Skopje — Over the past 24 hours, North Macedonia logged 760 new Covid-19 cases from 5,724 tests done in the country, and 23 people died, aged 47 to 83, from coronavirus-related complications, health authorities said on Thursday evening. Skopje – Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Thursday he had talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at the Bled Forum, where he expressed hope that political entities will succeed in forming a government, which is important for decision-making. Skopje — Admiral Robert Burke, Commander of NATO Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, after meeting with Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska on Thursday said they had many productive talks, adding he was honored to host her and reciprocate her hospitality from March 2021, according to the Ministry of Defense. Skopje – Prime Minister Zoran Zaev urged on Thursday the use of the constitutional name of the country, Republic of North Macedonia, following the increased use of the abbreviation “Republic of N. Macedonia” by politicians. “First of all, our country is called Republic of North Macedonia, not Republic of N. Macedonia. Using the abbreviation humiliates the country and the Constitution, as well as the Prespa Agreement." Skopje – PM Zoran Zaev said on Thursday that he doesn’t expect any issues to arise during the census. In regard to how situations involving citizens who will not allow inside unvaccinated census workers will he handled, he told reporters that they will be swapped out. Skopje – The Metamorphosis Foundation, as part of the USAID Civic Engagement Project, will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Information Society and Administration for preparing a new Law on the Use of Public Sector Data that has to be aligned with the appropriate EU directive. Skopje — Russian airline Nordwind Airlines is launching a new flight from St. Petersburg to Skopje every Tuesday. The company will operate the direct weekly flight from Sept. 21. Shtip – Minister of Justice Bojan Marichikj announced on Thursday a digitalization plan for equipping almost 200 courtrooms nationwide with equipment donated by the US and Norwegian embassies, OSCE and the EU. Digitalization is meant to enable courts to conduct online trials. Marichikj also congratulated the Kavadarci court on success in the digitalization process. Shtip – Census workers are prepared and they have the appropriate equipment to conduct the census, set to start on Sunday, Sept. 5, Minister of Justice Bojan Marichikj told a press conference at the Faculty of Law at the Goce Delchev University in Shtip. Shtip – Changes to the Electoral Code will be discussed after the local elections. Minister of Justice Bojan Marichikj said on Thursday that it was nonsensical to make changes now and disturb the election process by changing the rules so close to the elections. Prilep – The Gradsko-Prilep expressway is a priority for the government and has a big economic and social significance for the entire region, Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski said on Thursday while inspecting the Drenovo-Farish section of the road together with the director of the Public Enterprise for State Roads, Ejup Rustemi. Athens — Greek health authorities have confirmed six cases of the new coronavirus strain called Mu, also known as B.1.621, which was first identified in Colombia in January and the World Health Organization said it was monitoring, MIA’s Athens correspondent reports. Sofia — Bulgaria’s presidential election will take place on Nov. 14, 2021. Zagreb — Amazon, a U.S. multinational group which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, is looking to hire 55,000 staff globally for corporate jobs and roles in robotics, research and engineering, international media outlets have reported. Kranj — The calamitous end to western intervention in Afghanistan triggered by US and allied troops’ withdrawal underlines Europe’s need to develop independent defense capabilities, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said Thursday. Ljubljana — Slovenian Defense Minister Matej Tonin in an interview with Euractiv said he believes the EU should extend cooperation “in all possible areas even during the accession phase.” Speaking ahead of an informal meeting of EU defense ministers at Brdo pri Kranju, Tonin said Slovenia would take the pledge to accept the region into the EU ‘very seriously.’ Naples — Afghanistan and the regional situation as well as North Macedonia’s role as a NATO member directly contributing to peace and stability were some of the topics Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska and Admiral Robert Burke, Commander of NATO Allied Joint Force Command, talked about in Naples, Italy, on Thursday. Islamabad – Pakistan on Thursday said it would temporarily close a major border crossing with Afghanistan, amid an influx of refugees fleeing Taliban rule in their country. “We will close the Chaman crossing for a while,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said in Islamabad, without specifying how long the border would be shut. Tel Aviv – Israel‘s Health Ministry announced a record number of cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, with 11,187 new infections in the past day. The spike came a day after children returned to school, with scientists warning this could fuel a further rise in case numbers. Stockholm – There is no urgent need for the administration of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines to fully vaccinated individuals in the general population, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In a technical report the ECDC recommends additional doses for people with weakened immune systems, in line with the position of WHO.