America Brazil The federal import tax on international purchases of up to US$ 50 made through e-commerce platforms like Temu, Shein, and AliExpress has been erased; experts say it is a strategic move in view of October's upcoming general elections
Oceania Tuvalu Kausea Natano, outgoing Prime Minister, lost his seat in the national Parliament after the national elections; Natano was in favour of Taiwan's independence, and had thus made Tuvalu one of the countries in the world to recognise its sovereignty
Asia Singapore Singaporean designer Roslind Ng recounted the experience of creating a one-of-a-kind tiara for the wedding of Princess Anisha Rosnah to Prince Abdul Mateen of Brunei
Africa Mozambique An incident of police brutality caught on video has sparked outrage and concern recently, causing tensions between Mozambique and neighbouring Malawi, but there are signs that both countries are acting quickly to address the problem
America Panama The Panama Canal has appointed its first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, Deputy Administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta, who will lead the waterway's environmental sustainability efforts, focusing on decarbonization, adaptation, and transition
Africa Sao Tome and Principe The World Bank has approved the new cooperation framework programme for São Tomé, which includes more than 10 projects worth over $225 million over the next five years, prioritising the resolution of the energy crisis
America Paraguay Paraguayan tomato growers, adapting to technology and expertise, have now achieved successful year-round harvests despite summer challenges, prompting their calls for increased state support and a decrease in tomato imports
Europe Montenegro Legal expert Milorad Markovic has been appointed as the country's new chief prosecutor, over two years after the retirement of the previous prosecutor, Ivica Stankovic
Oceania Kiribati Médecins Sans Frontières began providing humanitarian medical assistance in Kiribati as climate change exacerbates health risks in the country, focusing in particular on maternal and neonatal health
Asia Afghanistan The Global Partnership for Education has approved grants totalling $110 million to support children's education in Afghanistan over the next two years; programmes are expected to reach more than 7,66 million children across the country
Asia Laos Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public, one of the largest in Laos, has developed a mobile app to help tourists buy kip - the non convertible Laotian currency - without local accounts while travelling in the country during Visit Laos Year 2024
Europe Ireland Residents of Oliver Bond House flats in Dublin are 2,4 times more likely to have asthma and have called on the local authority to speed up plans to redevelop the area from 2021, as 83% of residents live with mould and damp
America Canada Carbon emissions from Canada's oil sands are severely underreported, a new study in the journal Science suggests; aircraft-based measures found that the total C emissions from the Athabasca region exceeded reported values by 1.900 to 6.300%
America Jamaica Over 620 educational institutions islandwide have been connected to the Internet under the National Broadband Initiative