22 November 2021 Skopje – President Stevo Pendarovski congratulated Monday the Albanian Alphabet Day to all members of the Albanian ethnic community in North Macedonia. Skopje – Prime Minister Zoran Zaev congratulated Monday the Albanian Alphabet Day to members of the ethnic Albanian community and all citizens, saying the day should be celebrated together, bringing cultural traditions closer. Skopje – Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Sunday night had a phone call with Bulgaria’s incumbent president Rumen Radev, who was re-elected in Sunday’s elections. Skopje – It would be best if Zoran Zaev remained at the helm on the party and the Government in this period, but I don’t know if this is possible judging by his moral mindset, says Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski. Skopje – Deputy PM for the fight against corruption and crime, sustainable development and human resources Ljupcho Nikolovski said Monday he does not see himself as candidate for the Prime Minister’s post. Skopje – First Deputy PM and high-ranking DUI official Artan Grubi said Monday all parties promoting the country’s European future and opening of EU accession negotiations are welcome in the parliamentary majority. Skopje – North Macedonia registered 155 new COVID-19 infections after 1,179 tests were conducted in labs across the country in the past 24 hours. In the same period, 13 deaths and 387 recoveries were registered, the Ministry of Health said on Monday. Skopje – Health Minister Venko Filipche elaborated the COVID-19 draft-measures for public sector employees and health workers recommended by the Commission for Infectious Diseases before the Coordination Crisis HQ early on Monday, but no conclusions have been made, says the Ministry of Health. Skopje – A total of 1,675,793 COVID-19 vaccines doses have been administered in North Macedonia so far. 822,751 citizens have received at least one vaccine dose, 789,905 have received two, and 63,137 have received a booster shot, the Ministry of Health said on Monday. Skopje – Steps will be made in the coming period to raise public awareness about the importance of immunization after interest into vaccination has been dropping in recent weeks, says Faculty of Pharmacy professor Aleksandra Grozdanova. Skopje – The COVID-19 situation in schools is absolutely stable. The number of positive cases on a daily basis ranges between 0.01 and 0.03 percent, while the total number of active cases stands at about 0.3 percent of 255,000 students attending in-person instruction, said Minister of Education and Science Mila Carovska on Monday. Skopje – Under the new concept, media literacy is being studied as a separate subject in curriculums of native language studies: Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Serbian and Bosnian. Teachers are obligated to integrate media literacy into other areas and topics in order to enable students to link their knowledge from various areas throughout the school-year. The new curriculums were rolled out into the first and fourth grades in the new school-year 2021/2022, implementing studies of media literacy for these two grades, and slowly rolling them out in upper grades as well, according to Minister of Education and Science, Mila Carovska, at the presentation on Monday of USAID’s media literacy project titled YouThink. Skopje – Three key inspection authorities – the State Market Inspectorate, the State Labor Inspectorate and the State Administrative Inspectorate have started to use the new e-inspection system. Other inspection services under the authority of the Inspection Council will gradually start using the software, so that all 28 inspectorates are electronically linked, Deputy PM in charge of fight against corruption, sustainable development and human resources Ljupcho Nikolovski said at a press conference on Monday. Skopje – The State Market Inspectorate has so far conducted 1,280 inspections and a total of 20 catering establishments have been closed since the introduction of the mandatory vaccine certificates inside the catering facilities, Director of the State Market Inspectorate Aneta Simeska Dimoska told a press conference on Monday. Skopje– As of Monday midnight, the price of diesel drops by Mden 1.5 per liter, while those of gasoline fuels remain unchanged, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said. Skopje – Trajan Angeloski has been elected as the new president of the Macedonian Chambers of Commerce (MCC). Angeloski is taking the office after Danela Arsovska, who was the head of MCC, was elected mayor of Skopje. Skopje – Political scientist Ilber Sela and writer Fejzi Bojko are this year recipients of the 22 November Award, presented in Parliament annually on the occasion of Albanian Alphabet Day. Sofia – Bulgaria’s former deputy foreign minister Milen Keremedchiev told BNR that the US pressure on Bulgaria would increase, MIA’s Sofia correspondent reported on Monday. Vienna – Austrians have began a three-week lockdown, coinciding with the highest ever daily number of new infections being recorded on Monday as a massive fourth wave of infections breaks over the country. Berlin – Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the country is not doing enough to tackle a rising wave of coronavirus infections, as medical professionals warned that hospitals were already struggling in some regions. Amsterdam – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is evaluating an application for a Covid-19 booster jab using US manufacturer’s Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Tel Aviv – More than 50 arrests of suspected Hamas members have been carried out by the security forces in the West Bank in recent weeks, the Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin Bet announced on Monday. New Delhi – At least 60 people have been killed and thousands displaced after torrential rains lashed three south Indian states, officials and news reports said on Monday.