The International Monetary Fund, IMF, ended its mission to Albania on Thursday after monitoring its economy for 17 years, its departure criticised as premature by economic experts and the opposition. Prime Minister Sali Berisha described the end of the IMF mission as the end of post-communist transition for the Albania’s …

Germany’s Doris Pack said the European Union should put pressure on Serbia to normalise its relations with Pristina or risk a continuation of the inter-ethnic violence in north Kosovo. Belgrade has vowed to never recognise the declaration of independence by its former province and is keeping a firm hold on …

A group of hackers from Kosovo defaced the website of Serbia’s ministry of energy on Thursday in a payback strike for a similar intervention on the website of Kosovo’s energy ministry by Serb hackers earlier this week. “United States of Albania” and “Don’t play if you don’t know the game”, …

Judge Viorel Andreies was elected the new president of a key body guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary in Romania, the Superior Council of Magistracy, CSM. The European Union, which Romania joined in January 2007, has urged Bucharest to continue reforms in the justice system – plagued by delays in …

Matthew Nimetz, the UN mediator in the long running Athens-Skopje name row, plans to hold a meeting between the two sides before the end of January, Greek daily Kathimerini said on Thursday citing unnamed diplomats from Athens. The dispute dates from the early 1990s, after Macedonia broke away from socialist …

Two cars were burnt in the latest inter-ethnic clash in Kosovo’s ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, Kosovo police says. The violence between Kosovo Serbs who dominate the northern part of the town and Kosovo Albanians who dominate the south started around 19:30 hours CET on Tuesday night. The row started …

Kosovo Parliament Speaker Jakup Krasniqi has asked Turkish authorities to help the newly independent country get recognised by Islamic countries. Most of Kosovo’s 90 percent Albanian majority are secular Muslims. During his visit in Ankara, Krasniqi met with his Turkish counterpart Koksal Toptan and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. …

Singapore – Oil rebounded above $42 on Friday amid signs Saudi Arabia would deepen supply cuts next month, after sinking 2 percent overnight on signs of worsening demand from the United States, the world’s top energy consumer. US crude for February delivery rose 85 cents to $42.55 a barrel by …

AMMAN, Jan. 9 – Jordan’s activists has mulled a legal war against Israel in light of its intensive offensive against the Gaza Strip which has claimed over 700 lives there, local daily The Jordan Times reported on Friday. Representatives from 20 civil societies and law schools in the kingdom met …

TOKYO, Jan. 9 – Japan is studying the feasibility of sending a special envoy to related countries to help end hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians, Kyodo News said Friday. Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session that Tatsuo Arima, special envoy on the …