Black smoke over Skopje, and nobody answers for the warehouse

On Tuesday afternoon a thick column of black smoke rose above the grounds of the former "Železara" steelworks and drifted all the way to Novo Lisiče. According to the Crisis Management Center, a warehouse of paints and lacquers was burning inside the industrial zone, and the civic group "Zelen human grad" is demanding an investigation from the prosecutors and an urgent inspection from the environmental inspectorate. The colour of the smoke explains what was in the warehouse. It does not explain who was using it, or whether an inspector had ever set foot there before the fire.

Sick leave will be checked before there is a law to check it

The state has announced sick-leave checks at people's home addresses, with the Interior Ministry as a partner, while family doctors will only be able to open sick leave on their own for up to five days instead of seven. So far the most concrete evidence of abuse has come from the Interior Ministry itself: of 80 of its employees checked, irregularities were found in 29. Yet the health minister admitted that monitoring where a sick person goes is still not regulated by any law. Checks first, the law later?

"Lottery" trial: 231 pieces of evidence, not a single message between Grubi and Bajrami

The prosecution has presented all 231 pieces of material evidence in the "State Lottery" trial, and among them, at least so far, there is not one conversation or message between former first deputy prime minister Artan Grubi and former director Perparim Bajrami. The case does not rest on messages but on the government session of 6 June 2023, and in the amended indictment the alleged damage has grown from around 8.2 to around 9.7 million euros. The defence says everyone acted on the government's orders. The prosecution says that is exactly the problem - the government decided something that was never within its powers. Both sides, in the end, are pointing at the same table.

A doctor with a broken vertebra, his attacker walking free

A man walked into a private gynaecology practice at the "Bukurešt" polyclinic in Karpoš, threatened the doctor, then attacked him and broke a vertebra in his neck. The prosecution opened an investigation for "violence" and did not ask for detention, only precautionary measures. The doctor says the attack came after a series of threats, and the Medical Chamber reminds everyone that attacking a health worker on the job counts as attacking an official. What happens to threats before they turn into blows?

Fewer deaths on the roads, but serious injuries are not falling

From January to August, 62 people died on Macedonia's roads, compared with 96 in the same period last year. That is a 35 percent drop, and the Interior Ministry is right to point it out. One number from the same press release does not fit the story: 690 people were seriously injured, against 686 last year, even though there were fewer crashes with serious injuries. There is no explanation for that.

Skopje promises cameras, the garbage trucks stink

The city promises video surveillance at 30 locations by New Year against illegal dumps and vandals, but the cameras have not even been bought yet. The ones on "Orce Nikolov" street, installed five years ago, do not work. Meanwhile residents complain that the trucks of the public utility "Komunalna higiena" leak stench across the city, while the company asks citizens to use double bags.

Loans, foreign debt and flat-rate taxpayers

Loans are growing faster than savings: 13.6 percent in a single year, and housing loans by as much as 16.2 percent. Net foreign debt stands at 4.76 billion euros, while the negative international investment position is 8.99 billion and grew by 134 million euros in just three months. For flat-rate taxpayers, the promised "relief" arrived as reminders for an obligation that does not exist, so the Chamber of Crafts is asking for the old system back.

The Constitutional Court and the rapporteur from Brussels

The Constitutional Court, by 5 votes to 3, left the rules on election advertising money untouched, even though its own president says they are unconstitutional. President Siljanovska-Davkova quoted the Treaty on European Union to the European Parliament's rapporteur and reminded him that after all the compromises, accession talks have not even started. The answer was the old formula - "friendly steps from both sides".

Bitola and Prilep: ceremonies without numbers

In Bitola the foundation stone for a second "Lidl" was laid. The square metres and parking spaces were announced down to the last one, but how many people will be hired and how much the investment costs - nobody said. The Australian ambassador heard pitches about a "favourable business climate" in Prilep and Bitola, and the only concrete outcome of the meetings is a small-grants programme for NGOs.

The Balkans at the UN, Kyiv under fire

The Balkans took their quarrel all the way to the General Assembly in New York. Vučić attacked Croatia and looked to Trump to rescue the international order, while Plenković told Serbia that honours for Mladić and the EU do not go together. Trump, for his part, welcomed Xi Jinping with a red carpet and two bombers over the runway.

Russia struck Kyiv in broad daylight. One person was killed, eight were injured, two major internet providers went offline and the city railway stopped. The Balkans know exactly what a city preparing for a wartime winter looks like.

Sport: the autumn begins

Macedonia opens its Nations League campaign in Skopje against a depleted Switzerland. Handball wants EHF EURO 2034, Ohrid is defending its European title and Vardar scored 44 goals. In basketball the season tips off on Saturday in Kumanovo, and MZT will be playing every 80 hours.

The heavier part of the day has one shape: institutions announce, answers wait. Whose warehouse of paint was it, under which law will the sick be checked, why is the man who attacked a doctor not in detention, and what actually works on the roads - those are the questions the day left open.