The Pakistani authorities have asked the United States to speed up the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to the country's air force due to the increased threat of armed conflict with India, reports DefPro . The exact number of aircraft, as well as the timing of their delivery, have not been announced.

Zenit St. Petersburg coach Dick Advocaat took second place in the list of the best football coaches in the world compiled by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), the official website of this organization reports. In the ranking, which includes coaches of club teams, Advocaat lost first place to the coach of the English Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson. In the voting of experts from 85 countries, Ferguson scored 264 points.

Israel has charged a citizen of the country who is suspected of spying for Iran, Haaretz reports . The accused, Mauricio Segel, lived in Argentina and was arrested three weeks ago. According to investigators, in 2006, Segel, through the Iranian Embassy in Argentina, offered to provide Iranians with Israeli documents for money. In particular, he provided his passport and identification card. As reported, in May 2008, another suspected spy for Iran was arrested in Israel.

Outgoing US President George W. Bush is renting office space in Dallas, which will cost taxpayers $311,600 a year, Bloomberg reports. About the same amount was spent on Bill Clinton's office back in 2001, when he settled in New York after leaving the presidency. Bush's office will be located in the 20-story Sherry Lane Place building in the commercial district of Dallas, the third largest city in Texas, the government's General Services Administration said.

In 2008, Georgia's direct and guaranteed external debt increased by 50.3 percent. reports this Interfax with reference to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic. By the end of the year, the debt amounted to $2.691 billion. The bulk of this amount is Georgia's debt to international financial institutions. Thus, Georgia owes the IMF $465.1 million, the World Bank - $988 million, and the Asian Development Bank - $73 million. Debt to creditor countries in 2008 increased to $531.3 million.

US President-elect Barack Obama intends to appoint John Berry, who is currently the director of the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, as head of the Office of Personnel Management, according to the ABC television channel website. A source in the Democratic Party confirmed that the department responsible for personnel issues in government agencies will be headed by Berry.

Residents of Russian cities did not save money on the New Year holidays, according to data from the Romir company. Thus, in December 2008, Russians’ spending on everyday household consumption increased by 21.6 percent compared to November and by 40 percent compared to December 2007. This became possible due to the fact that spending in November decreased by almost two percent. In addition, Russians saved money on their New Year's holiday - most residents of large cities spent it at home.

Palestinian Authority experts estimate the damage caused by Operation Cast Lead at $1.4 billion. They said they would call on Arab and Western countries to provide financial assistance in rebuilding buildings and infrastructure destroyed by Israel. Recovery, according to their estimates, could take about five years or even more, reports the Associated Press .

As a result of one of the missile strikes carried out on January 15 by the Israeli armed forces on the Gaza Strip, the property of the bureau of the Russian TV channel "Russia al-Yawm" (the Arabic-language version of the Russia Today channel) was significantly damaged, Interfax reports with reference to the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon dismissed the heads of the country's key energy enterprises, Fergana.Ru news agency reports . The head of the state company "Barki Tojik" ("Energy of Tajikistan") Sharifkhon Samiev and the head of the state unitary enterprise "Tojikgaz" Fatkhiddin Mukhsiddinov lost their posts. In addition, the director of the state unitary enterprise Tojikcement, Makhmadrakhim Karimov, was fired.

Barack Obama does not consider it necessary to capture or destroy Osama bin Laden . The US President-elect spoke about this in an interview with CBS TV channel host Katie Couric. According to Obama, it is enough for the Americans to paralyze the activities of “terrorist number one” and his Al-Qaeda group . “Of course, I would prefer that he be caught or killed,” Obama said in an interview.

In the Perm region, a criminal case has been initiated against a deputy of the local legislative assembly. As stated in the message of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, he is suspected of illegal entrepreneurship with the extraction of particularly large income. According to the investigation, from 2005 to 2008, the deputy rented out non-residential premises without being registered as an individual entrepreneur.

The races of the 2009 Biathlon World Championship, which will be held from February 14 to 22 in Pyeongchang, Korea, will be held in the dark under artificial lighting. This decision was made so that in central Europe, television broadcasts of starts begin around 10:00 local time, reports the sports information agency "All Sport" . As the President of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Anders Besseberg said, according to Korean time, the races will begin no earlier than 18:00.

The state corporation Vnesheconombank (VEB) gained control over 75 percent of the shares of the Ukrainian Prominvestbank (PIB), which was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the financial crisis. This was reported in the official press release published on the PIB website. At the end of December 2008, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine already allowed VEB to buy more than 50 percent of PIB shares.

The annual Sundance Independent Film Festival opens in the United States with the world premiere of Adam Elliott's animated film Mary & Max. The competition program of the film forum is divided into several sections: “American Documentary Cinema”, “American Dramatic Cinema”, “World Documentary Cinema”, “World Dramatic Cinema”, “Short Film” and “Animation Sketches”. Works from 21 countries will compete for the festival awards.