15:00/January 7/2022 Skopje – Orthodox Christians in North Macedonia are celebrating Friday the Birth of Jesus Christ – Christmas according to the Julian calendar. Skopje – North Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry has said that after contacting some of them, the country’s nationals currently staying in Kazakhstan are safe and no one has been injured or is at risk. Skopje – North Macedonia has registered a total of 8,209 active COVID-19 cases nationwide, up by over 1,300 in the past 24 hours alone. On Thursday, 1,725 new infections were registered after 7,472 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. Skopje – VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said Friday he doesn’t expect improvement in the Macedonian-Bulgarian relations after Sofia has announced a fresh approach and called for “diplomatic action from the European partners” in order the country to be allowed to start negotiations with the EU for accession. Sofia – Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has confirmed he will visit North Macedonia on January 18 at a Q&A session in Bulgarian Parliament, MIA’s Sofia correspondent reports. Moscow – The president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has issued a shoot-to-kill order against the protesters threatening his authoritarian government’s survival. Sydney – Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Friday denied that tennis star Novak Djokovic was “being held captive” in Australia as the Serbian spent the night in a Melbourne immigration detention hotel while his lawyers were fighting his deportation.