Seizure of drugs, destined to be shipped to Italy, comes day after 1.6 tons of cannabis was discovered in a forest Albanian police have seized 2.2 metric tons (4,850lb) of cannabis hidden in sofas and destined for Italy. Police found the drugs on Monday after searching a truck at the port of Durres, 20 miles west of the capital, Tirana. The Macedonian driver was arrested. Continue reading... ...
Patrick Barkham travels to Kosovo, where the Four Paws charity has rescued bears kept in cages at restaurants as entertainment for diners Noah Payne-Frank Patrick Barkham ...
PM and opposition leader condemn violence in Lac as Albanians vote in closely contested election An activist was killed and a politician wounded in a shootout during a closely contested election in Albania on Sunday that is being watched by western allies worried about democracy in the country. The opposition left scents victory in the vote, which would deny the prime minister, Sali Berisha, a third...
Hospital in the southern city of Gjirokastër says 700 people sought treatment for effects of handling cannabis since June Doctors in Albania say hundreds of people have fallen ill from harvesting cannabis in a lawless region that for years has been out of bounds to police, local media reported on Friday. The hospital in the southern city of Gjirokastër said 700 people had sought treatment since...
Kosovo border dispute may scupper application amid fears of 'strategic disaster' if Croatia is admitted without Serbia Barbed wire and burnt-out vehicles, trucks laden with logs splayed across the roads, stone-throwing mobs and panicking international peacekeepers cowering behind their riot shields. The Balkan checkpoint, wearily familiar from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, is back. In an attempt...
Police seek Ilir Kumbaro, who is wanted on kidnap and torture charges in his native country ...
Those of us deeply concerned about the military action in Kosovo and the international support for its independence are not surprised at reports of barricades and checkpoints between Serbian Kosovo and Serbia proper ( Serbia's road to EU may be blocked as checkpoints return to the Balkans , 5 December). Serbia's past record, under previous regimes, is deeply flawed but in recent years it has wrestled...
Originally published in the Guardian on 11 January 1967: Harold Jackson on the BBC World Service Once again the strains of the Albanian national anthem rang across the deep reaches of Studio S.10 last night. It was just on 5.30 p.m. It has to be that time because the Albanian power supply tends to go on the blink just after 6 p.m. and broadcasters who want to get their message across only have the...
Special unit hunts Father Christmases after men in Santa gear hold up Tirana jewellers and flee with full sacks on Christmas Eve Maybe their excuse is that their sleighs had run out of presents, but four armed Santas who robbed a jewellery shop in the Albanian capital, Tirana, are the targets of a nationwide police hunt. The robbery, which was caught on video by a security camera in the TEG shopping...
s state commission for missing persons, said. About 10,000 people are believed to have died in the crackdown by Serbian police and army on an ethnic Albanian rebellion in its former province. The war ended when Nato launched air strikes against Serbia in 1999. Most victims were Albanians. More than 1,700 people are still missing. The inquiry leading to the discovery was a joint effort by Kosovo, Serbia...
s chemical weapons stockpile. The surprising refusal on Friday was a major blow to international efforts to destroy Syria's chemical arsenal by mid-2014. It left the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons without a country to host the destruction of Syria's estimated 1,000-tonne arsenal, which includes mustard gas and the deadly nerve agent sarin. Syria says it wants the weapons destroyed...
s winner has come the question; who are the OPCW and what do they do? Who are the OPCW? Established in 1997, the OPCW is an organisation that implements the Chemical Weapons Convention - a treaty that prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons and which came into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW currently has a membership of 189 states....
t know. This Wikipedia entry is enormous. Bit of a sketchy peg for a Pass notes – an anniversary three months ago. It is inspired by some BREAKING NEWS. Go on. Tony Blair has just been appointed Albania's special adviser . I hope that means he plans to live there. Unlikely at present, but he will be setting up an office in the capital, Tirana. Sounds pricey. Mr Blair's services do not come cheap. You...
s Socialist party emerges victorious in Sunday's elections. The Albanian opposition has lined up Blair to offer advice on reshaping the government in the rough and tumble world of Balkans politics. The Socialist party leader, Edi Rama, met Blair at the former prime minister's office in Mayfair last month. A formal contract has not been drawn up, but Rama expects Blair will advise on modernisation and...
Businessman who allegedly runs a major cocaine and heroin organisation is captured by police in Pristina Kosovo police have arrested a suspected Balkan drug kingpin who is wanted on an international arrest warrant and blacklisted by US authorities. Naser Kelmendi, 56, is a Kosovo-born ethnic Albanian businessman who police say allegedly runs a major cocaine and heroin organisation from a family-owned...
Photographer David Levene travelled to Albania during the chestnut harvest to see the work Oxfam is doing as the country develops David Levene ...
a grotesque embarrassment' Barring an unlikely, last-minute reprieve, 1,000 lambs are to be slaughtered on Wednesday at the high point of celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of Albanian independence. The mass slaughter, organised by the government of Albania's prime minister, Sali Berisha, has stirred controversy and protest, with one opponent describing it as a "grotesque embarrassment". On...
s paranoid past that should be allowed to disappear unmourned. For others, the communist-era concrete bunkers that litter the small Adriatic state are a piece of cultural heritage that should not be lost. Decades on from the heyday of the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, the domed bunkers are vanishing fast. Once upon a time there were as many as half a million of them, built to protect the isolated...
ve arrived at the Kelcyre junction, because none of the tiny settlements we have passed through has had a sign with a name. We stop for a coffee at a tiny shop, where they are miffed that their village, Buz Ketu, doesn't appear on our map. They show us roughly where we are – we haven't yet covered a third of the way. Their tarmac ends just past the houses and an hour later we give up and camp in the...
Under a compulsory transfer agreement, more than 100 foreign nationals will complete their sentences in Albania More than 100 Albanian nationals who are prisoners in British jails face being sent back to their country under a compulsory transfer agreement signed on Tuesday. The Ministry of Justice said the deal was the first bilateral agreement signed with a country that had a large number of foreign-national...