Los Angeles, United States: Football's global governing body FIFA said Wednesday it had received more than 500 million requests for tickets to this year's World Cup despite rumbling controversy over sky-high prices to attend the event. FIFA said in a statement it had received applications from fans»»»

Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh claimed authorities arrested an individual who received IRR9bn ($6,363) for participating in violence during recent protests, as part of an alleged foreign-directed plot, state media reported on January 15. »»»

DOHA: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has held a telephone call with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia HH Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud. Discussion during the call dealt with bilateral rel»»»

Damascus, Jan. 15 (SANA) Syrian Finance Minister Mohammad Yasser Barnieh discussed on Wednesday with Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two ministries, with a focus on supporting development projects, during a virtual meeting. According to a »»»

The topics of the upcoming elections and the euro changeover dominate Thursday's news media. POLITICS 24 Chasa has an interview with sociologist Evelina Slavkova, who argues that if President Rumen Radev does not run in the upcoming snap elections with a political formation, he will suffer politica»»»

Curiosity, perseverance and an unshakeable belief in knowledge formed the common thread as three leading Arab scientists were honoured at the Great Arab Minds 2025 awards in Dubai, the largest initiative of its kind in the Arab world. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Preside»»»

KUWAIT, Jan 15 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah urged a Ministerial Committee to speed up implementation of development projects in line with instructions of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.His Highness the Prime Minist»»»

Tunis, January 15, 2025 (TAP) – Tunisie Catering, the airline catering subsidiary of the Tunisair Group, has achieved dual ISO certifications: ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO 22000:2018 for food safety, the national air carrier said...»»»

Lio Metal, a Romanian company in the metallurgy industry, has announced a fundamental shift in its portfolio by aiming to fully replace conventional galvanized steel with Magnelis® coated steel over the next few years. This transition is supported by a direct partnership with ArcelorMittal – the de»»»

Skopje, 14 January 2026 (MIA) - The Ministry of Economy and Labor, supported by the European Union, will present the National Strategy for Small and Medium Enterprises 2025-2030 on Wednesday. The strategy defines the key areas to improving business environment, increasing competitiveness and innova»»»

Manila: The Philippines said Thursday it plans to block Elon Musk's Grok "by tonight", joining Southeast Asian neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia in barring access to the chatbot that has drawn fire over AI-generated explicit deepfakes. The news came hours after social media platform X said it was t»»»

Imagine Greenland: vast icy tundras, polar bears chilling like they're at a spa, and... a thriving Filipino community? According to the latest stats, the top foreign nationalities calling this frozen paradise home are led by none other than the Philippines with a whopping 921 residents. Also In Thi»»»

DOHA: Gold prices in the Qatari market rose by 1.82 percent during the current week, reaching $4,593.25000 per ounce on Thursday, according to data released by Qatar National Bank. The bank's data showed that the price of gold per ounce increased from $4,510.79000, its level on Sunday. At the same »»»

Ugandans head to the polls on Thursday for presidential elections with President Yoweri Museveni seeking to extend his 40 years in power amid repression and internet blackouts. Voting began Thursday in Uganda’s presidential election despite a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticised as »»»

Libya’s largest (state) bank, Jumhouria Bank, announced yesterday the launch of the country’s first-ever e-payment service at petrol stations. This service is available through the “OnePay – Mini Pay” platform, accessible via the “Masrafi Plus” application. The service will be provided without the »»»

France and Germany announced Wednesday they will deploy troops to Greenland as part of a European security mission, following renewed threats by US President Donald Trump to take control of the Arctic island. The move, made at Denmark’s request, comes after high-level talks in Washington involving »»»

Emmanuel Macron is convening an ⁠emergency defence cabinet to discuss Donald's Trump's intent to acquire Greenland and Iran's brutal ​crackdown on mass protests. For in-depth analysis and insight, Oliver Farry welcomes Dr Alexandre Vautravers, Expert in Strategy and Security and Editor-in-Chief of »»»

Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland to help boost the Arctic island's security after talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the US on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump admin»»»

Elon Musk’s AI company xAI has imposed limits on its Grok chatbot’s image editing capabilities after hyper-realistic sexualised images – including depictions of minors – circulated online. The restrictions apply to all users, including paid subscribers, and block image generation in juris»»»

Tunis, January 15, 2026 (TAP) – The Tunis Stock Exchange announced, on Thursday, the launch of the second cohort of its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting program, effective January 15, 2026.Implemented in partnership with the...»»»

Regional weaponry and ammunition conglomerate Czechoslovak Group (CSG) has confirmed plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) plan in Amsterdam, where it wants to emit €750mn in stock through CSG B.V. “We think tha»»»

Moscow is intensifying its rhetoric towards the Baltic region, casting a senior Orthodox figure as a hostile force allegedly seeking to undermine religious life in Lithuania and neighbouring states. In a statement on Janua»»»

Russia is trying to freeze Ukraine into submission. As temperatures plunge to -20°C in Kyiv, the Armed Forces of Russia (AFR) has stepped up its barrage of drones and ballistic missiles to take out key heating and power infrastructure. Half of Ukraine’s capital is now in subzero darkness and the ci»»»

Moscow is intensifying its rhetoric towards the Baltic region, casting a senior Orthodox figure as a hostile force allegedly seeking to undermine religious life in Lithuania and neighbouring states. In a statement on Janua»»»

A new Estonian technology venture is entering the fast-growing market for carbon reporting, promising to make verified emissions data easier and cheaper for manufacturers to produce. The startup, Lodestar, has developed a »»»

Regional weaponry and ammunition conglomerate Czechoslovak Group (CSG) has confirmed plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) plan in Amsterdam, where it wants to emit €750mn in stock through CSG B.V. “We think tha»»»

A severe cold wave has tightened its grip on large parts of northern India, with temperatures hovering near zero in several states. On Thursday, the capital Delhi recorded its coldest morning so far this winter, with the temperature dropping to 2.9C. In neighbouring Haryana state, temperatures in s»»»

Doha: Qatar Calendar House announced on Thursday the start of the 'Al-Shabat' Season, known as the coldest period during winter. According to the update, the 'Al Shabat' season will last for 26 days, starting today, January 16, 2026. It is expected to herald colder temperatures, continued cloud for»»»

Consumer price inflation in Romania (chart) eased marginally to 9.69% year on year in December from 9.76% in November as prices rose by only 0.22% month on month at the end of the year, according to data published by the national statistics office INS. The reading was in line with the Bloomberg con»»»

Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Valeriu Chiveri said supporting citizens living in the separatist Transnistria region would be “relatively simple” if the authorities in Tiraspol accept Chisinau’s reintegration proposal, NewsMaker.md reported. »»»

It’s a classic proxy for economic growth: Russia’s demand for power in 2025 turned negative for the first time in four years underscoring a self-inflicted economic slowdown that threatens to turn into a recession this year. »»»

Russia is trying to freeze Ukraine into submission. As temperatures plunge to -20°C in Kyiv, the Armed Forces of Russia (AFR) has stepped up its barrage of drones and ballistic missiles to take out key heating and power infrastructure. Half of Ukraine’s capital is now in subzero darkness and the ci»»»

1 of 2 | NASA's four SpaceX Crew-11 members safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off southern California on Thursday after the first ever medical evacuation from the ISS after an astronaut developed a non-emergency medical condition. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo Jan. 14 (UPI) --»»»

In the presence of the Director General of the Libyan Development and Reconstruction Fund, Belgasem Khalifa Haftar, and the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister, Harry Theoharis, the Libyan Greek Development and Reconstruction Forum commenced in Benghazi yesterday. The Fund reported that the one-day forum»»»

The parliamentary group "Greatness" launched today’s plenary session with a direct critique of the current constitutional rules governing caretaker governments. Speaking from the rostrum, Juliana Mateeva called for a full “return to normality,” a phrase the party uses to demand that the president r»»»

Mount Olympus is no longer the mountain of the gods but of visitors. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, crowding has spread from roadside tavernas to high elevations, with tents filling the Plateau of the Muses and bottlenecks forming on the trail to the summit, raising safety risks. In an attempt to pre»»»

Radostin Vasilev, leader of the Morale, Unity, Honour (MECh) party, spoke to journalists in the corridors of Parliament on Thursday regarding the mandating of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) to nominate a prime minister-designate. Vasilev stated that the party sees this as a negative sig»»»

MELBOURNE - Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic could face Italian Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of 2026 Australian Open, with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and German Alexander Zverev as the potential semi-finalists from the other half of the draw. Djokovic has been drawn to play Spaniard Pedro Mart»»»

Russia said Thursday it was expelling a British diplomat, calling him an undercover spy in the latest espionage accusation between Moscow and London. The Kremlin has long singled out Britain as one of the most hostile Western states -- with relations virtually frozen even before Moscow's full-scale»»»

NEW DELHI, Jan 15 (KUNA) -- Kuwait participated in the National Conference on Strategic Trade Controls (NCSTC) 2026 in the Indian capital New Delhi on Thursday, which comes of great importance as it occurs amidst massive economic and trade transformations across the world.In a statement to KUNA, Ku»»»

US President Donald Trump has described a “great” conversation with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, as Washington signals a willingness to work with the post-Maduro leadership while pressing for access to the country’s oil and continued political concessions. US President Donald Trum»»»

Enery, an independent renewable power producer in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) announces the start of the Ogrezeni hybrid project, combining photovoltaic (PV) generation with battery storage, in Giurgiu County, Romania. With an installed capacity of 761 MWp / 534 MW AC and more than 1 GWh of ba»»»

Tunis, Jan. 15 (TAP) – Waste generation in the Middle East and North Africa is set to almost double by 2050, reaching 255 million tons per year, according to a Greenpeace MENA report. The study highlights the growing plastic pollution crisis and the...»»»

Tunis, Jan. 15, 2026 (TAP) – Two-thirds of companies in Tunisia are at immediate risk of regulatory non-compliance, according to a survey conducted by the Confederation of Citizen Enterprises of Tunisia (CONECT) between January 6 and 12, 2026. The...»»»

Dubai: The UAE has joined Pax Silica, a US-led initiative aimed at securing artificial intelligence and semiconductor supply chains, as Washington moves to formalise a small bloc of partners around the critical inputs powering the AI economy. The UAE became the ninth signatory this week, joining a »»»

Doha, Qatar: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, held a telephone conversation today, January 15, 2026, with HH Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dur»»»

Dozens of Palestinian citizens were detained or kidnaped and one was injured as the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed various areas of the West Bank last night and on Thursday morning. According to local sources, clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli occupation forces in th»»»

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro is 117.3323 dinars for one euro on Thursday, which is a slight change relative to Wednesday, the National Bank of Serbia said. The dinar is steady against the euro m-o-m, down by 0.2 pct y-o-y and steady relative to the b»»»

BELGRADE - The Serbia men's national water polo team defeated Israel 19-9 (4-3, 5-3, 3-1, 7-2) at the European Championship in Belgrade on Wednesday evening to clinch the top spot in the competition's Group C. With four goals, Strahinja Rasovic led the scoring for Serbia, which was without suspende»»»

The Kremlin agreed with US President Donald Trump's statement that Vladimir Zelensky is delaying the resolution process in Ukraine, according to Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "You can agree with this. It is indeed the case," Peskov said to journalists in response to a question about »»»