Africa Uganda Uber has ended its operations in Uganda after having been a commodity in the local urban transport for over a decade; the exit takes immediate effect and follows extensive review of Uber's business priorities across Africa
America Dominican Republic The Central Bank closed 2021 with net international reserves (RIN) of more than US$13 billion, a historical level that allows it to guarantee the relative stability of the exchange rate
Asia Philippines A new law, signed by President Duterte, states that child marriage is child abuse and therefore bans the practice, which "debases, degrades and demeans" child brides; one in six girls in the country marries before the age of 18
Africa Madagascar In the country hardest hit by climate change in the world, according to the warning issued by the UN and the WFP at the beginning of summer 2021, the NGO Aid4Mada has been at the forefront of efforts to combat water shortages since 2015
Europe Latvia The president of the Latvian Association of Licensed Car Dealers, Andris Kulbergs, reported that the demand for a car is greater than the supply possibilities of dealers, for the first time in the country
Asia Malaysia The vaccination rate of the adult population is close to 100%, with a total of 22.878.955 individuals (97,7%) having completed their Covid-19 vaccination; of the adolescent population, 87,8% have completed vaccination
Asia Turkmenistan The flames burning for over 50 years in a remote crater of the Karakum desert, a destination for the few local tourists, will be put out by presidential order to save the natural gas that fuels them and to avoid pointless impact on the environment
Africa Namibia The Namibian Society of Composers and Authors (NASCAM) last year has paid the least-paid artist royalties for 78 cents while the best paid got N8.000 (€450); revenues were mainly generated from music by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation
Europe Slovenia A solar power plant will be built on the site of the former coal mine Trbovlje-Hrastnik; with a capacity of 1.5MW, it will be among the largest in the country; work will start soon, depending on weather conditions
Europe Vatican City Pope Francis has stressed how, in the face of a large number of people who would like to adopt children, there are still obstacles in the bureaucracy that prevent it, appealing to all institutions to facilitate this process
Oceania Papua New Guinea The country has no woman sitting in Parliament while the world average is 23%; only other 4 have no female representation in Parliament: Yemen, Qatar, Micronesia, Vanuatu
Asia Tajikistan The Tajik government will co-host, together with Netherlands, the UN Conference on the Water Action Decade that will be held in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023 as the midterm review of the “Water for Sustainable Development” program
Africa Tanzania The Government of Zanzibar has banned turtle fishing in its waters, ordering to stop activities with immediate effect, due to the threat posed by turtle meat, which has been found to be poisoned by some algae and grasses eaten by the animals
Europe Finland Business Finland has granted circular economy investment aid for the construction of an end-of-life textile refining plant: the country will be the first in the world where post-consumer textiles are obtained nationwide for reuse and recycling