Asia Thailand Rubella has been eliminated in Thailand as a public health threat, achieving the WHO criteria for interruption of endemic transmission; imported cases is now the key concern, especially for infections during pregnancy
Africa Mozambique Mozambican defence and security forces have captured the Catupa base, headquarter used by terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado
Africa Kenya Only around 26.000 mortgages are issued annually; the limited access to affordable finance, high cost of land, low income and credit risk make it difficult for an ordinary employee to access a mortgage at the current rates
America Mexico The state has declared a drought emergency to enable authorities to take special measures to guarantee water supplies in affected areas, which will include holders of water concessions for agricultural or industrial use providing water to third parties
Europe Belgium Federal government has extended a reduction of excise duty on diesel and gasoline to the end of the year to provide relief to consumers in the face of soaring energy prices - the measure was first intended until September
America Haiti As gang violence escalates, endangering more and more police officers, the Haitian National Police Union has launched a blood donation drive to ensure blood is available to injured officers
Asia Jordan At the 2022 UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development HH Princess Dina pointed to the negative social and economic effects of the pandemic, especially on women: rise in poverty, decrease in education rates, spike in unpaid healthcare work
America Guatemala To increase the quality of cocoa production, president Alejandro Giammattei inaugurated a cocoa profit centre, that will help producers by establishing price floors on the good and providing them fiscal advice
Africa Lesotho Lesotho and Namibia have launched campaigns to allow citizens to re-register their SIM cards with their biometric data and digital IDs, becoming the latest countries to join the trend that is rapidly gaining momentum across Africa
Oceania New Zealand Most of the country woke up to severe frost and freezing temperatures as low as -10C yesterday
Asia Iraq Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslim supporters of al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad for mass Friday prayers
Oceania Nauru The country now counts 4355 active COVID cases, around 40% of the total population, notwithstanding all measures taken in the past weeks
Asia Bahrain Over 1.000 tourists and residents visited the Ahmed Al Fateh Islamic Centre at the Grand Mosque during the Eid Al Adha open house; the event came back after two years and focused on peace and coexistence
Oceania Solomon Islands Western Provincial capital of Gizo is once again being faced with one of its decade-long problems of water shortage, now presenting even more challenge for residents each day as short rains aren’t enough to fill the home tanks nor the wells