Skopje

Party animals in Macedonia are spoiled for choice once again when it comes to New Year's Eve fun, thanks to the ongoing political feud between the City of Skopje and the Skopje Municipality of Centar, which is run by the opposition.

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Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was set to leave for the Macedonian capital of Skopje on Dec. 22, for a visit aimed at boosting bilateral relations with the Balkan country, as well as reiterating support for ethnic Turkish communities there.

The Macedonian students organization, the Students Plenum, has announced new actions against government plans to introduce "external testing" for graduates after it became apparent that the government would not abandon the plan.

The Skopje Law Faculty, the Skopje Faculty of Drama Arts, the private FON University and the State University in the town of Stip have formally rejected the proposed legal reform to institute state-run tests, arguing that it will not benefit students' education as the authorities have claimed. 

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Thousands of students, university professors and others supporters said "No" on Wednesday to a government plan for state-supervised tests graduates, in what was arguably the biggest student protest to take place in Macedonia in two-and-a-half decades of independence.

An interview of Novinite.com with Jordan Kamchev, a Macedonian businessman , on the challenges ahead of Macedonia and its relations with Bulgaria.

Macedonian Justice Minister Adnan Jashari said that Brussels' call for Skopje to not rush into its plan to establish a tax haven will postpone but not stop the government-backed package of constitutional reforms.

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Turkish Airlines' Senior Vice President for Marketing and Sales, Ziya Taşkent, has said the company is willing to consider a joint venture in Macedonia aimed at setting up a new national carrier.

MAT, Macedonian Airlines, the last government-backed national carrier, collapsed in 2009. Mat Airways, Macedonia's last privately-backed national airline, folded in 2011.

United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz admitted on Wednesday that “no progress” was made in the latest round of talks between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) aimed at resolving their name dispute.

Four fire engines arrived to tackle the blaze as smoke rose from the front of the government building on Monday morning at around 9am. Firefighters were forced to climb onto the building's façade and smash some parts of it to extinguish the flames.

An electrical fire which spread to building material was the most probable cause for the fire, initial reports have suggested.