Macedonia Financial News

The European Commission’s top official says a decade-long investment package for Western Balkan countries that are seeking to join the bloc could vastly improve the region's economy

Gaza remains one of the world's top flashpoints. In a region characterised by political instability, fratricidal conflict, and geopolitical tensions, Gaza holds its own special niche, for its 4,000-years-old history predates the current Israel-Arab tensions of the 20th century. Its position as a key land bridge between Asia and Africa led to it becoming a constant battleground over the centuries and witnessing repeated cycles of destruction and revival. Across the centuries, the tread of Alexander the Great's Macedonian phalanxes and two centuries later, of the Roman legions, the pounding gallop of the Crusaders, the center of Mongols' mounted archers, Napoleon's Frenchmen, the British (bolstered by their Indian Army contingents including the Hyderabad and Mysore Lancers, as well as the Australian Light Horse) echoed in the region. Yet Gaza was not always an epicentre of battles and conflict — and spent long periods of prosperity and renown as a trading hub and seat of culture and learning. The first records of human habitation in Gaza dates to the Bronze Age in 3300-3000 BC when the Ancient Egypt built a fortress at a site south of present day Gaza City amid trade with what is now Israel. There were several spells of existence, destruction, and revival in the epoch and human settlements finally ceased to exist at the end of Bronze Age (c.

TIRANA (Reuters) — The European Union wants to bring six Western Balkan countries closer to membership of the bloc but wants them first to implement reform and create their own single market, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.

Leaders from the European Union offered a new growth plan to the Western Balkans at a summit in Albania’s capital on Monday, opening parts of the EU single market and asking for deep-rooted reforms ahead of membership in the bloc for the six countries ...

By Jan Strupczewski

By Jan Strupczewski

Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence got barely a mention at the U.N. General Assembly’s convocation of world leaders

These rankings cover 12 categories, notably introducing the category of 'International student diversity,' a measure that goes beyond simply assessing the proportion of international students, taking into account the number of nationalities they represent, providing a more accurate reflection of diversity. The United Kingdom led the pack, with the most represented universities on this list, accounting for 15.5% of the institutions, followed by Türkiye at 10.6%, Germany at 7.8%, Italy at 7.5%, France at 7.2%, Spain at 6.4%, Poland at 4.8%, and Ukraine at 4.8%. 106 European universities that have not previously been ranked have been added this year, signaling the evolving landscape of higher education. These institutions hail from North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Albania. Topping the charts in the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024 is the University of Oxford, leading seven UK institutions in the top 10. Alongside the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London have secured a perfect score of 100 points in categories such as 'Academic reputation,' 'Employer reputation,' and 'International Research Network.' This underscores the UK's robust higher education system, renowned for its exceptional teaching and research standards. Additionally, some universities within the top 10 have over 10% of their student population from international backgrounds, highlighting the UK's appeal to global students.

India's men's freestyle wrestlers cut a sorry figure at the World Championships as five of the six Olympic-quota contenders have exited the prestigious tournament and only Abhimanyu could reach the medal round in the non-Olympic 70kg weight class. What was more disappointing was that the Indian wresters lost to rivals from the nations that are not known for their wrestling prowess, raising suspicion over their fitness before flying to Belgrade. Sachin Mor (79kg) lost his repechage round by technical superiority to North Macedonia's Ahmad Magomedov while Anuj Kumar (65kg) could not even clear the Qualification round, losing 7-8 to Mexico's Austin Klee Gomez. Mexico and North Macedonia are not the nations against whom the Indians are expected to lose their bouts. It has been learnt that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had suggested the Sports Ministry to conduct medical examination of the selected wrestlers before sending them for participation, saying that many of them are possibly carrying injuries. «A few of the wrestlers selected are injured, especially 65kg freestyle wrestler.

Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu famously known as Mother Teresa passed away on September 5 in the year 1997. Every year the world commemorates 26th anniversary of Mother Teresa's passing on this day.

Indians were granted a total of 17,379 work visas last year, Federal Foreign Office of Germany said. Germany granted a total of 152,336 national work visas to foreigners in 2022, representing a significant increase compared to 2021. Out of the total visas issued to Indians, 8,613 work visas were granted by the German Consulate General in Bangalore. The second-highest number of work visas for Indians was granted by the German Consulate General in Mumbai (3,013), followed by the Consulate General in Chennai (2,483), the German Embassy in New Delhi (2,434), and the German Consulate in Kolkata (836). Turkish nationals are the second-largest beneficiaries of work visas issued by Germany followed by Bosnians, Kosovars, Russians, Albanians, and North Macedonians. This comes at a time when German cabinet on Wednesday passed a draft bill to ease the citizenship law, hoping a faster track to German nationality will attract skilled migrants to plug chronic labour shortages holding back Europe's biggest economy. Some experts caution that progress may be slow, noting parts of Germany's administrative machinery are already creaking under a big backlog of existing citizenship applications.

Kosovo’s journalists have protested against the government’s decision to suspend a private television station’s operations

This year’s tourism season has been extra hot, with temperatures in the northern hemisphere reaching record-breaking levels that are set to keep intensifying.

A-League club Perth Glory, owned by West Australian businessman Tony Sage, has fallen into receivership and its licence has been revoked.

Croatian police have detained nine people suspected of smuggling migrants into the European Union country from neighboring Serbia

Brussels added Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to the list of official candidates to join the European Union on Thursday, ending a six-year wait since the small Balkan country filed its membership application to the 27-nation bloc.

Migrants attempting to reach Europe are now almost always subjected to some form of violence at the hands of authorities, according to a new NGO report.

Greece and Bulgaria have started commercially operating a long-delayed gas pipeline, which will help decrease southeast Europe's dependence on Russian gas and boost energy security.

The European Union must undergo major reforms now to be ready to cope with having 30-36 members in the future, Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday. 

Italian environmental activists glued their hands on Friday to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, police said. 

The foreign minister of Transnistria has said that the separatist region is committed to achieving independence from Moldova and possible unification with Russia, and that Moldova's recent EU candidacy status effectively ends any possibility of cooperation.