Democratic Renewal of Macedonia

The forthcoming local elections on October 17 will again be dominated by male mayoral candidates, official data on candidacies that was recently published by the State Electoral Commission reveals.

Out of a total of 298 candidates who will be competing for mayoral seats in the country's 81 municipalities, only 26, or less than nine per cent, are women, the data shows.

A host of political parties in Macedonia are calling on Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to make good on a promise to scrap the country's six electoral units, making it easier for smaller parties to pick up seats in parliament.

Six cities in the Balkans have made it into the top ten most polluted cities in Europe in data published by the Guardian newspaper.

The newspaper analysed data on ultra-fine pollution particles, called PM2.5, from the World Health Organisation, WHO, finding that the town of Tetova in north-western Macedonia was the most polluted city in Europe excluding Turkey.

The Democratic Renewal of Macedonia, DOM party - the country's green political force - has accused the authorities of not doing enough to curb the dangerous air pollution in Skopje and other major towns.