Nominal wages in Japan grew by 4.8% year-on-year in December 2022, although real wage growth was only 0.1% after inflation, and household spending fell 1.3% year-on-year, according to Japan's Labor Ministry, Bloomberg reported Feb. 6.
Local elections in Ecuador on Feb. 5 saw two mayoral candidates from the leftist socialist "Citizens' Revolution" party win governorships in the important provinces of Quito and Guayaquil, El Universo reported Feb. 6.
Russia's budget deficit in January 2023 increased to 1.8 trillion rubles ($25 billion) or 1.2% of GDP, the country's largest January deficit since 1998 when Russia defaulted on its debt, Bloomberg reported Feb. 6.
Taiwan's export numbers dropped for a fifth consecutive month in January, Reuters reported Feb. 7.
Three governors from Nigeria's Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states appealed to the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of the Central Bank's plan to replace 2.7 trillion naira ($5.86 billion) of high-denomination bills with redesigned notes, the reasonableness of the six-week timeline to phase out old money, and whether the central government is exceeding its powers, Bloomberg reported Feb. 6.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said he accepted a Franco-German proposal aimed at normalizing relations with Serbia after a meeting with Miroslav Lajcak, the EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Reuters reported Feb. 6.
Lebanon's Association of Banks announced an open-ended strike after the Court of Cassation -- the highest in the country -- ordered banks to pay out suing depositors in full even though banks do not have enough cash reserves to cover all savers, AP reported Feb. 7.
Suspected Chinese threat actors are using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate videos of fake news media outlets, complete with AI-generated news anchors using English language voiceovers, social media analytics firm Graphika said in a report published Feb. 7.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met with leaders of the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to discuss the implementation of the November 2022 peace agreement, the Daily Monitor reported Feb. 4.
Nepal's National Independent Party (NIP), the third-largest party in the ruling coalition, quit the government after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's administration refused to reinstate NIP chief Rabi Lamichhane as deputy prime minister and home minister, The Kathmandu Post reported Feb. 6.
