Europe Italy Giorgia Meloni's government became the longest since Italy became a republic after WWII: the first led by a woman, it lasted 1.413 days as of 4 September, one more than Silvio Berlusconi's 2nd; premier said stability isn't a record, but a key for planning
Africa Seychelles A newly launched biometric corridor at Seychelles airport uses the face as a passport; with a matching time of less than one second per traveller, the biometric corridor checks an average of 30 travellers a minute, allowing faster, contactless screening
Europe Portugal Four Algarve festivals have been nominated for the Iberian Festival Awards which will be held next March in Lisbon
Africa Malawi The country's chess team claimed gold and silver at the African Individual Chess Championship (ASICC) in Kenya in the under-13 and under-17 girls categories
Oceania Tonga Three Tongan swimmers set new national records at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi
Asia Yemen According to the Reporters Without Borders report on journalists detained, killed, held hostage and disappeared in 2021, 9 of the 66 journalists held hostage in the world are in the country
Asia Armenia The president hailed 'a new page' in ties with Saudi Arabia and thanked the Arab world for sheltering Armenians after genocide; there are fewer than 3 million Armenian citizens living in the country but worldwide diaspora is between 5 and 7 million
America Trinidad and Tobago Born 100 years ago on 24 December, Gibs Kerr celebrated with a small gathering of loved ones at his Wallenvale Road, joined by the director of the Division of Ageing at the Ministry of Social Development and Family
Europe Spain Activists are fighting to stop the cruelty of the world's first octopus farm in the Canary Islands
Europe Slovakia Although vaccines for children have arrived in the country since 17 December, registration has not been launched
Asia Lebanon Train/Train, a Lebanese NGO, wants to revive the days when there was a dense rail network with neighboring countries, hoping to get funding to restart travel between Beirut and Damascus
Europe Lithuania As the US recently approved the potential sale of Javelin missiles to the country, the country's leaders, along with those of Ukraine and Poland, held a trilateral meeting to reiterate unity against Russian aggression and to promise "serious consequences"
Asia China The University of Hong Kong has confirmed that the statue commemorating Beijing's Tiananmen Square repression has been dismantled and removed after 24 years
Europe Poland The European Commission has launched formal infringement proceedings against the country over the country's Constitutional Court's failure to recognise the superiority of European law over national laws