America Honduras President Xiomara Castro formally denounced right-wing disinformation campaigns amid protests, defending her government’s progress since 2022 in reducing poverty and inequality in Honduras after 12 years of narco-linked rule
Africa Botswana A total of 98 children were born on 1 January 2025, more than doubling last year's 46 children; the figure is seen as a good omen after President Duma Boko recently announced new programmes to encourage citizens to generate more children
Africa Mali Human Rights Watch report about the abuses against civilians committed across Mali in 2024 says civilians are increasingly the target of attacks by all parties to the conflict, with an increase of casualties, fatalities, displacements, loss of livelihoods
Europe Bulgaria In the historic town of Koprivshtitsa, 591 songbirds of a protected species died due to stress caused by fireworks on New Year's Eve, environmentalists from 'Green Balkans' reported
Africa South Sudan Malual Bol Kiir, a South Sudanese Peace and Human rights activist, has made public his wishes for a 2025 of hope, renewal, and collective resolve calling for a responsible, active role of the people to set a lasting foundation for peace and prosperity
America Trinidad and Tobago MP Lisa Morris-Julian funeral, who served in the Ministry of Education since 2020 and perished in the fire of her house, was a celebration of gratitude across all political forces; she was buried in a casket with her son, hugging as they were found dead
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina The Sevdalinka, an ancient Bosnia and Herzegovina love song form often referred to as 'Balkan Blues', has been included in the UNESCO National Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory
Asia India The removal of 337 tonnes of toxic waste left in a factory in Bhopal, where the worst industrial disaster ever occurred in 1984, has been completed; the disaster had killed several thousand people and caused serious health problems for many more
Europe Latvia AirBaltic is forced to cancel 19 routes and reduce operations on other 21, for a total of 4.670 flights cancelled from all its bases for summer 2025, losing over 67.000 passengers, due to shortage of engines and maintenance service of its A220-300 planes
Asia Armenia Armenia border guards will now carry out controls at Agarak checkpoint on the border with Iran; PM thanked the Border Guard Troops of the Russian Federation that carried out border control at Agarak checkpoint since Armenia's independence in 1991
Africa Comoros More than 108.000 direct beneficiaries will benefit from the activities of the 'Agricultural Value Chain' project, launched in Idjinkudzi, Dimani region, to strengthen agricultural systems and climate-smart value chains
Asia Israel Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant resigned from the Knesset, the country's parliament, over his opposition to the law on exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, which has existed since the founding of the state of Israel
Africa Ghana Ghana became the fifth African country to apply visa-free travel for all African passport holders, joining Rwanda, Seychelles, Gambia and Benin; the new policy follows the introduction of chip-embedded passports and is expected to take effect early 2025
Africa Egypt Egypt's population grew by 1,4 million in 2024 to 107.205.591, an increase of 1,3%, according to data provided by the demographic watch of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics