Asia Laos New rules for intellectual property protection wereintroduced, allowing businesses to protect industrial designs internationally through a single application under the Hague System; It simplifies registration and administrative procedures, reducing costs
Asia Bangladesh Bangladesh's Supreme Court has scaled back the criticised quota-based system of public appointments that led to the violent anti-government protests in recent weeks, during which more than 100 people died
Asia Tajikistan A group of women in Kulob started a mushroom cultivation business last April; in June they sold their first batch of oyster mushrooms, earning over 10.000 somoni (about €840) and showing it can be quite a profitable business
Europe Lithuania Amid social media reports of a possible accident at Russia's Rostov nuclear power plant, the Radiation Protection Centre stated on Friday that there is no direct radiological threat to Lithuanian territory
Europe Spain The Spanish Ministry of Health will fund a new immunotherapy treatment for several types of cancer, which will replace the current intravenous infusion with an injection, reducing treatments from one hour to just seven minutes
Asia Thailand The Cannabis Future Network of Thailand concluded a hunger strike and peaceful demonstration to protest against the reclassification of cannabis as an illegal narcotic
Africa Malawi Coal users in capital Lilongwe now have the opportunity to receive coal supplies by train from Moatize, Mozambique, thanks to the successful rehabilitation of the rail link between Balaka and Lilongwe
America Guyana Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency has formally asked further insights into the environmental impacts and mitigation measures of oil company ExxonMobil’s proposed seventh oil project in the Stabroek area before deciding on its approval
Europe Croatia Poor results in Croatian language examinations of high school students has raised concern within school authorities
America Saint Lucia The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force seized 12,319 rounds of ammunition and twenty-one illegal firearms between April and June 2024; the RSLPF's official Facebook page described the seizures as 'impressive'
Europe Ukraine Former parliamentarian and linguist Iryna Farion, known for her opposition to the use of the Russian language in the country and support for the use of the Ukrainian language, was shot and killed in Lviv
Europe Sweden Jessika Roswall has been appointed as Sweden's next European Commissioner, making her the first member of the Swedish Moderate Party, and thus the first centre-right European Commissioner, to be appointed
Europe Switzerland Zermatt rail link will ne interrupted for weeks due to severe damage caused by the flooding of the Vispa river; trains operated by Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn will not be running to the Swiss mountain resort until at least mid-August
Asia Vietnam Since the beginning of 2024, more than 42.400 pigs have been killed to prevent the spread of African swine fever, five times more than in the same period last year