America Panama A tanker paid a record $5,3 million for priority passage through the Panama Canal before the number of daily transits will be reduced due to the El Niño weather phenomenon; rainfall deficits and drought deplete water reserves needed to operate the canal
Asia Iraq The country - in extreme need for electricity - has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to connect through an electricity market in the region
Asia Japan For the first time, oil subsidy program will be implemented to curb fuel prices this week; the nation's average gasoline price was 170,2 yen/liter, reaching highest level in over 13 years and topping the threshold required to launch the subsidy scheme
America Ecuador This month the massive expansion of the Galapagos Marine Reserve will officially begin, as proposed by President Lasso during the UN’s climate conference last November: over 37.000 square km will be added to the protected area
Europe Luxembourg 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, released today by Transparency International, shows that the country has improved in 2021 on 2020, but regressed in its anti-corruption efforts since 2015
America Antigua and Barbuda A concerned citizen is inviting through an online petition the public to a walkthrough of the Seaforth area, scheduled for February 6, which is part of 549 acres of land earmarked for the development of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on the Northwest Coast
America Haiti At a high-level international meeting that Canada hosted on the crisis in the country, US$39 million was pledged to increase aid for security and other projects in the country
Africa Algeria New images of the Sahara desert covered in snow - the fifth time in 40 years - appeared on social media this week: taken in early January by photographer Karim Bouchetata, they reveal snow and ice near the town of Ain Sefra in the northwest of the country
Europe Norway The 3-day talks between Taliban and Western officials in Oslo are taking place, covering human rights and the country's humanitarian crisis; there have been several protests in Europe as many think the Taliban should not be rewarded with meetings
Asia Syria The number of victims -press reports 'dozens', 48 to over 70- is rising in the clashes in the northeast of the country where Isis militiamen attacked Kurdish-Syrian forces in control of a prison where thousands of 'Islamic State' militiamen are being held
Europe Croatia The first figures of 2021 census show a drastic loss of 10% of the population over the last decade, counting now 3,88 million residents, the size of the country in 1948
Europe Sweden Police are looking for 10.000 migrants with deportation orders, according to a report by the public broadcaster Sveriges Television; according to the head of the national border police the problem is that there are no detention centres for deportations
Europe Iceland Researchers have confirmed that the fish species ‘sprat’ is spawning in Icelandic waters, according to a new report from Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute; similar to herring, the species has been fished in increasing numbers since 2017
Europe Monaco Patrice Cellario, Minister of the Interior, and Richard Marangoni, Police Department Commissioner, presented the security figures for the Principality for 2021 commenting that even them are ‘surprised by such low figures’