Tajikistan is moving toward tougher enforcement against individuals who evade child support obligations. The briefing notes that new penalties may include restrictions on access to certain state services as well as limits on travel for offenders. This signals a stronger domestic policy approach aimed at ensuring compliance and strengthening protections for children and families.

Tajikistan and Switzerland expand agricultural cooperation talks

Diplomatic engagement between Tajikistan and Switzerland is highlighted, with discussions focused on agricultural cooperation . While the briefing does not provide names or specific meeting dates, the emphasis suggests that Tajikistan is seeking stronger international partnerships in agriculture, a key sector for food security and rural livelihoods.

Tajik ambassador meets Iranian Foreign Ministry officials on property management

Tajikistan’s ambassador held talks with officials from Iran’s Foreign Ministry. The discussions centred on the management of diplomatic property , an issue that often reflects broader diplomatic and operational coordination between states. This meeting points to ongoing engagement between Dushanbe and Tehran on formal bilateral matters.

Authorities warn against illegal currency exchange operations

Currency exchange and financial regulation remain in focus, with warnings issued against illegal exchange activity. Exchange rates and regulations indicate continued state attention on monetary controls and enforcement in the financial sector.

According to published exchange rates verified by EBC Financial Group and recent global financial data, the following currencies have a higher unit value than the U.S. dollar as of early 2026:

What “stronger than the dollar” actually means

It’s important to clarify that saying a currency is “stronger” refers to its exchange rate value , not necessarily overall economic strength. A higher exchange rate simply means that one unit of the foreign currency buys more U.S. dollars.

This does not mean that those economies are larger or more stable than the United States. It is a reflection of monetary policy choices, currency pegs, and market supply/demand dynamics. For example, many Middle Eastern currencies are deliberately kept at high values relative to the dollar to support import pricing and economic stability.

India, the world ’s fifth-largest economy, is facing elevated trade uncertainty as negotiations with the US continue to drag on. Any meaningful strengthening in the rupee is likely to depend on clarity over a bilateral trade agreement, economists say.

“We believe the rupee to be undervalued currently, with correction anticipated after there is more clarity on the US-India trade agreement,” said Hanna Luchnikava-Schorsch, head of Asia-Pacific economics at S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

India remains among the highest-tariffed countries globally, with average duties of around 50%, exceeding even those imposed on China . The steep levies have weighed on trade flows as talks between New Delhi and Washington stall.

After higher tariffs came into force in August, India’s exports to the US fell nearly 12% in September and 8.5% in October. Exports rebounded sharply in November, however, rising 22.6%, offering some relief to exporters.

Nomura’s chief economist for India and Asia ex-Japan, Sonal Varma, said the main risk is that India could lose momentum from global supply chain shifts. 

Firms focused on the US market may look elsewhere if high tariffs persist, she warned.

The rupee’s slide gathered pace earlier this month when it breached the psychologically important 90-per-dollar level. The currency began the year at 85.64 to the dollar and crossed the 91 mark in fewer than 15 trading sessions.

Foreign investors have remained largely bearish on India, with net outflows of more than $10 billion across asset classes this year, according to NSDL data. While India’s central bank has reiterated that market forces should determine the exchange rate, it reportedly intervened aggressively this week to curb the rupee’s fall.

“We have enough foreign currency reserves that will be able to cover the next three to six months. By 2030, all things being equal, we will have enough foreign currency reserves to transition to a mono-currency,” Matshe is quoted .

Zimbabwe has struggled for more than a decade to restore a functioning national currency after bouts of hyperinflation forced the government to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009.

The most recent attempt, the ZiG, short for Zimbabwe Gold, was launched in April 2024 and now accounts for roughly 40% of daily transactions. The currency has been buoyed by a sharp rise in global gold prices, with mining companies benefiting from a 48% rally this year.

The gold boom has also lifted activity on the dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, where several gold-linked stocks have performed strongly. Analysts say the trend has helped stabilise domestic markets and reduce pressure on the foreign-exchange system.

Matshe said the country currently holds around US$1 billion in reserves, but expects to accumulate enough over the next three years to meet the minimum import-cover threshold required for a fully independent national currency.

Zimbabwe’s central bank believes stronger reserves, along with a more stable ZiG, will allow the government to gradually end the dual-currency system and reduce reliance on the US dollar.

Under the plan, denominations such as Rp1,000 would become Rp1, and similar changes would apply to other notes, including Rp2,000, Rp5,000, and up to Rp100,000.

This initiative is part of the Finance Ministry’s 2025–2029 strategic programs. The bill is being developed under Finance Minister Regulation No. 70 of 2025 and is expected to be finalised by 2027. "A bill on Rupiah Rate Change (redenomination) is a carried-over bill planned for completion in 2027," the regulation stated.

The rupiah, which currently trades at around 16,717 per U.S. dollar (as of November 19), has high nominal figures that have led to inefficiencies in budgeting and financial transactions, according to reports .

Redenomination has been under discussion for more than a decade. A 2013 bill was delayed due to economic instability. In 2016 and again in 2023, Bank Indonesia expressed its readiness but indicated the need for an appropriate timing, with BI Governor Perry Warjiyo stating that “its execution must be cautious and consider economic and political stability.”

The transition process would be gradual. According to Bank Indonesia’s 2016 estimates, preparing new notes could take two years, and full implementation could extend up to seven more years. During this period, both old and new banknotes would be in circulation.

Economists have also noted potential inflation risks during the transition, particularly if businesses increase prices through rounding. In 2023, Teuku Rifky, an economist at the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Indonesia, commented that while there were upsides to the redenomination, it was not an urgent issue for the Southeast Asian nation.

 “I don’t think there is a significant advantage in this redenomination, while the need or cost for execution is actually quite large,” he said .

Cuts to the caste or for the people?

After decades of Peronist rule, Milei was promising an abrupt change away from statist ideology to a small-state model where, in his view, private enterprise and the invisible hand of the market would solve society’s problems.

Milei promised these cuts would fall squarely upon the state—in his telling, a bloated and corrupt institution of elites he dubs la casta , or “the caste”—while everyday working people would be spared. However, the reality has been quite different. The first half of 2024 was marked by a brutal inflationary spiral and recession, as Argentina’s economy absorbed the changes. Inflation peaked at 289 % in April 2024. Poverty was estimated at between 55 and 57 %—the latter a 20-year high —and the increases to child welfare weren’t enough to stop poverty from reaching seven in 10 Argentine children . Pensions have also been allowed to liquefy. Older adults protest every Wednesday outside Congress and are routinely met with police brutality. The situation has improved since that initial turbulent period. Inflation trended steadily downwards to 37 % in July, the most recent data available. Poverty was down to 38 % by the second half of 2024. And Argentina has run a fiscal surplus for the first time in 16 years.                                                                                                                                                   

Decelerating inflation rates and fiscal stability, however, take a toll on the welfare regime, which seems to suffer under these short-term gains. Social safety policies, which usually compensate for unemployment or poverty, crumble under the austerity measures, leading to a widening gap in access to participation in society and consequently causing further social division. This is reflected in recent data of the Transformation Index BTI 2026, where the scores for Socio economic barriers and Social safety nets each dropped from 6 to 5 out of 10 possible points, while the Equal opportunity score fell from 7 to 6 points.  

The IMF and currency controls

For the first year and a half of Milei’s presidency, business leaders and investors had one question on their lips: When would the government lift currency controls? This web of restrictions on how Argentines could use the US dollar gave rise to a flotilla of exchange rates and caused a major headache for anyone doing business. In April 2025, they got their answer. In a lengthy announcement, Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Central Bank President Santiago Bausili explained that Argentina would unwind the controls, the peso would float freely between wide bands, and the government would not intervene in the exchange market unless it passed the upper or lower limit. In the immediate aftermath, the World Bank and the IMF both announced financial injections to support Argentina’s economic reform program.

In October 2025, half of the deputies and a third of senators will be renewed in the national mid-term elections. Milei has a tiny minority in Congress and depends on support from friendly opposition. A process which has recently involved vetoing anything he deems spendy, since it’s harder to achieve the two-thirds majorities needed to overturn a presidential veto than the absolute majorities needed to pass laws in the first place. He hopes to strengthen his hand in these elections, allowing him to govern with greater ease. Corruption scandals and early-warning signs. However, much of his electoral appeal depends on a stable economy—and therefore, a stable dollar. The government has been loath to buy dollars to nourish its reserves for fear of pushing the price up, but this means its foreign reserves are still running on fumes.

This has proved a devil’s bargain: exporters do not want to sell because of the disadvantageous exchange rate, while Argentines, empowered by the lack of currency controls and the super peso, a currency which has significantly appreciated against the dollar as the reference currency, are bleeding the country’s coffers by holidaying abroad. After a period of restive market sessions, the government announced that it would intervene directly in the foreign exchange market.

But the development that could yet prove lethal lies closer to home. In late August, leaked audio said that senior officials, including Milei’s sister, Karina, who serves in the specially-created role of secretary general of the presidency, had been charging bribes in exchange for contracts with the state disability agency. The news broke at a time when Milei was fighting Congress tooth and nail to block a bill increasing funding for people with disabilities, arguing that there was no money for it. For the first time since he took office, Congress overturned his veto.

The corruption scandal soon made itself felt at the polls. On September 7, voters in Buenos Aires Province—Argentina’s largest electoral district, with almost 40% of the voter roll—went to the ballot boxes in local elections where the opposition coasted a victory over Milei with 47 % and a 13-point lead.

What happens in the Buenos Aires outskirts, traditionally a Peronist stronghold, can’t be generalised to the rest of the country. But one thing remains clear for Milei’s reform agenda: a voyage that looked like plain sailing back in April could run into storm clouds on the horizon.

* DISCLAIMER: The final reports underscoring the numerical figures referring to the BTI 2026 mentioned above will be published in early 2026.

The opinions and thoughts expressed in this article reflect only the author's views.

Amy Booth is a journalist in Buenos Aires who covers politics, human rights and global development in Latin America

Hybrid systems, where part of the currency is pegged to gold, have also struggled because they tend to collapse under speculative pressure or are quietly abandoned when fiscal needs demand flexibility.

Some states highlight gold holdings to boost public confidence while continuing to rely on the U.S. dollar for trade and debt payments. A typical example is Zimbabwe, where it launched the ZiG ( Zimbabwe Gold ) last year. A currency supposedly anchored to its bullion reserves, after years of hyperinflation and repeated currency collapses.

Authorities pledged every unit would be backed by gold or foreign currency reserves. The move initially boosted public confidence, but analysts warn the system faces the same risks that doomed previous gold-anchored experiments.

Local schemes, reserve-enhanced fiats, or tightly run currency boards can tie value to gold, but such arrangements demand transparency, strict fiscal discipline, and are rare in national practice. Economists say the model holds up mainly at smaller scales.

Gold is less liquid than modern capital flows, governments need flexibility in crises, and international trade remains dominated by fiat currencies. Without full transparency, markets are quick to test the credibility of any gold peg.

The blackout, which began around 12:30 p.m. local time, affected major cities including Madrid, Lisbon, and Barcelona, leading to halted transportation systems, grounded flights, and widespread communication failures. Authorities are investigating the cause, with possibilities ranging from technical failures to cyberattacks.​

In Spain, the outage brought public transportation to a standstill . Madrid's metro system was evacuated, and traffic lights ceased functioning, causing significant congestion. Airports operated on backup generators, leading to flight delays nationwide.

Hospitals suspended routine operations, relying on emergency power to treat critical patients. Retailers like IKEA closed stores or limited access, and oil refineries , including those operated by Moeve and Petronor, halted operations due to the power failure.​

Portugal faced similar challenges. Lisbon's metro and train services were suspended, and traffic signals failed across the country. Water supplier EPAL warned of potential disruptions, and residents rushed to purchase emergency supplies. All IKEA stores in Portugal closed for the day, and airports operated on limited capacity.​

The exact cause of the outage remains unclear. Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica and Portuguese operator REN are investigating, with initial reports suggesting a possible technical failure in the high-voltage network. Authorities have not ruled out a cyberattack, and Spain's National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) is examining the possibility.​

A fire in southwest France, between Perpignan and Narbonne, damaged a high-voltage power line, which some speculate may have contributed to the outage. However, French grid operator RTE stated that the incident was unrelated to the blackout.​

Power restoration efforts began within hours in some regions. By early afternoon, electricity returned to parts of the Basque Country and Barcelona. However, full restoration across affected areas is expected to take longer, with Portuguese utility EDP unable to provide a definitive timeline.​

The outage also impacted cultural events. At the Madrid Open tennis tournament, matches were suspended as electronic systems failed, leaving players and spectators in the dark.

From explosive celebrations to sacred rituals, here are 10 of the most unique Easter traditions practised around the world.

Sweden: Easter witches

Forget the Easter Bunny—in Sweden, children dress up as “Easter witches,” donning colourful clothes and painted cheeks as they go door to door trading drawings for sweets, a whimsical blend of Halloween and Easter.

Germany: Easter egg trees and bonfires

Germans bring colour to their gardens with Ostereierbaum—trees decorated with hand-painted eggs. The season is also marked by towering Easter bonfires, meant to chase away the dark of winter and welcome spring.

Slovakia: Whipping tradition

In Slovakia, Easter Monday comes with a quirky and controversial custom: men playfully whip women with decorated willow branches, believed to bring beauty and vitality for the year ahead.

Greece: Rocket wars and clay pots

On the island of Chios, two rival churches engage in a thrilling "rocket war ," firing thousands of homemade fireworks across the night sky. Meanwhile, in Corfu, residents hurl clay pots from balconies to ward off evil spirits.

France: Giant omelette for a thousand

In the town of Haux, chefs cook a giant omelette made with over 4,000 eggs—enough to feed an entire village. Legend has it that Napoleon once ordered a massive omelette here, and the tradition stuck.

Guatemala: Flower carpets

In Antigua, streets bloom with intricate alfombras—vibrant carpets of dyed sawdust, flowers, and fruit that line the roads for Easter processions. These temporary artworks are as fleeting as they are breathtaking.

Philippines : Self-crucifixion

In a dramatic and controversial act of faith, some Filipino devotees reenact Christ’s crucifixion —complete with nails and crosses—as a form of penance. Though discouraged by the Church, the practice draws large crowds each year.

Papua New Guinea: Cigarette trees

Churches in Papua New Guinea hang tobacco leaves and cigarettes on trees around Easter, encouraging congregants, especially men, to attend services and receive their “reward.”

Despite these, the are employees in various parts of the who give out their all at the workplace in terms of work hours.

According to data provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), there are some 5 countries in the world that work the most hours annually.

Here is the list:

Mexico

Topping the list is Mexico, where the average worker clocks in an impressive 2,207 hours per year. This high number reflects the country's labour dynamics, which often involve a six-day workweek.

Costa Rica

Following closely is Costa Rica, with an average of 2,171 hours worked annually. Known for its "Pura Vida" lifestyle, Costa Rica's high working hours might come as a surprise. However, the country frequently ranks high on the World Economic Forum’s Happy Planet Index, indicating a unique blend of hard work and overall well-being.

Chile

In third place is Chile, where the average annual hours worked is 1,953. Chile's economy is one of the most stable in Latin America, and its workforce is known for its dedication and productivity.

Greece

Greece which is the fourth place has an annual work hours of 1897. Like the rest of the countries on the list, Greece has a stable workforce which drives its innovation and development.

Israel

Rounding out the top five is Israel, with an average of 1,880 hours worked per year. Israel's workforce is known for its high productivity and innovation, contributing to the country's strong economic performance.