Skopje

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic will on Monday in Budva, Montenegro, sign an agreement on cutting roaming charges in regional public mobile networks.

The agreement will be signed by the ministers of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Albania.

"We ate spaghetti, a cake and apples today... I liked the cake the most... but the apples were bitter," six-year-old Ivan complains as his mother, Miljana, takes him home from the Rade Jovcevski-Korcagin kindergarten in Skopje.

Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, have accused the government of leaving prisons in a catastrophic condition, alleging that three inmates died of neglect in Macedonia's largest prison, Idrizovo, in the last two weeks alone.

The Macedonian Foreign Ministry said that it will summon the US deputy ambassador to Skopje first thing on Monday to convey its dissatisfaction about the statement by the American diplomat Jess Baily.

"The ministry is reacting to the inappropriate use of the term 'Slavs' by the newly-appointed US ambassador to Macedonia," the Ministry said in a press release.

A few dozen ethnic Albanians gathered in Skopje on Thursday in Skopje to hear a former politician, Nevzat Halili, read out a declaration of an "independent republic".

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"Republic of Ilirida" declared in Macedonia

SKOPJE -- Former leader of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Action in Macedonia Nevzat Halili on Thursday in Skopje declared "the Republic of Ilirida."

Macedonia is warming to the idea of building a regional north-south high-speed railroad, which in its final stage would link the Greek port of Thessaloniki to Budapest via Skopje and Belgrade.

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Serbia and Macedonia to have joint diplomatic missions

SKOPJE -- Macedonian and Serbian foreign ministers have signed agreement "on rational use of resources in joint diplomatic and consular missions abroad."

SKOPJE - Macedonian and Serbian Foreign Ministers Nikola Popovski and Ivica Dacic signed in Skopje on Monday an Agreement on rational use of resources in joint diplomatic and consular missions abroad, announcing that the locations and countries where the joint missions are to be set up will be defined soon.

Macedonia's main opposition Social Democratic Party, SDSM - which has boycotted parliament since the April elections, claiming the government parties won them by fraud - declined to take part in Friday's DIK session, which proposed door-to-door checkups on whether voters are who they say they are.