Asia Laos New rules for intellectual property protection wereintroduced, allowing businesses to protect industrial designs internationally through a single application under the Hague System; It simplifies registration and administrative procedures, reducing costs
Asia Oman The WHO regional office has awarded Al Buraimi the prestigious status of 'Healthy City' in Eastern Mediterranean region; the award will enable the implementation of the 'Health for All' concept, improving equitable access to high quality health services
Europe Netherlands The Dutch railway company NS is planning a complete reorganisation of its services for next year and aims to add 1.600 extra journeys per week from 2025 onwards; all plans will have to be approved by the government, a shareholder
Europe Liechtenstein Following the fire at the former Hotel Acker in Wildhaus, fire investigators from the St. Gallen Cantonal Police's Centre of Forensic Expertise launched an investigation and invited witnesses to come forward to provide new information
Africa Mali The foundation stone was laid for the Children's Home in Bamako, a project that will extend over 2 hectares and aims to 'create an environment conducive to the training, schooling and development' of orphaned children of the Armed Forces
Europe San Marino Today, 11 February 2024, operations are scheduled for the defusing and blasting of a 104 kg aeroplane bomb with approximately 30 kg of TNT, unexploded war residue found in July 2023 in the Serravalle area within the borders of the Republic of San Marino
Africa Djibouti The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation signed a USD 90 million Master Murabaha agreement for the Republic of Djibouti, with the International Hydrocarbons Company of Djibouti as executing agency
America Barbados Nearly 500 students are participating in the pilot phase of the Ministry of Energy and Enterprise's National Financial Literacy Expansion Programme, underway in seven secondary and six primary schools
Europe Austria The pigments in 12 million-year-old fossil snail shells from Austria are the oldest preserved dyes of the polyene group, as scientists from the Natural History Museum in Vienna and the University of Göttingen have shown
Europe Albania Italians are the leading group of foreign tourists in Albania in 2023, compared to other European or regional countries, excluding Kosovo, which traditionally outnumbers other areas; around 1 million Italians visited Albania last year, 9% of the total
Oceania Fiji The newly built hospital in Rotuma was officially handed over to the Ministry of Health by the military forces of the Republic of Fiji and is now ready to serve the public
Asia Afghanistan The Afghan power company Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat settled a two-year debt with Uzbekistan for the supply of electricity
Asia Vietnam The government has introduced incentives to encourage investment in the development of hi-tech parks, which will be eligible for investment incentives equivalent to those applied to locations with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions
Africa Comoros The results of the last examination for teachers in November 2023 are still awaited by the many candidates who sat it