Asia Cyprus Cyprus is one of Europe’s ten largest video game industries by revenue, with over 400 companies generating an estimated €3,2 billion in 2025; report by Cyprus Game Makers Association CYGMA says sector is dynamic and largely absent from official statistics
Europe Belgium In 2024, 411.021 counterfeit articles were seized in Belgium, almost double the previous year's total of 217.053, announced the Ministry of Economic Affairs
Asia Maldives The government of the Maldives commissioned the Thai company Control Data to redesign the system for managing civil registration, vital statistics and identification
Asia Jordan A €3 billion Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership was signed between Jordan and EU to upscale cooperation, better tackle common challenges, open up further avenues for investments and enhance business opportunities for European companies
America Jamaica Before the end of the fiscal year 2024/25,work is scheduled to begin on 100 roads under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network programme
Asia Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had received an invitation to meet the US president at the White House on 4 February; he would be the first international leader to visit Trump in his second term
Asia Nepal Nepal’s healthcare sector accounts for 4,1% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, a recent WHO report reveals; this is largely due to improper incineration of medical waste, which releases harmful chemicals like dioxins and furans
Asia China A gigantic military compound is reportedly being built just outside Beijing; the construction site measures over four kilometres from side to side and will eventually be ten times the size of the Pentagon, becoming the largest command centre in the world
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina A second programme loan for health sector development policies worth $75 million has been approved by the World Bank Board of Directors to support the implementation of policies to improve the financial stability of healthcare institutions
Asia North Korea North Korean soldiers who were fighting alongside the Russian army on the frontline against Ukraine have been withdrawn after numerous losses, according to US and Ukrainian officials heard by the New York Times
Africa Madagascar Mineral fertilizer production plants are part of a state plan to give wider access to producers: 90% of whom can't afford it as too expensive; the goal is to produce 30.000 tonnes of organic fertiliser per year to improve agricultural production
Africa Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam spoke on the phone to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer; the leaders began by reflecting on their first months in office and discussed the relationship between the two countries, which they looked forward to expanding
Europe Malta A full year of paid leave - between maternity and parental - has been proposed by the Nationalist Party within a package of 10 work-life balance measures to provide flexibility for families
Africa Eritrea Abune Baslios was enthroned as the sixth patriarch of the Eritrean Tewahedo Orthodox Church - followed by 3,3 million believers in the country - in a ceremony at the Re'ese Adbarat Kidist Mariam Church in Asmara