Asia Myanmar Peace talks with several smaller ethnic armed organizations have been promoted by Myanmar’s military government as evidence of ongoing national reconciliation; Critics argue the discussions exclude many of the country’s most powerful resistance groups
America Nicaragua Restrictions on the Catholic Church have been intensified, as the government extended the prohibition to traditional "Posadas" and living Nativity scenes held in the streets
Asia Azerbaijan 'My Vote', a new coalition of NGOs, has been set up to monitor the extraordinary presidential elections to be held in Azerbaijan on 7 February 2024
Asia China A wild Siberian tiger attacked and killed a leopard in a national park in north-east China, a very rare accident; one of the world's most endangered species, about 500 Siberian tigers are believed to be living in the wild
Africa Burundi Six of the ten handball players of the Burundi team, who fled from Rijeka, Croatia on 9 August while participating in the U-19 World Cup, had to return to Croatia after Belgium, where the youngsters had sought asylum, expelled them last week
Europe Greece New Athens mayor sworn into office with a grass-roots approach to his mayorship by pledging a “return to the neighborhoods”; swearing-in ceremony of the new municipal council was held in a former public market in the downtown district of Kypseli
America Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, under whose auspices the annual Boxing Day Street Jam was being held in the Point community, ordered a halt to the event and called on the authorities to act quickly to prevent an escalation of violence among young teenagers
Europe Albania The Albanian Parliament has suffered a cyber attack by hackers who tried to break into its data system, causing a temporary interruption of its services, but would not 'touch the system's data' - they declared
Asia Bangladesh Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked her party's men to go from door to door with their election manifesto to convince people to vote, as only her party can continue the country's journey towards progress and prosperity
Asia Singapore The global project focused on digital identity and finance, Worldcoin, recently introduced World ID 2.0 in Singapore
America Panama Panamanian and Costa Rican police forces joined together on December 24 and 25 to bring joy to children in the southern border by sharing food, gifts, piñatas and games, fostering a sense of fraternity between the two nations during the Christmas season
Africa Sierra Leone In a resolute stance to strengthen democratic values in Sierra Leone, ECOWAS President Umar Touray emphasised the regional bloc's unwavering commitment to uphold democracy within the nation
Europe Austria Gaston Glock, the Austrian engineer who invented the famous pistol that bears his name, has died at the age of 94; the Glock company said in a statement that its founder's life's work 'will continue in his spirit'
Africa Algeria Stellantis fulfilled its commitment made in November 2022 by announcing the start of production at its plant in Tafraoui, a move to support the development of country's automotive sector and to strengthen market share in Middle East and Africa region