America Cuba International investors can now build and fully own tourism facilities: to reverse the dramatic fall in tourism, authorities have eliminated the requirement for foreign groups to form a joint venture with the Cuban state to manage their tourism activities
Europe Portugal A new warehouse for highly radioactive waste storage at the Spanish Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant, 100 kilometres from the border with Portugal, is under public consultation from Portuguese Environment Agency
Asia Armenia Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a telephone meeting in which Putin has reported its impressions of his visit to Azerbaijan last week
Africa Burkina Faso Human Rights Watch condemned the military authorities' use of the Emergency Law to illegally conscript magistrates who opened legal proceedings against junta supporters
America Venezuela Supreme Court validated Maduro’s victory amid criticism over its lack of independence; the ruling was anticipated by the opposition and presidential candidate González Urrutia warned the TSJ could not assume the functions of the National Electoral Council
America Grenada Grenada has become the first country in the world to use the so-called hurricane clause in a government bond, a special feature that allows authorities to defer debt payments following a major natural disaster
America Barbados From August 20, 2024 printing driving licence cards service has been resumed for special categories of users at Barbados Licensing Authority's Pine - St Michael branch; the service will soon be once again available for everyone
Asia Taiwan Bonuses for Taiwan’s Paralympic athletes have been increased: from NT$4 million (US$125.176) to NT$6 million for gold medal, the silver medal bonus will be upped to NT$2,1 million, and the bronze medal bonus to NT$1,5 million
Asia Vietnam The State Bank of Việt Nam and the Bank of Laos are exploring a joint cross-border retail payment system that would imply the use of respective domestic currencies in bilateral trade and investment cooperation activities to prevent external risks
Europe Czech Republic The Czech government intends to start taxing cryptocurrency transactions, with a law aimed at curbing tax evasion and creating a level playing field between cryptocurrencies and standard financial products
Asia Malaysia Penang area continues to draw in more tourists as direct flights increase, especially from China, and more cruise ships make it their port of call, while neighboring Pendang registers the highest substance abuse nationwide, at over one in 100 individuals
Africa Madagascar Jenny Williams, senior space analyst at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, flew over Madagascar with small drones to map its extraordinary biodiversity, also showing if, how and where protected areas are being deforested
America Cuba The director of the Centre for Demographic Studies at the University of Havana, Antonio Aja, warned of the complex demographic situation, given the strong ageing, as 24,4% of the total population will be 60 years or older at the end of 2023
Europe Lithuania "Akiplėša" (Toxic) by Lithuanian director Saulė Bliuvaitė has won the Golden Leopard prize of best movie at the 77th Locarno Film Festival; it reflects the dreary lives of girls in an industrial city, which they want to escape with a modeling career