Oceania Palau A historic $15 million financing agreement has been signed with Saudi Arabia, marking a shift in how Palua's National Development Bank will now operate, as the loan will be directly invested into building affordable housing
Africa Egypt Mohamed Ramadan will perform at next year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California; in his boisterous manner he told his 32 million Instagram followers "I’m super excited to be part of Coachella [..] now I’ve reached 4,7% of my ambition"
Asia Turkmenistan In honor of the 300th anniversary of the great Turkmen poet Magtymguly Fragi, an unusual competition of artists was held in Urgench: participants created a portrait of the classic from memory after viewing the original for five minutes
Europe Sweden Four out of ten social workers responding to a union survey say they have been subjected to threats or violence in the past two years, Swedish Radio News reports
Europe Finland One in four men in Finland under the age of 35 believe women may be deserving of violence due to behaviour or how they dress, showed survey on men's attitude commissioned by the Coalition of Finnish Women's Associations; it called findings "alarming"
Asia Laos The government held a meeting in Vientiane targeting Lao diaspora and descendants of Lao heritage; officials urged them to reconnect with their ancestral homeland and explore investment opportunities to support economic growth and strengthen cultural ties
Europe Slovenia Triglav National Park, the oldest and largest nature park in Slovenia and one of the largest in Europe, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year
Africa Mauritania The African Development Bank ran a capacity-building workshop for its stakeholders in Nouakchott, from November 4-8, on environmental and social safeguard requirements for the projects it is funding across the country
Asia Qatar Over 4.000 cruise passengers arrived at Doha Port on board the MSC Euribea that made its maiden voyage to Qatar; it is the largest ship to visit the terminal this current season that will continue until April 2025
Oceania Nauru The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has spoken to almost all the people currently detained on Nauru and, according to its data, almost a quarter of them suffer from serious mental health conditions and one in ten have suicidal ideation
Africa Sao Tome and Principe The government has decided to increase airport taxes to €220 from December, with exemptions for categories such as children under 2 and transit passengers
Asia Kazakhstan Aktau, a coastal city on the Caspian Sea, was named 'Cultural Capital of the Turkish World 2025' at the 41st meeting of the Permanent Council of the International Cultural Organisation of Turkey
Europe France 40 members of Académie Française, one of oldest and major cultural institutions, presented to President Macron the 9th complete edition of the reference dictionary of the French language: work began in 1986 and critics say it's out of step with the times
Africa Djibouti Speaking at the COP29 summit in Baku, Dini Abdallah Omar, the Secretary General of the Djibouti Ministry of Environment, urged industrialised countries to drastically reduce emissions