Europe Czech Republic The proposed law on public service media would change the funding model of Czech Television and Radio from licence fees to state budget financing and has become a highly debated issue from all sides over concerns over a potential loss of independence
Africa South Africa Nominations for Mail&Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans 2025 are open; at its 20th edition, the initiative celebrates the achievements of young people in 19 categories including agriculture, arts-entertainment, finance, health, justice, sport, technology
Europe Albania Durazzo-Tirana on 9 May 2025 will be the first of three Albanian stages that will kick off the 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia - an iconic annual multiple-stage bicycle race; the Giro will start abroad for the 15th time in its century long history
Asia Taiwan Free single-use toiletries are banned in hotels from today 1 January 2025, for obvious environmental reasons; the move is expected to impact over 14.000 hotel operators on top of the relative supply chain
Europe Romania In connection to full accession to the Schengen area, Romania will close over 30 checkpoints on its borders with Hungary and Bulgaria following last vote of EU Justice and Home Affairs Council that ruled the abolition of land controls as of 1 January 2025
Europe Liechtenstein In view of the Principality elections of 9 February, the Liechtenstein Institute is launching the "Elections 2025" series of events this January 2025 to cover what it call 'election year' for the number of countries choosing their representatives
Europe Ukraine As for 2025, I am very optimistic; there are objective factors for that, it will definitely be better than that," said Kiev's intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov
Asia Sri Lanka The prices of vegetables have risen sharply in several economic centers last week compared to the previous week, causing concerns among consumers and traders alike
Africa Somalia The UN authorised a new peacekeeping mission to continue supporting Somalia in its fight against al-Shabaab, the insurgent group affiliated with al-Qaida; it is not clear whether troops from neighboring Ethiopia will in the 12.626 personnel deployment
America Venezuela Five Venezuelan opposition members taking refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas to avoid arrest say it has become a “prison”; as the residence has been without power for over a month, an adviser to opposition leader María Corina Machado said on X
Africa Tunisia Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi has been released from Guantanamo Bay prison camp: the Tunisian detainee has never been charged with any crime and has been held for nearly 23 years, since the day the facility opened
Africa Senegal PM Sonko said the government would submit legislation to repeal a law by former president Sall that granted amnesty for deadly political violence just before March 2024 elections, a mean to calm protests sparked by his last-minute vote postponement
Europe Monaco An exhibition at the Ministère d'Etat celebrating the 80th anniversary of the liberation from occupations by Germany and Italy during World War II closes today
Africa South Africa At the end of the first month of the G20 presidency, SA said it will leverage the opportunity of being the first African country to hold the role to "highlight the barriers to AI of developing countries, including unequal access to digital infrastructure"