Europe Italy The value of "unobserved" economy has grown by €15,1 billion, marking a 7,5% increase on 2022 data, reaching €217 billion; the net value of illegal activities stands at just under €198 billion, up €14,9 billion on previous year, 9,2% of GPD in 2023
Oceania Papua New Guinea 9 rugby league players have been handed long bans form fields after a brawl broke out during a clash in Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition in Lae; 3 officials got 12 months suspension and the two clubs involved were fined over $6000
Asia United Arab Emirates Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, released its latest traffic statistics for June 2025, reporting continued strong expansion and high customer demand, with 1,8 million passengers (1,5 in 2024) and passengers load at 88% (86% in 2024),
Africa Zimbabwe Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe's largest referral hospital is operating with a single intensive care unit serving all wards in the facility, amid a need of surgeries, including those for the 4500 children born each year with congenital hearts diseases
Europe Slovenia A new public outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool and an indoor 25-metre pool has opened on the outskirts of Ljubljana, built on the site of a popular pool shut down in 2007; the renovated venue includes multifunctional indoor sports hall and wellness area
Europe North Macedonia Construction on the biggest-yet North macedonia wind farm has begun; a €430 million investment by Luxembourg-based Alcazar Energy near Stip, it will host 55 turbines generating 400 Megawatts of energy, enough for 100.000 households out of a total 580.000
Europe Austria Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian extreme athlete who became the first person to break the sound barrier in a freefall jump in 2012, died in a paragliding crash on Italy's eastern coast; he was 56 and reportedly died because of a heart attack while flying
America Saint Lucia Banana and plantain farmers have welcomed the government’s new crop insurance scheme, a long-awaited safety net; though now it only covers these two high-risk crops for limited funding, growers see it as a critical first step towards broader protection
Africa Zambia The Great Leaf tobacco processing plant in Kabwe District is now 75% complete; the $40 million facility responds to Zambia’s efforts to localize value addition and boost job creation while reducing dependence on foreign tobacco manufacturing
Europe Bulgaria Centrist, anti-corruption political party We Continue the Change is facing unprecedented challenges, with its key figures targeted by institutions, potentially leaving pro-Russian nationalists as the only ‘opposition’ left in Bulgaria
Asia Laos A cooperation pact with Cambodia has been signed on 19 July to curb cross-border scams and drug trafficking, protect citizens and enhance regional security; since late June, Cambodia’s fight on scam networks led to 2.100 arrests and 2.300 deportations
Asia Saudi Arabia A consortium led by UAE Air Arabia won the bid for a new low-cost national airline based in Saudi Arabia, operating domestic and international routes from Dammam, as part of the Saudi aviation sector development plans
Asia Iraq Several citizens are still missing after a fire at a hypermarket in Kut in eastern Iraq left at least 61 dead, while were rescued among the ones in the building at the time the fire started; the venue was brand new, inaugurated a few days before
Europe Sweden An average of one drowning per day in the past two weeks has been reported by the Swedish Lifesaving Society, amid a growing number of people taking to swimming and bathing by summer temperatures and good weather