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
Europe Portugal Regional authorities in the Madeira Islands have expanded a marine protected area to create what they said is the largest fully protected marine reserve in Europe and the North Atlantic with a total area of 2.677 km²
Africa Somalia Deqa Dhalac, a Somali immigrant to the United States and the first Muslim woman elected to the South Portland City Council in 2018, has been elected the city's first black mayor
Europe Austria Right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) MP Dagmar Belakowitsch caused outrage by claiming that hospitals were not filled with the unvaccinated, but with people who needed treatment because of vaccination damage
Asia Saudi Arabia The Jafurah $100bn plan has been allocated; the country will thus become the largest shale gas producer outside the US
Oceania Vanuatu According to researchers at Australia's Lowy Institute, the delayed supply of vaccines will take years to complete vaccination of populations; in the country, for example, it is estimated that, at this rate, 86% coverage will only be achieved in 2026
America Dominican Republic Over the last decade, bilateral trade with EU countries has grown enormously reaching last year 101%, since 2009, when the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) began to be implemented
Africa Tunisia A national census of people with disabilities will start in the Q1 of 2022, covering only disability card holders; according to the last general 2014 census, there were 241.000 disabled people, of whom only 45% were card holders
Asia Cyprus Alexandra Attalides, elected to the House of Representatives for the Greens, was named Anticorruption Champion by US Secretary of State on Dec 9th anti-corruption day, together with activists from countries such as Bulgaria, Malawi, Thailand yesterday
Africa South Africa Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has signed an agreement to license Aspen Pharmacare of South Africa to produce its single-dose anticovid vaccine for the African market
Africa Egypt The Ministry of Environment has announced a 50% reduction on entrance tickets to nature reserves and protectorates to encourage young people to visit local sites of interest
Africa Nigeria The federal government has estimated that the total number of poor citizens will reach 109 million by the end of 2022, out of a total of 210 million, with the increase linked to the pandemic
Africa Kenya Chief Justice Martha Koome, speaking at the Kenya Editors Guild annual convention, has urged the media to be neutral when reporting on politics as the country heads to next year's elections
Asia South Korea Samsung Electronics has promoted a swath of young executives in their 30s and 40s as part of its ongoing efforts refresh its rigid corporate culture; the tech giant said a total of 198 executives were promoted in its year-end executive reshuffle