Oceania Marshall Islands The fish aggregation devices FADs that fishing boats use to make catches easier, lately equipped with satellite communications gear to pinpoint location, are now being built by drug cartels that wrap packs of cocaine and radio transponders to trace troves
Europe Ireland Among workers who currently work remotely for some or all of the time, most expect to continue working from home for some time, according to the Irish Times/Ipsos survey
Asia Cyprus The cabinet has approved a six-month temporary urban planning permit to slaughterhouse in its effort to resolve the environmental issues related to noise and odors in the Mitsero-Kato Moni area
America Canada Illegal trash keeps ending up overseas, as evidence is given by Indonesia; inspectors have caught companies breaking the law, but the federal government keeps the names secret
Africa Tunisia The danger of an oil spill in the Gulf of Gabes has been averted with fuel pumping operations from the ship Xelo, which sank a few kilometres off the Tunisian coast
Asia North Korea Officials called again for the country to step up efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in a message carried by a main newspaper, stressing the need for officials to not let their guard down
Europe Czech Republic Health Minister Válek is calling for joint EU procurement of orphan drugs used against rare diseases, so potential EU contracts could reduce the price of the drugs and increase their accessibility for patients
Europe Sweden Debates are underway over the government's pension budget, in particular the proposal for a guaranteed supplement for the country's poorest pensioners, about half a million people
Africa Togo Germany committed more than CFA 65 billion last year to finance reforms validated in 03/2021 by the two partners; commitments cover the health, climate and renewable energy sectors, in line with the Togo government's roadmap for 2020-2025
Europe Bulgaria The country will create a special institution that will monitor and analyse trends in fake news on social and online media pretending to be news agencies; it will not monitor citizens because the aim is not to create a repressive apparatus
Africa Sao Tome and Principe Águas de Gaia, Empresa Municipal, SA, will support the Government of the Autonomous Region of Príncipe in the preparation of the project for a waste treatment and recovery centre on the island
Africa Algeria Algerian start-up Yassir, a taxi and home delivery company, has already reached millions of users and is expanding across Africa; in November 2021, it raised a $30m Series A round of capital
Europe Lithuania Parliament has given the green light to the establishment of a new military training camp in the southeastern village of Rūdninkai, using the fast-track legislation procedure; training will be able to begin as soon as May
Africa Lesotho Stakeholders are harnessing the power of technology to support students with disabilities in the country, with 18 schools and centres receiving Dynamo maths software, clicker 8, board market and smart panel