Skopje university

Macedonia's former ruling VMRO DPMNE party has removed several indicted former ministers and senior officials from its executive committee - although with ousted PM Nikola Gruevski still leading the party, the changes appear more cosmetic than substantial, observers say.

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The earthquake that struck the Macedonian capital of Skopje at 5.17am on July 26, 1963 - while most of its inhabitants were still sleeping - killed over 1,000 people and left more than half of the city's 200,000 residents homeless.

Entire families perished under collapsed buildings while the survivors woke to find their previously prosperous city a scene of devastation.

Macedonia's government has thrown in the towel to student protesters and has agreed to draw up a completely new Higher Education Law without the controversial and unpopular external tests, the Students Plenum said late on Tuesday.

Over a thousand students on Wednesday occupied the Skopje university faculties of Philosophy, Philology, Law and the Economy, proclaiming them an "autonomous students' territory".

Students demand the immediate suspension of a new Law on Higher Education, which has introduced mandatory externally supervised exams.