Bit Pazar: four hours between the attack and the report

In a primary school in Skopje's Bit Pazar area, a classmate injured a 14-year-old boy with a sharp object in the school toilet. The attack happened around 9 in the morning, the boy was left with a cut on his arm, and the case was reported to police by his mother - at 1 pm, four hours later. Who saw a child with a cut arm during lessons, and what did the school do in the meantime? Those are questions for the headteacher and the Ministry of Education, not for the mother who walked into a police station.

The same day the Interior Ministry reported another school case, from Kočani: in the changing room of a primary school sports hall, a six-and-a-half-year-old was attacked, stripped and filmed by several older children. When violence between kids ends up in police bulletins, the question is no longer just who threw the punch, but who was supposed to be watching.

Dukjandzhik: one arrested in Kosovo, the other still wanted

Rami Kuçi, the prime suspect in the killing of 26-year-old A.M. in Skopje's Dukjandzhik neighbourhood, has been arrested in Kosovo. Kosovo police picked him up in an international operation against drug trafficking, on the back of a national and international warrant. Nineteen days have passed since the shooting on 6 September. The second suspect, I.S., is still out of reach of prosecutors, and when - or whether - Kuçi will be extradited to Macedonia is, officially, anyone's guess.

Diesel: the cheapest in Europe, but not a stable one

According to fuel-prices.eu, at an average of 1.699 euros a litre Macedonia has the cheapest diesel in Europe, and at 1.610 euros a litre of petrol it ranks third, behind Turkey and Sweden. That didn't stop the Energy Regulatory Commission from raising the diesel price cap by 5.5 denars on 22 September, to 104.5 denars a litre.

Across the EU, fuel prices in August were 23.8% higher than a year earlier, and European drivers, according to the European Commission, are paying around 203 million euros more a day for diesel alone. European governments are cutting taxes and handing out subsidies. If European prices reach our pumps too, does the government have a plan of its own ready - or do we just wait for the regulator's next number?

Filipče before French senators: an EU list without Macedonia

SDSM leader Venko Filipče complained to French senators that Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine are being talked about as having a realistic path to membership before the current European Commission's term ends, while Macedonia is nowhere on that list. He also raised pressure on the judiciary, media pluralism, and the guarantees the government keeps asking for and not getting. Complaining to foreigners is an old genre for every opposition. The question "how much longer?" still applies to the government too.

Waitz on Pelister and Mavrovo - and the waste stays put

MEP Thomas Waitz, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Macedonia, spent part of his speech at the EU-Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee on nature: he had been to Pelister, Galičica, Mavrovo and Šar Mountain, and his message was "Advertise yourselves". In the same speech he mentioned waste, wastewater and air pollution, issues still very much alive in Skopje and Tetovo. The tourism tip is the easy part. The hard part is something no ad campaign can hide.

Renewables: 38 or 31.6 percent?

Minister Sanja Božinovska boasted that renewable capacity is growing faster than planned, which the Energy Community Secretariat also confirmed: the share of renewables in electricity generation rose from 25.9% in 2022 to 32.2% in 2023. The minister talks about a 38% target by 2030, while the updated National Energy and Climate Plan puts it at 31.6%. Which number counts? The more important message is another one: the grid has to catch up to absorb the new energy, so annual connection plans are being announced.

Bitola and ZELS: meetings, photos, little substance

Bitola mayor Toni Konjanovski said he was proud of the roughly 100 young people working at the Bitola office of IT company "Cosmic Development". The company has been building its story for 15 years. What exactly the municipality offers to get more of them, nobody said.

The board of ZELS, the association of municipalities, meanwhile discussed the Chamber of Commerce's request to amend the Law on Communal Fees and, according to its press release, "opinions were exchanged". What it decided, it didn't say. Communal fees are paid by citizens and businesses, and the public has a right to know whose side the municipalities will take.

Ukraine: war at a distance

In August Russia took 90 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory, against 505 in the same month last year. Drones are slowing the offensive, and Ukrainian units are striking hundreds of kilometres behind the front line. Moscow is hitting back with jet-powered drones, and in eight months 2,222 civilians have been killed in Ukraine. A war fought from a distance is no less deadly for those up close.

Skopje dances, Pelister among Europe's best

Until 29 September the Boris Trajkovski Sports Centre is hosting the European Dance Championship, with more than 2,900 competitors from 26 countries, and mayor Orce Gjorgjievski announced that next year Skopje will also get the World Championship. Inside the hall the stage shines. Whether the city greets its guests with the same shine on its pavements and public transport, we'll see.

In handball, the European Handball Federation put Eurofarm Pelister right behind Flensburg on its list of favourites for the EHF European League. A list isn't a trophy, but the expectations are no longer just Bitola's. And in football, Switzerland's head coach, ahead of tonight's match in Skopje, is measuring the grass to the centimetre.

930 kilometres for Toše

Six Macedonian cyclists reached Kruševo after riding 930 kilometres from Nova Gradiška in Croatia, where Toše Proeski died in 2007. They rode around 150 kilometres a day, for the ninth year running, and paid their respects at his resting place in Gumenje. The "From the Heart for Toše" ride isn't a state event - it's the personal initiative of Dragan Jovanov and his friends. That's exactly why it says more than any official commemoration.

In the heavier part of the day, the institutions arrived last. Police learned about the school attack from a mother, the Dukjandzhik suspect was arrested by another country's police, and ZELS didn't even say what it decided on the fees. Who's going to answer for those four hours in Bit Pazar?