Europe Austria 6 new hotels in Austria joined the international collection of independent quality hotels Quality Lodgings, marking its largest-ever single-country expansion and bringing the collection to 134 hotels across eight European countries
Oceania Papua New Guinea The Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sounded the alarm over the proposed National Gold Corporation bill, warning that it could cripple the mining sector and the nation's overall economy
Europe Norway The government intends to invest about 500 million Norwegian kroner (€42.939.000) a year in church restoration over the next three decades
Europe Slovakia A new film by Erik Baláž, Slovak ecologist, activist and filmmaker, telling the story of the western grouse, which is critically endangered in Slovakia due to widespread deforestation and habitat destruction, struggles to be distributed
Oceania Vanuatu The organization Women Against Crime and Corruption organized a consultation meeting of human rights defenders at the Golden Port in Port Vila
Europe Ukraine Parliament passed a law to reform rules for recruiting civilians into the armed forces, at a time when the Ukrainian army lacks soldiers and means to fight: 500.000 men would be needed to relieve soldiers who have been committed for more than two years
Europe Portugal The Roman galleries on Rua da Prata in Lisbon will reopen for visits 18-21 April, in celebration of the International Day of Monuments and Sites; discovered after 1755 earthquake, they continue to attract visitors and 2024 tickets went sold out in 2 hours
Africa Niger Military authorities again claimed that the now-broken military agreements that existed between Niger and the United States were a deception, claiming that the country gained nothing from US military bases in the country
Europe United Kingdom Russell Cook, a 27-year-old born in West Sussex, became the first person in the world to cross Africa from the southernmost to the northernmost point by running for 352 days; the charity effort raised over £600.000
Europe Vatican City New document by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith lists grave violations of human dignity: from war to poverty, from violence against migrants to violence against women, from abortion to surrogacy to euthanasia, to gender theory and digital violence
Africa Togo The new date for legislative and regional elections in Togo has been announced, 29 April, and campaigning will open on 13 April; Togolese authorities have decided to ban demonstrations planned in Lomé on 11, 12 and 13 April
Europe Belgium Mixed race people, children and grandchildren of unions between Europeans and Africans in colonialism are totally forgotten by Belgium's reparation policies, according to a report by the non-governmental organization African futures lab
Africa Ethiopia #beatpollution, the Ethiopian government's campaign to defeat pollution, was officially launched in Addis Ababa
Asia Turkey The Turkish government announced that it will restrict exports of 54 categories of products - including jet fuel, construction equipment, cement, chemicals, pesticides, and bricks - to Israel until the Netanyahu government proclaims a cease-fire