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
Asia Palestine UN rice resold at 10€/kilo, 50% commissions on cash: this is how people survive in the northern Gaza Strip, a local journalist shows in a video published in El Pais, saying that only those receiving a salary can resist the absence of humanitarian agencies
Asia Malaysia Up to $150 billion over the next five years will be spent for equipment from U.S. multinationals for semiconductor, aerospace and data center industries in an articulated plan that reduces threatened U.S. tariff on Malaysian goods from 25% to 19%
Asia Mongolia “Ebarimt” the VAT receipt system that issues lottery-based tax receipts to encourage compliance will be fully digitalized; Led by the Digital Development Ministry with the central bank, it will replace paper receipts with mobile and card-based tracking
Africa Gabon Full membership of Gabon within the Commonwealth has been restored: it had been partially suspended in 2023 out of violation of the democratic principles of the Charter; progress towards fulfilling obligations remains in the agenda of upcoming meetings
Oceania Papua New Guinea Millions of Kina have been lost in the past two weeks due to power blackouts and internet failures, says the PNG Manufacturing Council, adding that it is not a problem of capacity but of poorly run grids and mismanaged maintenance
Asia Bangladesh Transport associations have revoked a 72-hour nationwide strike announced for today after government softened its stance on phasing out outdated vehicles; though it didn't meet the eight-points demanded, it will start to ban the older vehicles first
Asia Nepal On August 1, Bagmati Province was officially declared fully vaccinated for children aged 16–23 months, with all districts achieving complete coverage
Europe Portugal A firefighter in Ourém was arrested for fires he is believed to have started with devices set with timers between June and July this year out of the money he would received to combat them; the episode exposes a suspected plague affecting other countries
Africa Nigeria Intelligence has spotted hideouts used by criminals in Abuja; in the interest of public safety, Federal Capital Territory Administration has started targeted cleanups with the demolition of a section of Jazz and Blues Entertainment at Panorama Park
Europe Monaco A criminal investigation is underway following the collapse of Monegasque travel agency Star Croisières, which has been officially declared bankrupt by a Monaco court after leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded
Europe Spain Firefighters have saved Córdoba’s historic 8th century mosque-turned-cathedral as electric fire broke out at around 9pm on Friday; known as La Mezquita, it's a jewel of Islamic medieval architecture and a UN heritage site with 2 million visitors per year
Oceania Palau New mothers at Belau National Hospital are voicing growing concerns over the hospital’s breastfeeding policy, which mandates that infants are to be fed exclusively breastmilk, highlighting the emotional toll of the policy
America Jamaica At a flag-raising ceremony marking 63rd Independence Day, Mayor of Black River Richard Solomon urged citizens to take more responsibility in valuing and protecting Jamaica’s independence, inviting to more civic involvement, dropping among young people