Skopje (Macedonia), Sep. 6 : At least fifteen tourists, all of them Bulgarians, drowned as their overcrowded pleasure boat sank in the Lake Ohrid in Macedonia on Saturday.

The boat named Iliden was 200 metres from shore when it capsized in the lake famous for its deep turquoise waters, reports Sky News.

"More than 70 passengers were on the boat. Fifteen perished, four seriously injured were taken to hospital in Ohrid and about 50 survivors are at a local hotel,” said Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska.

Skopje - At least 12 people died when a tourist boat sank Saturday in Ohrid Lake in Macedonia, local media reports said, and there were fears that five more people had drowned.

Fifty-three people were in safety after the vessel, with mainly Bulgarian tourists on board capsized some 200-300 metres off shore, the reports said.

Rescuers recovered 12 bodies and a further five people were known to be missing. Authorities said they feared the death toll could rise. (dpa)

Skopje  - Macedonian officials will have to prove by the end of September that they did not cooperate with the Communist secret police, as the lustration process in the country has officially begun Tuesday, media in Skopje, the capital, reported.

Some top 250 officials, beginning with the president and prime minister, will have to give notarized statements to the Lustration Commission and prove that they did not work for the Communists intelligence agency. The Commission will then verify the statements.

The Lustration Law was passed last year, but for months parties in the parliament postponed its implementation.

Skopje  - Several persons were injured Sunday in violent clashes in the center of the Macedonian capital of Skopje between Slavic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians.

A number of vehicles and store windows were damaged by stones and metal pipes in the fray.

The clashes were triggered by more than 100 Macedonian fans of the local FC Vardar, broadcasters in the city reported. The vandals beat up Albanian ethnics who quickly organized their own defence.

Skopje  - Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski on Wednesday has proposed a double-name system to end a years- long dispute with Greece over the use of the name Macedonia.

The two countries have been at loggerheads over the name since the 1990s break-up of former Yugoslavia. The country, which emerged from the break-up, shares its name with a province in neighbouring Greece.

Greece, Gruevski said, "shows no desire to discuss" the matter.

Skopje  - Macedonian archaeologists have discovered 17 tombs dating from the 5th century BC in Ohrid, southwestern Macedonia, local media reported Monday.

In one tomb, archaeologists found bones of a 15-year-old girl with a unique funeral mask made up of thin gold eye-covers, gold plate for the mouth and a plaque with an engraved sun placed on her chest.

"This kind of a mask is unique for the Balkans. Several gold plates were found in Aegean region, but this kind of combination in one grave is unknown," Pasko Kuzman, head of the Macedonian Department for Cultural Heritage, was quoted as saying.

Skopje - The European Union's top diplomat Javier Solana said Tuesday in Skopje the European Commission was about to scrap visas for Macedonian citizens as well as for Serbians and Montenegrans, local media reported.

"I bring good news for your country and the citizens," Solana told reporters in Skopje where he arrived as a part of his tour of western Balkans during which he promised improved travel conditions.

Solana arrived from Belgrade, where on Monday he also promised Serbian citizens "good news" about visa free traveling.

Skopje - A new Macedonian cabinet has received parliamentary approval, days after upheaval at the executive level left several key positions open, reported local media on Saturday.

Conservative Premier Nikola Gruevski sacked his finance minister on Wednesday. The same day, the education and agriculture ministers resigned, a move which followed the resignation of the deputy prime minister in charge of European integration.

Skopje - Macedonia's conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was facing up to rebuilding his cabinet after the resignations of several ministers, local media reported Wednesday.

Minister of Education Pero Stojanovski and Minister of Agriculture Aco Spasenovski resigned, while Gruevski asked Minister of Finance Trajko Slavevski to go as well.

A few days ago Ivica Bocevski, deputy prime minister in charge of European integration, also resigned.

Skopje  - Presidential and local elections in Macedonia were an improvement over previous, violence-plagued polls, though some problems persist, the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission said Monday.

The runner of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, Georgi Ivanov, won by a landslide Sunday, after equally dominating the first-round vote two weeks earlier. He became the country's fourth president since it split from former Yugoslavia nearly two decades ago.

Skopje, Macedonia - Srecko Katanec has resigned as Macedonia national team coach, citing lack of discipline in the team, local news reports said on Monday.

Katanec was at the helm of the team since 2006. The Slovenian coach's last match was a 4-0 defeat at the Netherlands in World Cup 2010 qualifying group 9 on April 1. Macedonia rank fourth in the five-team group. (dpa)

Skopje  - The nationalist candidate Georgi Ivanov won the Macedonian presidential run-off with nearly twice as many votes as his rival, Ljubomir Frckoski, the state election commission said Monday.

Ivanov, put forward by the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party, collected 437,000 votes while Frckoski, the runner of the opposition Social Democratic Union, collected 252,000.

Turnout was low, barely surpassing the 40-per-cent mark required by law for a legal election. With nearly all the ballots accounted for, the turnout was 40.8 per cent, the commission said.

Skopje - The ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party's candidate Georgi Ivanov was leading his rival from the opposition Social Democratic Union, Ljubomir Frckoski, by a large margin in the Sunday's presidential election run-off, the state election commission said.

According to preliminary figures, Ivanov had 200,000 votes to Frckoski's 102,000, accoring to the commission. The figures were in line with pre-election surveys, which predicted Ivanov' would win two votes for every one to Frckoski.

Skopje - The ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party's candidate Georgi Ivanov was heading to certain victory in the Macedonian presidential election runoff, after the vote barely survived a boycott by the Albanian minority.

While Ivanov was steadily collecting two ballots to each one won by his rival, the opposition Social Democrat's Ljubomir Frckoski, turnout met the legally required 40-per-cent threshold by a razor- thin margin.

Skopje  - The ruling Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE party appeared set to solidify its authority with the victory of its candidate in the presidential election run-off on Sunday.

The VMRO candidate, Georgi Ivanov, is an overwhelming favourite to win the ballot even before the first round on March 22. Surveys show him with a two-to-one edge over the Social Democratic candidate and law professor, Ljubomir Frckoski.

Skopje  - The ruling party's presidential Georgi Ivanov took a convincing lead in the first round of Macedonia's elections Sunday, with twice the number of votes as his nearest rival in early vote results.

With 15 per cent of the ballots counted, Ivanov had 38.49 per cent, more than twice as much as his nearest rival. The turnout among the 1.8 million registered voters was 51.68 per cent, the election commission said.

Skopje  - Macedonia will hold presidential and local elections in March, leaders of the country's four largest parties agreed Friday.

Macedonian prime minister and head of the leading conservative VMRO DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski told journalists that the elections will be held on March 22 and that there will not be any electronic voting.

Last June's parliamentary elections in Macedonia were marred by violence and irregularities but Gruevski said opposition parties were against electronic voting because there is not enough time to introduce the technology.

Sofia/Skopje - Severe storms killed at least one person Thursday night as they whipped through Macedonia and Bulgaria.

The storms came after a bout of unseasonably warm weather that included the warmest-ever December day on record in Bulgaria, local media reported Friday.

At least one elderly woman died and another was missing Friday, following storms and flash floods in Macedonia late Thursday, reports said in Skopje.

In Bulgaria, daytime temperatures on Thursday shot above 20 degrees. It was warmest in Veliko Tarnovo, in central Bulgaria, with an incredible 28.6 degrees celsius.

Skopje - Macedonian police on Thursday arrested a woman suspected of murdering her adult son and later dismembering and burning his body, local media reported.

A 59-year-old woman from the village of Orizari, 120 kilometres southeast of Skopje, reported her son missing on September 29, but investigations showed he never left the house.

The mother later told police the son, aged 32, hanged himself and that she was so ashamed she cut up his body and burned it.

Police are investigating whether the son was killed or committed suicide and whether the mother has psychological problems. (dpa)

Skopje  - Four people died Thursday when a light aircraft crashed near the southwestern Macedonian town of Ohrid, local media reported.

The Cessna was flying from Ohrid to Skopje when it crashed some 30 kilometers from Ohrid, killing the pilot and three passengers whose identity was unknown, Beta news agency reported. It also quoted police as saying the plane hit a car, injuring the woman driver. (dpa)