America Belize The Belize Senate unanimously approved an amendment to the Marriage Act raising the legal marriage age to 18, eliminating parental consent for minors, in a move hailed as a transformative human rights milestone to combat child marriage
Asia Philippines The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction ended in Manila; thousands of participants from governments, civil society, private sector and academia shared best practices to accelerate disaster risk reduction across the region
Europe Greece Piraeus dockers prevented a truck from North Macedonia carrying ammunition destined for Israel from entering the port, saying they would not allow the port to become a transit point for weapons of war
Europe Bulgaria In the first half of the year, Sofia recorded a 12% increase in tourist arrivals compared to the same period last year; the number of registered overnight stays also increased by 10%, with almost 60% of foreign visitors
Asia Mongolia The Maidar Buddhist ceremony, held annually at Gandantegchinlen Monastery in Mongolia, celebrates the future arrival of Maitreya; a symbol of love and compassion; this tradition blends Buddhism with Mongolia’s nomadic and Shamanistic roots
Asia Nepal Nima Rinji, an 18-year-old Nepalese climber, has written mountaineering history by becoming the youngest climber in the world to join the coveted eight-thousand-meter club, summiting all 14 of the highest mountains above 8.000 metres
Europe Finland The Ministry of the Environment covered up a report discussing the negative effects of wind farms on the golden eagle, which showed some of the wind farms built on golden eagle home areas should not have been built
Europe Croatia The mayor of Zagreb unveiled plans to invest in five new road routes, marking the city's first major road and tram projects in 20 years; Zagreb has seen a significant increase in car use, with 34% more vehicles than 10 years ago
Europe Estonia A new book entitled 'With Love for Football', created by football fans in Sillamäe, Ida-Viru County, presents a selection of rare archive photos and numerous stories of local players and coaches
Africa Malawi The President of India Droupadi Murmu spoke at the India-Malawi Business Meet in Lilongwe addressing government officials, representatives of trade associations, investors as well as small and medium-sized enterprises
Africa Chad The $500 million loan from the Abu Dhabi Development Fund provides a subsidised rate of 1% over 18 years to cover flood emergencies
Europe Monaco Some 250 young coral colonies have emerged from summer spawning thank to the coral conservation biology programme developed by the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and the Observatoire Océanologique in Banyuls-sur-Mer
America Suriname Numerous Surinamese customs officers will undergo specialized training in Rotterdam, organized by the UN and international customs agencies; the course aims to enhance their skills in risk management and combating smuggling
Asia Jordan The army has called on Jordanian males aged 18-40 to rectify their status by obtaining a valid military service booklet to avoid travel delay, while males over 40 must ensure they hold a military subscription exemption that certifies they reached the age