Asia South Korea A traditional rainmaking ritual called giuje was performed by the Gangneung Danoje Preservation Committee as severe drought is gripping the coastal city of Gangneung; water at Obong Reservoir stood at 18,3% and is projected to last other 22 days
Asia Thailand Phuket faces a growing garbage crisis, with over 1.000 tonnes of daily waste overwhelming its landfill; authorities plan to cut waste by 15%, expand the landfill, and build an incinerator, stressing the need for better waste separation
Europe Slovakia President Peter Pellegrini conferred State honours on 18 personalities from social, cultural and sporting life, nine of them posthumously
Oceania New Zealand According to AirlineRatings.com, the safest airline for 2025 is Air New Zealand, which also won in 2024 and 2022, with an outstanding safety record, with no serious accidents or crashes in the modern jet age
Oceania Nauru The country will charter a flight to Honiara for the Miss Pacific pageant, scheduled for 1-8 February 2025, with eight contestants including Miss Nauru, Charlei Andrianna Deiye
America Brazil Brazil’s Supreme Court has denied former president Jair Bolsonaro’s request to travel to Donald Trump’s inauguration, ruling that he remains a flight risk due to ongoing investigations into his alleged coup and other charges
America Argentina Argentina is advancing in production for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine VCN20 locally through a Pfizer-Sinergium Biotech partnership, which aims to boost public health, economic growth, and its regional leadership in vaccine manufacturing and export
America Bolivia Supporters of former president Evo Morales have organized security rings to prevent his arrest in Bolivia, following an order from prosecutors investigating allegations of human trafficking; Morales has accused President Luis Arce of political persecution
Europe Ukraine President Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Starmer signed a landmark agreement on a 100-year partnership to deepen security ties and strengthen partnership for future generations; meeting in Kiev, they went across defence and non-military areas
America Venezuela Venezuela has reopened its border with Colombia, just three days after closing it due to claims of a supposed "international conspiracy" coinciding with Nicolás Maduro's controversial inauguration for a third presidential term
Africa Togo Togo's Agricultural Transformation Agency launched a recruitment campaign for 55 new agents, including managers, technicians, engineers and drivers; ATA has supported over 6.000 farmers in its first two years, implementing pilot programmes in 60 cantons
Africa Sao Tome and Principe Removed from his position on 6 January, former PM Trovoada has chosen to challenge the legality of his dismissal in court; President Carlos Vila Nova had dismissed the government citing its inability to address the country’s issues and absences of the PM
Africa Senegal The Higher Education Autonomous Union has announced that it will file a strike notice demanding that authorities fulfil their commitments to pay half of the deceased teachers' survivor's pension to widows and widowers
Asia Malaysia Kedah state will mandate the inclusion of Jawi script on all billboards, effective immediately, to preserve the traditional Malay-Arabic script, reflecting the state’s cultural heritage; businesses must incorporate Jawi alongside existing scripts