Africa Togo Five women's cooperatives involved in rice parboiling have received new equipment including large-capacity soaking tanks, eco-friendly stoves, parboiling units; the Food Resilience Systems Program in West Africa aims at cutting losses and raising output
Europe Albania Draft of a new Penal Code has sparked critics among politicians, legal community, civil society, international observers; critics say it contains authoritarian-style restrictions on free speech while reducing sentences for corruption for senior officials
Europe Kosovo Liberation Army veterans, citizens and other organizations held a protest in Pristina against the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers, accusing it of bias, namely of 'doing an injustice to the people [of Kosovo] who were persecuted by Serbia'
Europe Denmark Copenhagen Municipality will keep its job centres open as one of the pillars of its employment service, despite the national reform that removed the requirement, encouraging their closure
Africa Guinea Daouda Taban, journalist and reporter for Radiodiffusion Télévision Guinéenne RTG, passed away shortly after having been transferred to Tunisia for medical reasons; Guinean media and public are mourning his death as he leaves a 'great void'
Asia Cyprus A Turkish Cypriot has been diagnosed with mad cow disease, prompting the north’s veterinarians’ association to demand urgent biosecurity measures, pointing out that in southern Cyprus, eradication and surveillance are implemented following EU regulations
Oceania Fiji Movie 'Bati' was screened at Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival: it is the first ever Fijian feature film selected for NZIFF, filmed in Suva and the highlands of Namosi, with a Fijian cast and crew
America Saint Lucia To improve support for citizens during difficult times, the National Insurance Corporation is developing a plan for an unemployment insurance program that will provide temporary financial relief to people who become involuntarily unemployed
Europe Iceland A man involved in what is thought to be Iceland’s first bank robbery walked into a police station and confessed to the crime, police posted on Facebook; the robbery took place in 1975 and was relatively small in scale compared to later bank robberies
America Barbados A major agreement to build a coconut processing plant was signed with India, part of Barbados' plan to industrialize and expand its agro-processing sector; Export Barbados said it will create full value chains for coconut products with Indian technology
Africa Angola Old Cinema Miramar in Luanda is reportedly been sold to the Chinese without details of the deal that began in December 2013; it could be transformed into a residential space in support of the Chinese embassy
Asia Kazakhstan A new nationwide coordination body has been set up to unite state agencies in the fight against drug addiction and drug-related crimes; it will focus on developing comprehensive prevention measures, improving treatment and rehabilitation programs
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina Journalist Natasa Miljanovic Zubac, known for publishing material on organised crime and high-level corruption, has been detained, her family home searched, for the alleged crime of “disclosure of an official secret” upon orders of State Prosecutor Office
America Jamaica Three rail carts transporting bauxite to the port derailed in the Bog Walk Gorge; the National Environment & Planning Agency confirmed that the accident resulted in minimal environmental impact although one cart partially entered the river