Africa Zambia To support formalized and safe gold mining in Chitambo district, government pledged to provide equipment to registered cooperatives, enabling small scale miners enhance their operations, and to build a district hospital with mortuary services
Africa Seychelles The OceanXplorer, the advanced research and cinematography vessel used by OceanX to explore the ocean, departed in the afternoon from Port Victoria for the outer islands with 72 passengers, including a team of 14 scientists from Seychelles
America Trinidad and Tobago As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, the Tobago Division of Education, Research and Technology has reintroduced safety protocols in all schools on the island
Oceania Palau The Civil Service Pension Plan in Palau faces a potential financial crisis after a drop in the investment fund, which prompted the proposal of an 8% increase in employee contributions
Asia Oman Citizens have started receiving money from the Social Protection Fund; 1.286.600 Omani have registered for benefits so far
America Saint Lucia The island is taking steps to avoid future sugar shortages by sourcing the product from 'alternative suppliers' said Saint Lucia's Director of Consumer Affairs
Europe Kosovo Kosovo authorities will abolish the use of Serbian dinar in its territory particularly in the Serb-majority northern areas of the country; Serbian President Vucic said this was 'worrying and calls into question all processes of normalisation and dialogue'
Africa Liberia Liberia's outgoing President George Weah has said in recent days that he has no intention of seeking re-election in the 2029 electoral round
America Guyana Guyana has presented a historic GUY$1,146 trillion (US 5,84 billion) national budget for the upcoming year, a 46% increase over the previous fiscal plan
Africa Libya Turkey offered to contribute to energy infrastructure projects in Libya, as well as electricity transmission and distribution projects; Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources recalled that relations between the countries go back 500 years
Africa Ethiopia The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in a joint note denounced 'the severe humanitarian crisis affecting some four million people in drought-affected areas of Ethiopia'
America Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro has announced a plan to "make tangible" the annexation of the disputed Esequibo territory with Guyana, expressing gratitude for the unanimous support of the December referendum by Venezuelan lawmakers
Asia Kazakhstan Approximately $171,3 million was invested in the country's professional, scientific and technical activities in January-November 2023, Finprom's financial and business analysis service reported, compared to $100 million in 2022
Asia Maldives Vice President Latheef presented a policy formulated by the government to facilitate the return of nurses and other health workers who have been out of service for various reasons, allowing former health workers to return to work on a salary basis