Oceania Marshall Islands The Marshallese Christmas is celebrated with Jepta, or 'group', dancing and signing competitions, Wojke - a handmade container filled with small gifts and Biit Dancing - an energetic, modern church dancing, often loud and with amplified music
Europe Portugal The construction of a 120 million Euros desalination plant in Sines, on one of the country’s busiest shipping routes and a major European container port, has been announced; it will start in 2027 and is expected to be completed by 2031
Africa Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of Tanzania's presidential election, securing another term in office amid days of unrest across the country that caused at least 700 deaths, with local and foreign transparency concerns
Europe Russia Halloween was a day of costumes, candy and all things spooky even in Russia, as Muscovites celebrated like fellow trick-or-treaters around the world, notwithstanding Halloween being irritant for politicians, pro-Kremlin activists and the Orthodox Church
Europe Austria The program of New Year's Concert 2026 at the Vienna Musikverein has been announced: it includes five premieres, including two pieces by female composers and Yannick Nézet-Séguin from Canada will conduct the concert for the first time
Europe Iceland A snowstorm in Reykjavík transformed in thick ice ridges on main roads as traffic pressed the snow before it could be removed; nearby municipalities were less affected
Oceania Australia City suburbs in Australia show plots of lands at convenient prices that lure customers into buying properties that will not be transformed into homes; they come from ‘paper subdivisions’ lacking water, sewage and roads that haven’t been and aren't planned
America United States Unless rescinded, Trump's executive order greenlighting deep-sea mining in direct violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea will unleash a gold rush among major powers that concerns Pacific nations, fearing armed conflict as consequence
America Argentina President Javier Milei has led his party La Libertad Avanza to a landslide victory in midterm elections with two years of radical spending cuts and a free-market political line; winning 41% of votes he took 13 of 24 Senate and 64 of 127 lower-house seats
Europe Albania A group of IT experts proposed an AI ‘candidate’ for the upcoming Tirana mayoral election, she will be called called TirANA (Tirana Algorithmic Neural Assistant); Albania’s government had appointed an AI-generated digital assistant as a ‘minister’
Asia Qatar The National Archives of Qatar is taking part in the International Council on Archives Congress in Barcelona, Spain: institutions, specialists and experts from around the world will discuss the future of document preservation and digital archiving
Asia Pakistan Punjab’s government faces backlash for allegedly manipulating air quality data by shutting down monitors during peak smog hours in Lahore; Officials cite “technical issues,” but experts say it’s an attempt to mask severe pollution levels
America Bahamas Assessments and cleanup were underway in areas of the southern and central Bahamas after Hurricane Melissa swept through the country, uprooting trees, tearing down utility poles and damaging some roofs; most residents were relieved they dodged the worst
America Dominican Republic A large-scale humanitarian campaign to support families affected by Tropical Storm Melissa Fujian General Chamber of Commerce of China in the Dominican Republic, which includes distributing 23.000 food kits across the country