A burned excavator, and no answer yet

Just days after the foundation stone was laid for the training stadium of FK "Shkendija" in Arachinovo, an excavator burned on the construction site. The investment is around 550,000 euros, the fire was reported at about 2:36 a.m., and nobody was hurt. Mayor Daut Bekjiri immediately called it a deliberate act, and VLEN called it an attempt to attack development. The police are investigating, and the public still doesn't know whether this was arson or an accident. If it was arson, the question isn't whether work will continue - it's who gains from stopping a half-million-euro project.

"Puls": a licence without a single application

The prosecutor's office for organised crime and corruption has opened a new investigation into Dejan Jovanov, owner of the "Puls" nightclub in Kochani. The suspicion: he bribed an official at the Ministry of Economy for a hospitality licence, without even filing an application and knowing the venue didn't meet the requirements. The official has already been indicted. The motion for new detention reached the court two days before, according to the defence, the old one expires on 3 October. If the allegations hold, the permit wasn't a slip by a system that fell asleep - it was a paid service. Who else was on that payroll?

The security agency found a network, but no names

The National Security Agency (ANB) says it uncovered a propaganda network working "in the service of Russian interests", run through cloned pseudo-news portals registered on Macedonian domains. On 18 September the home of a Macedonian citizen was searched, and the suspicions cover three criminal offences, including disclosure of an official secret. But the agency didn't publish a single name, of a person or of a portal. The description almost exactly matches a journalistic investigation published in July. If the state knows which portals these are, why do readers still not know?

Prilep: "untouchable" for more than 15 years

Interior Minister Pance Toshkovski described the Prilep drug network as a group that for some 15-plus years was "untouchable" for the prosecuting authorities. The 30 September operation covered searches at 36 locations, 20 people were detained, cocaine was selling for 4,000 to 6,000 denars a gram, and the seized vehicles include two Maseratis. The most important detail isn't the drugs: police officers suspected of sharing information with the group were searched too. That explains the word "untouchable". The open question is whether the uniforms will reach court at the same speed as the dealers.

A state flat in instalments, a pension on top-up

Proposed amendments to the Housing Law offer a buy-out of state-owned flats in instalments over up to 30 years at 4 percent interest, for people living in them under a decision or contract dating from before 16 May 1998. Recipients of social or permanent financial assistance can only rent: they can stay in the flat, but never become its owners. The deadline is the end of 2027, after which comes forced eviction - and the responsible state company has no official figure for how many people are affected.

Data from the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund shows that one in four pensioners receives the minimum pension: 98,318 out of 349,334, with amounts from 20,288 to 23,945 denars. Topping them up to the minimum will cost around 80 million euros this year, and the base for the calculation is still the average wage from 2002. In August industry fell by 1.9 percent, and it employs 3 percent fewer workers.

A "complete idiot" on the eve of von der Leyen's visit

The day before Ursula von der Leyen's visit, SDSM leader Venko Filipche called Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski a "complete idiot" who talks "nonsense". The reason, he says, is Europe: by 2030 Albania, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova will become members, "and we're not there". VMRO-DPMNE replied that this is hate speech, and the "12 and 5" platform inside his own party accused him of "an extremely primitive vocabulary". Filipche got his headline, and the government got an excuse not to answer his claim about the European roadmap.

Skopje: a reform without numbers

The City of Skopje announced "drastically" fewer new hires in its public enterprises, with priority for bus drivers at JSP and workers at the "Komunalna higiena" sanitation company. The direction sounds sensible, but not one statement gives a figure that would let anyone check the reform. The council also adopted a digital pass for JSP buses, but only for first-year high school students - university students, although they were announced, aren't mentioned in the decision at all.

Freshmen, school leavers and the elderly

Around 13,800 freshmen started the academic year, and Prime Minister Mickoski told them: "wherever you go, come back home". Young people will measure that message against what awaits them after graduation. In Bitola, the rector of UKLO announces 10 percent more freshmen, from a generation of fewer than 15,000 school leavers. And Ohrid opened a day centre for the elderly for about thirty users, funded by the World Bank, the ministry and the municipality. A modest start, whose real test comes when the project money runs out.

The region and the world

In Belgrade, Biljana Plavsic has died at 96 - the only woman convicted by the Hague tribunal - and Banja Luka now has to decide whether to send her off as a heroine. In Split, prosecutors are seeking suspended sentences for eight people charged over the incident at the Days of Serbian Culture, among them a local HDZ chief. Putin claims he was ready for talks but the Ukrainians attacked - said by the man who ordered the invasion. And Trump is threatening a ban on diesel exports while prices in Europe sit at a record high.

Sport: hope in a 19-year-old

After two defeats for the senior team without scoring a goal, Macedonian football consoles itself with 19-year-old Gashtarov. In handball, Pelister lost at home, Vardar is still chasing a first Champions League win, and the weekend brings the Vardar - Ohrid derby.

The heavier part of the day shares one flaw: statements arrive fast, and the key fact goes missing. The name behind the portals, the number behind Skopje's reform, the answer about the excavator in Arachinovo. Until that changes, readers get an announcement instead of news.