Skopje is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural and academic centre; the territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC. A Paeonian city, Scupi became the capital of Dardania in the second century BC. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp; when the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992. From 1282, the town was part of the Serbian Empire and acted as its capital city from 1346 to 1371. In 1392, Skopje was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called it Üsküb, with this name being in use in English for a time; the town stayed under Ottoman control for over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküp and the Vilayet of Kosovo.

At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars. During the First World War the city was seized by the Kingdom of Bulgaria, after this war, it became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia becoming the capital of the Vardarska banovina. In the Second World War the city was again captured by Bulgaria and in 1944 became the capital of SR Macedonia a federated state of Yugoslavia; the city developed but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. Skopje is located on the upper course of the Vardar River, is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens, it is a center for metal-processing, timber, textile and printing industries. Industrial development of the city has been accompanied by development of the trade and banking sectors, as well as an emphasis on the fields of transportation and sport. According to the last official count from 2002, Skopje had a population of 506,926 inhabitants.

Skopje is located in the north of the country, in the center of the Balkan peninsula, halfway between Belgrade and Athens. The city was built in the Skopje valley, oriented on a west-east axis, along the course of the Vardar river, which flows into the Aegean Sea in Greece; the valley is 20 kilometres wide and it is limited by several mountain ranges to the North and South. These ranges limit the urban expansion of Skopje, which spreads along the Vardar and the Serava, a small river which comes from the North. In its administrative boundaries, the City of Skopje stretches for more than 33 kilometres, but it is only 10 kilometres wide. Skopje is 245 m above sea level and covers 571.46 km2. The urbanised area only covers 337 km2, with a density of 65 inhabitants per hectare. Skopje, in its administrative limits, encompasses many villages and other settlements, including Dračevo, Gorno Nerezi and Bardovci. According to the 2002 census, the City of Skopje comprised 506,926 inhabitants; the City of Skopje reaches the Kosovo border to the North-East.

Clockwise, it is bordered by the Macedonian municipalities of Čučer-Sandevo, Aračinovo, Studeničani, Sopište, Želino and Jegunovce. The Vardar river, which flows through Skopje, is at 60 kilometres from its source near Gostivar. In Skopje, its average discharge is 51 m3/s, with a wide amplitude depending on seasons, between 99.6 m3/s in May and 18.7 m3/s in July. The water temperature is comprised between 18.1 °C in July. Several rivers meet the Vardar within the city boundaries; the largest is the Treska, 130 kilometres long. It crosses the Matka Canyon before reaching the Vardar on the western extremity of the City of Skopje; the Lepenec, coming from Kosovo, flows into the Vardar on the northwestern end of the urban area. The Serava coming from the North, had flowed through the Old Bazaar until the 1960s, when it was diverted towards the West because its waters were polluted, it met the Vardar close to the seat of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Nowadays, it flows into the Vardar near the ruins of Scupi.

The Markova Reka, the source of, on Mount Vodno, meets the Vardar at the eastern extremity of the city. These three rivers are less than 70 kilometres long; the city of Skopje comprises two artificial lakes, located on the Treska. The lake Matka is the result of the construction of a dam in the Matka Canyon in the 1930s, the Treska lake was dug for leisure purpose in 1978. Three small natural lakes can be found on the northeastern edge of the urban area; the river Vardar caused many floods, such as in 1962, when its outflow reached 1110 m3/s−1. Several works have been carried since Byzantine times to limit the risks, since the construction of the Kozjak dam on the Treska in 1994, the flood risk is close to zero; the subsoil contains a large water table, alimented by the Vardar river and functions as an underground river. Under the table lies an aquifer contained in marl; the water table is 4 to 12 m under the ground and 4 to 144 m deep. Several wells collect its waters but most of the drinking water used in Skopje comes from a karstic spring in Rašče, loc

Abronhill High School was a non-denominational, secondary school in Abronhill, a suburb of the Scottish new town of Cumbernauld. The school roll was 473 pupils in January 2009; the school was the setting of the 1981 Scottish film Gregory's Girl. Abronhill High School was located near Abronhill Town Centre, it closed in June 2014. The school was opened on 22 November 1978 by Martin Green. Abronhill High School was the third non-denominational high school, it was built for a capacity of around 1000 students although in years before its closure the school roll was only around 500. In 2007 pupils at the school piloted a mountain biking scheme, developed with Forestry Commission Scotland. On 1 September 2008, pupils at Abronhill High were the first in Scotland to receive the HPV vaccine at their school. In September 2012 North Lanarkshire Council informed parents that it wished to close Abronhill High from August 2013 and transfer pupils to Cumbernauld High. NLC's learning and leisure services committee approved the merger of these schools, saying that they anticipated this would address a falling school roll and be part of £1.3 million of savings.

It was subsequently delayed until 2014 following a consultation. The plan was criticised for damaging pupils' education; this did not stop NLC from going forward with the closure, on 27 June, the school shut its gates for good. Demolition was expected to take around one week; the school was the location chosen by director Bill Forsyth for the external scenes of his 1981 coming-of-age romantic comedy film Gregory's Girl. HMIE report on Abronhill High School

Perry M. Johannes Ubeda is a Dutch former super middleweight kickboxer. Between 1992 and 2008 he won thirteen titles in kickboxing, as well as titles in taekwondo and pro-boxing and he is a keen Motocross racer. Ubeda runs his own gym, Ubeda Gym, in his home town of Nijmegen. Ubeda began his career in 1980 and had his first title fight in 1986, losing to Andre Masseurs in their match for the Dutch Youth kickboxing belt. In 1992 he fought Sedou Kiatsongrit for the W. M. T. C world title but lost, he bounced back from that defeat by winning the I. K. B. F European title in Clermont-Ferrand, defeating his opponent by a knockout. In 1995 Ubeda won the W. M. T. A world title, he defeated the reigning champion Azem Maksutaj, knocking him down three times on the way to a first round stoppage victory in Nijmegen, Netherlands. In 1996 Ubeda won a Taekwondo event in Tokyo, winning the All Japan Open Taekwondo Championship, winning all three of his matches by first-round knockout; this victory was made more impressive as he was the lightest fighter at a tournament where some of the contestants weighed up to 90 kg.

That year he defeated Rodney Faverus to win the W. K. A. Dutch title. Between 1997 and 2000, Ubeda would take part in a number of high-profile bouts, defeating fighters such as Ashwin Balrak, Stephan Nikiema and Ivan Hippolyte and winning the I. K. B. O. World title in 1999 and the World Professional Kickboxing League and I. M. T. F. World titles in 2000, he would suffer a few defeats, losing his second fight against Hippolyte in 1998 as well as failing to win the W. M. T. C. World title against Sakmongkol Sithchuchok in 1999 – Sakmongol's relentless kicks breaking Ubeda’s arm in the fifth round of their bout. In 2002 Ubeda won two more titles, defeating Turkish fighters Şahin Yakut and Yücel Fidan to win the World Kickboxing Association and World Full Contact Association world titles; the W. F. C. A. Title would be the last honour that Ubeda would claim, as years of damage from low kicks had taken their toll on his shins and meant that he would only be able to fight using full-contact style kickboxing from on.

In 2003 he met Rayen Simson in the first of their two matches at what would be his only K-1 appearance, winning by unanimous decision at the K-1 Holland Grand Prix 2003. As a purely full-contact fighter, Ubeda would continue to win titles, winning the W. F. C. A. Kickboxing world title in 2003; that year he entered the 8-man "Nuit des Champions" tournament, held annually in Marseilles, France where he made the final. In 2005 he retained his W. F. C. A. Kickboxing world title before dropping down in weight to re-match Rayen Simson at the end of the year, he won their title fight in Nijmegen to add the 72.5 kg W. F. C. A. Belt to his collection. Not one to be known to turn down a challenge, he entered pro boxing and had reasonable success, winning the Pro Boxing Brill Ben Carré Amsterdam Cup, he had his last kickboxing bout against good friend Şahin Yakut at It's Showtime 2009 Amsterdam, losing by unanimous decision. 2008 Pro Boxing Brill Ben Carré Amsterdam Cup 2005 W. F. C. A. Kickboxing World Champion -72.5 kg 2005 W.

F. C. A. Kickboxing World Champion -76.2 kg 2003 W. F. C. A. Full-contact World Champion -76.2 kg 2002 W. F. C. A. Thaiboxing World Champion -76.2 kg 2002 W. K. A. Full-contact World Champion -76.2 kg 2000 I. M. T. F. Muay Thai World Champion -75 kg 2000 WPKL Thaiboxing World Champion -76.2 kg 1999 I. K. B. O. Kickboxing World Champion -76.2 kg 1996 [W. K. A. Kickboxing Dutch National Champion 1996 I. T. F. All Japan Open Taekwondo Championship Winner -90 kg 1996 I. K. B. F. Full-contact World Champion -76.2 kg 1995 W. M. T. A. Thaiboxing World Champion -76.2 kg 1993 I. K. B. F. Full-contact European Champion -79.38 kg 1992 W. M. T. A. Thaiboxing European Champion -76.2 kg List of male kickboxers List of K-1 events Professional MMA record for Perry Ubeda from Sherdog