Macedonia

"Kleon," the scorching heatwave currently sweeping across the country, is set to continue on Saturday, with meteorologists predicting highs of 41 degrees Celsius in many areas of the country.

The pick up in the wind, which will reach force 7 in the Aegean from Sunday to Wednesday, will cause temperatures to drop slightly.

Two-thirds of the citizens in North Macedonia put Bulgaria at the top of a list that includes the biggest opponents of their country's European integration.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with his North Macedonia counterpart Dimitar Kovachevski on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday.

According to government sources, the two leaders discussed regional developments and expressed interest in deepening bilateral relations.

Hundreds of people from North Macedonia with no papers - who cannot access any social services - can now get them thanks to the campaigning work of NGOs and some determined MPs.

"Bulgaria is the weakest member state of the EU and we (North Macedonia) have problems not with the strongest, but the weakest state in the EU. Bulgaria needs the EU much more than the EU needs Bulgaria. No one can convince me that the biggest EU capitals cannot put pressure on Bulgaria.

After the Constitutional Court on Wednesday temporary froze Justice Minister's Krenar Loga order to start issuing birth certificates with ethnic data inside, Loga insisted this would not dissuade him.

"We have entered the decisive phase for the changes in the constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia. We all want the Bulgarians to be included in the basic law. And let this be final. But for this to happen, the parliament in Skopje must achieve a majority", said the special envoy of the German federal government for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin.

The recent screen adaptation of the life of Queen Cleopatra by Netflix provoked intense discontent among the Egyptian public and the government in Cairo. The last straw was the presence of a black actress in the role of the historical queen descended from the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty.

Macedonians think of themselves as open-hearted - but phobias about foreigners, gays, the disabled - anyone who looks different - remain entrenched.

"Germany supports North Macedonia's EU membership and recognizes the identity, language and culture of its people. Now Skopje must implement the promised change in its constitution to remove all obstacles to the country's membership in the European community".