NEWS OF THE DAY: Government brings decision for introducing a pilot program for comprehensive sexual education

The Government of the RNM at today’s session accepted the Information of the Ministry of Education and Science for introduction of a pilot program for comprehensive sexual education in the 9th grade of basic education, in four schools, two in urban areas and one in a rural area, and one schools where the majority of students are of minor ethnic communities.

The pilot program, according to the Action Plan, is anticipated to start in 2021, after previously all planned steps have been completed: preparation of materials for training of teachers, training of teachers and preparation and piloting of instruments for evaluation of the pilot program.

The Courts in Macedonia are closed for the public, and do not fulfill transparency requirements

For three years in a row, the courts in Macedonia have been showing poor results in the area of openness of the institutions, that is, they are closed, just like the courts of the countries in the region, shows the study of the project “ACTION SEE”, which measured the level of openness of the institutions for 2018.

“The level of openness of the courts in North Macedonia for 2018 is just 43 percent. Although it was expected for the electronic judicial portal of the RNM in 2017 to contribute to greater

transparency of the courts, the research shows big differences between the courts”, is said in the assessments of the researchers of “ACTION SEE”.

Spasovski: Let’s not speculate about Spasov’s escape, the investigation has already determined responsibility

Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski, today replying to a journalist question in relation to speculations that some police officers are also involved in the escape of the former member of special forces, emphasized that there are various speculations and that the police must not base their decisions on speculations.

He said that yesterday the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Stip finally opened an investigation in order to see who is involved in that process.

FLASH NEWS

– The President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, today is in an official visit to the Republic of Italy. In Rome, President Pendarovski was welcomed at an official ceremony by the President of the Republic of Italy, Sergio Materalla.

– We had meetings with representatives of UPOZ, we agreed certain steps that we are jointly taking with the purpose of finding a mutually acceptable solution, and we will be working on this in the coming period, in the following two to three weeks, and I believe that at the end we will come out with a proposal that will be of common satisfaction, said today the Director of the Health Insurance Fund, Den Doncev.

– The vetting process in the police is in progress. A model has been chosen, a working group has been formed that will be working on the issue whether to proceed with a new law or with amendments to existing legal solutions. This should end by the beginning of next year, and for the verification to start from then, said the Minister of Interior replying to a journalist question during today’s visit to Valandovo, assessing that the early parliamentary elections will not prolog this process.

– In the first six months of the year alone, state inspectors have fined 242 entities and environmental polluters, which is significantly more compared to last year, when 110 penalties had been imposed, said today Deputy Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Jani Makraduli at a presentation of an environment project, co-financed by several instruments of the Fund for Innovation and Technology Development.

– We are not abolishing the progressive tax, but rather are putting it on hold. In the coming period, there will be work on designing the optimum solution that will be fair, efficient and comprehensive. This was stated by Minister of Finance Nina Angelovska in an interview for the Macedonian Television.

– Very awful scene, which I have never seen before. There were many casualties under the bus that we could not pull out, stated one of the witnesses, a resident of the village of Laskarci, who had arrived among the first at the scene where the bus had been turned over, at today’s hearing on the accident that took place on February 13 this year, in which 16 people lost their lives, while 37 were seriously injured.

– President Stevo Pendarovski next week will meet with his French colleague Emmanuel Macron, and will have the opportunity to hear the views of France on enlargement and on the new negotiation methodology directly from the French Head of State.

OPINION

Republic on fire

“I am not sure what the logical answer would be to the question as to how, after tens of cars have burned down just this year in Stip, it can’t be discovered who is setting the cars on fire? The same goes also for the organized setting of fire, in one night, of a dozen plastic bins in Skopje – why is it that in the morning we don’t have anyone detained and suspected of such serious and dangerous type of vandalism, with significant material damage”, writes Saso Ordanoski.

There will be not elections

“France’s heart has not softened as much as America has squeezed its nato fist. After the sudden turn of the French tugboat under the threat of the US laser ramp from Washington, Macron’s

coldness is letting go. He is just looking for a way to elegantly pull out of his rigid no on the enlargement. At the same time, it is also a very convenient alibi also for the domestic vote chasers to back down. Macron took them out on a pre-election field, Macron will take them back to the locker room. There are no extraordinary parliamentary elections”, writes Zoran Ivanov.

Angela Petrovska in cooperation with: Diana Tahiri, Saso Ordanoski and Zoran Ivanov.

Translation: Natasa Cvetkovska