Asia Israel The Knesset has passed a media overhaul law giving government greater regulatory control; PM Netanyahu attended the debate, skipping the vote; the news has been released by a number of online media in the late hours of 16 July
Asia Thailand Authorities suspended a Chinese-owned luxury resort project on Koh Samui island after discovering that the structure was not built according to the permit and was taller than allowed by law
Asia Saudi Arabia The Saudi General Food Security Authority disbursed the first instalment of payments to local wheat farmers who supplied their allocated quantities for the 2024 season; $78,7 million was deposited in the bank accounts of 792 farmers
Oceania Tonga Tonga's communications regulator, MEIDECC, has notified Starlink, the global satellite internet network, to discontinue all services to its roaming subscribers on the mainland and in the seas of Tonga
Oceania Marshall Islands At the Marshall Islands International Airport, a terminal will be rebuilt upon commitment of the Japanese government to support Pacific Island and will be reconstructed together with the United States
Asia Tajikistan Controls on the movement of heavy vehicles have been strengthened by the Ministry of Transport; mobile teams visited cement works, coal mines, sand and gravel pits to explain the importance of complying with modified requirements
Africa Togo The new Universal Health Insurance programme has already enrolled 800.000 people since it was launched in January 2024; this figure is almost 50% higher than the 470.000 people previously covered by the National Institute of Health Insurance
Africa Uganda CanalBox, a new broadband Internet service provider, was officially launched in Uganda with an investment of more than Shs 50 billion (US$ 13,5 million) over the past 11 months in the country
Europe Kosovo 1.586.659 citizens live in the territory of Kosovo according to preliminary data from the population census published by the Statistical Agency of Kosovo
Africa Senegal The two environment ministries of Gambia and Senegal have promised to work together to protect forest cover with the desire to achieve the common goals of protecting the two nations' natural resources
Europe Romania Baia Mare, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Oradea will host this year's Orange Weekends caravan, a programme of film screenings and game competitions to be held in symbolic areas of these cities
Africa Lesotho To strengthen the quality of HIV testing services, the country is moving to the WHO-recommended three HIV test strategy in which a person is diagnosed with HIV after three consecutive reactive tests
Africa Sierra Leone The 'Smart Sierra Leone Project' aims to improve rural connectivity, create a secure city infrastructure and develop a centralised national data centre with funding from the Export-Import Bank of China
Asia Yemen The country informed the UN of its refusal to treat economic escalation as an internal matter and rejected the use of postponement and procrastination in addressing the issue