2025, held in the UAE; students of the Iraqi team outperformed over 500 opponents from 27 countries
Europe Hungary Oscar-winning Director László Nemes Jeles has been shooting his new film at Budapest’s Nyugati Station; travellers were met with an unexpected setting as part of the station was transformed into wartime France
Asia Oman First integrated green methanol facility in Oman will be in Dhofar Governorate; a Public-Private Partnership will develop integrated production and supply of green methanol making the Sultanate a leading hub for supplying carbon-free fuel to ships
Europe Denmark A two-year project to get internationals involved with sports clubs will be launched by Danish Sports Federation with a dedicated person to coordinate the process; pilot initiatives will involve seven smaller federations opening up to new residents
Africa Morocco At a panel titled “50 Years After the Green March: The Moroccan Sahara, From Sovereignty to Development & Growth” former UN adviser and Morocco World News cofounder Samir Bennis described the 1975 Green March as a geopolitical turning point for the region