Africa Sierra Leone A ship departed from Freetown was intercepted and diverted to Canary Islands, in a crackdown on international drug trafficking; Spanish police found aboard 35-40 tonnes of cocaine in what has been called “record-breaking cocaine seizure in the Atlantic”
Africa Cameroon The President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has turned 91; since the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, he is the oldest leader of a state in the world and he has been president of the country for 42 years
Europe Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been put by Russia on the international wanted list, first time ever for a head of government
Europe Slovenia At the end of February, the country will expand neonatal screening tests to detect more than 45 different diseases, up from the current 20; the new programme is expected to be launched on Rare Disease Day, which falls on 29 February
Africa Sudan Some areas of Sudan are connected to the internet again after a blackout that lasted over a week, reports monitoring site Netblocks
Africa Rwanda The Rwandan Ministry of Health has urged citizens to take precautionary measures, such as regular hand washing, to prevent the spread of the highly infectious 'red-eye disease'
Asia Laos The 'Couples Counselling' project, supported by UNFPA and funded by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, offers to help couples with a reproductive health counselling service
America Saint Lucia Banana production in Saint Lucia is higher than what the market demands, Minister of Agriculture Alfred Prospere announced; last year, however, the country could not meet the desired market demand of 15.000 crates per week for banana exports
Europe Latvia Electronic timetables at public transport stops in Rīga have had their day and no longer display information: the public transport company Rīgas Satiksme plans to replace these screens and install new ones throughout the city
Europe Serbia The European Parliament called for an international investigation and the dispatch of an EU expert mission on alleged fraud in the 2023 parliamentary elections in Serbia and the Belgrade City Assembly
Europe Hungary The number of visitors to the Fiumei Street Cemetery, the Jewish Cemetery on Salgótarjáni Street and the National Mourning Park in the New Public Cemetery is increasing year by year, turning Budapest's historical cemeteries into tourist attractions
Europe Switzerland The man who took over 13 hostages on a Swiss regional train, before being shot dead by police, has been formally identified as a 32-years-old Iranian asylum seeker, who repeatedly tried to contact with a member of staff at an asylum centre
Europe France The government announced the much requested temporary suspension of the programme it had launched in January to incentivise the use of electric cars, which allowed citizens to rent an electric car by spending between €100 and €150 per month
Asia Vietnam 2023 brought a major breakthrough for science and technology: Vietnam had the first scientist to win the VinFuture prize and saw an explosion in AI with the country's desire to implement ChatGPT