Asia Sri Lanka An “Ehi Passiko” peace walk began in Dambulla, bringing together Buddhist monks and participants to promote peace and mindfulness; “Ehi Passiko,” meaning “come and see,” reflects a core Buddhist principle encouraging understanding through experience
Asia Oman Mawelah's largest central fruit and vegetable market, one of the Sultanate's landmarks, will cease operations on Friday and be relocated entirely to Khazaen Economic City
Oceania Palau The Palau national landfill site, opened only 3 years ago in the state of Aimeliik, is filling up at an alarming rate: 7,4% of its capacity has been reached and projected life span of 25 years seems increasingly unlikely without significant intervention
Africa Ivory Coast Mobile enrolment centres have been launched to boost the health insurance programme and try to solve the problems of the universal health coverage programme
Europe Croatia To encourage investments in the country, the Ministry of Economy is working to implement the changes needed to make criteria less strict
Africa Gambia Follow-up of influential community leaders, women's representatives and village development committees on implementation of surveillance and risk communication was initiated with IOM support
Africa Algeria A new airbase for fire and rescue aircraft has been inaugurated in the western Algerian province of Mostaganem, designed to strengthen firefighting and medical evacuation operations with landing, refuelling and maintenance facilities
Africa Guinea After cases of fraud were reported during national examinations, the Minister of Pre-University Education and Literacy announced that his department had filed a complaint
Asia Bhutan Responding to a question on the human resources policies the government is undertaking to fill the gaps created by civil servant attrition, Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay replied that there are now sufficient numbers of civil servants
Asia Iraq Iraqi authorities recorded around 5.500 fire incidents across the country in the first five months of 2024, a 44% decrease from the 10.019 fires reported in the same period in 2023
America Venezuela 8 of 10 candidates in Venezuela’s upcoming elections, including President Nicolas Maduro, signed an agreement binding them to respect the results as announced by electoral authorities, something the country has struggled with in past elections
Oceania Kiribati Kiribati communities can now count on better management of medical waste on the island thanks to the recent commissioning of a medical waste incinerator through the European Union-Pacific PacWastePlus waste management programme
Africa Eritrea The Swiss government intends to send a liaison officer for talks with Eritrea but the country's readiness to readmit its citizens is a prerequisite for further negotiations; so far Eritrea has refused to repatriate Eritrean citizens from any country
Asia Kyrgyzstan The Municipality of Bishkek intends to install 'smart' water meters in residential areas; other actions have been taken in recent months to avoid a recurrence of the water shortage problem in summer