US, 17 other countries urge Hamas to release hostages, end Gaza crisis
Washington DC, US Reuters The United States and 17 other countries on Thursday issued an appeal for Hamas to release all of its hostages as a pathway to end the crisis in Gaza, but Hamas vowed not to relent to international pressure. “We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in […]
North Kosovo Serbs boycott referendum on removing ethnic Albanian mayors
Belgrade, Serbia Reuters Most Serbs in volatile north Kosovo boycotted a local referendum on Sunday on whether to remove ethnic Albanian mayors in four municipalities whose appointment led to violence last year, the country’s election commission said. Kosovo is predominantly ethnic Albanian but around 50,000 Serbs in the north reject Pristina’s government and see Belgrade […]
In Serbian village, women fight to escape encroaching mine
Krivelj, Serbia Reuters Before dawn, 78-year-old Vukosava Radivojevic prepared breakfast for her husband then walked into her village in eastern Serbia to guard a barricade stopping trucks entering an open-pit copper mine that residents say is contaminating local land and water. Radivojevic is one of two dozen women who since January took shifts day and […]
Serbian elections marred by President’s involvement, vote buying – observers
Belgrade, SerbiaReuters Serbia’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) gained an unfair advantage in snap parliamentary elections through media bias, the improper influence of President Aleksandar Vucic and voting irregularities such as vote buying, an international monitoring mission said on Monday. The populist SNS won 46.72 per cent of the votes in Sunday’s elections, according to […]
Serbia’s ruling SNS leads in parliamentary vote, preliminary results show
Belgrade, SerbiaReuters The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Aleksandar Vucic is in the lead in a snap election on Sunday with 46.6 per cent of votes, according to a projection by pollsters Ipsos and CeSID. The opposition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) alliance is set to come second with 23 per cent, while the […]
COP28 leader urges nations to get out of “comfort zones”
Dubai, United Arab EmiratesReuters COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber urged countries on Friday to get out of their comfort zones and work together to reach agreement before the two-week summit ends. “Let’s please get this job done,” he said, opening a plenary session as the summit entered its toughest phase of negotiations. “I need you to […]
Serbia lowers number of troops near Kosovo, army chief of staff says
Belgrade, SerbiaReuters Serbia has withdrawn some troops stationed near the border with Kosovo, after having increased the numbers deployed there following a gun battle in northern Kosovo in which four people died, army commander General Milan Mojsilovic said on Monday. Tensions between Belgrade and Pristina soared since 24th September, when Kosovo police near the northern […]
Kosovo demands Serbia withdraw troops from border
Pristina, Kosovo Reuters Kosovo on Saturday demanded that Serbia withdraw its troops from their common border, saying it was ready to protect its territorial integrity. Tensions between the two countries have been high since last Sunday when Kosovo police fought around 30 heavily armed Serbs who stormed the Kosovo village of Banjska and barricaded themselves […]
Serbs in Kosovo mourn those killed in monastery shootout
Pristina, Kosovo/Belgrade, SerbiaReuters The main political party representing Serbs in northern Kosovo declared three days of mourning on Tuesday for people killed in a gunbattle in a monastery with Kosovo police, after the worst violence for years in the contested area. Kosovo authorities say around 30 heavily armed Serbs stormed the village of Banjska on […]
‘Liberland’: Breakaway Balkans micronation dreams of crypto future
Libertarian supporters of self-declared independent island in the heart of Europe pin their hopes on a crypto-based future, but unstable technology paints an uneasy future for the micronation. ADAM SMITH, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…