"Pope says he’s planning Albania visit" Associated Press June 16, 2014
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will make a one-day trip to Albania in September to encourage a country that ‘‘long suffered’’ under a communist dictatorship that tried to isolate its citizens from the world.
Tens of thousands of impoverished Albanians fled to Italy in the 1990s, crossing the Adriatic Sea in crammed ferries and fishing boats as the regime in Tirana crumbled. Many of the migrants have since integrated into Italian life.
Francis told the faithful Sunday in St. Peter’s Square he would also use his Sept. 21 visit to express support for Albania’s tiny minority Catholic community.
About two-thirds of Albania’s 3.2 million people are Muslim and they live peacefully with the smaller Orthodox and Catholic communities.
I'm sorry, say again? I guess that means we are all terrorists.
The Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, said the pope’s visit would promote ‘‘the values of coexistence in peace among faiths and ethnicities.’’
What a grand time for someone to gun him down, huh?
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Look, the Pope made it through his trip to the Middle East in one piece, but let's not forget that one World War began in the Balkans with an assassination and it set the stage for another one.
Besides, I sense an evil presence in the area.
This next report comes too close for comfort, almost as if someone were telegraphing something and laying the groundwork for some future event narrative:
"Politician shot dead in Kosovo | Associated Press June 16, 2014
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Police said a parliamentary candidate from Prime Minister Hashim Thaci’s ruling party was shot to death early Sunday as he walked out of a restaurant.
Police said Elvis Pista — a flamboyant politician recognizable for his spiked hair — was shot four times at close range shortly after midnight in the western town of Orahovac, his hometown. Authorities believe a handgun with a silencer was used.
Police did not discuss possible motives behind the attack but the slaying comes amid heightened tensions between political rivals after Kosovo’s June 8 parliamentary election. The final results were not in from Pista’s race but preliminary results showed him leading.
Thaci’s center-right party won the most votes last week but lacks a coalition partner to form a government.
Rival parties have vowed not to govern with Thaci, citing corruption and mismanagement.
In Orahovac, hundreds gathered Sunday to pay their respects.
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Better be careful taking office:
"Slovakia inaugurates new president" Associated Press June 16, 2014
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Political newcomer Andrej Kiska was inaugurated Sunday as Slovakia’s new president, vowing continued cooperation with the European Union and NATO amid concerns about security in neighboring Ukraine.
Kiska took the oath of office at a special session of Parliament, becoming Slovakia’s fourth president since it gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The Eastern European country, a major conduit for Russian deliveries of natural gas through Ukraine into central Europe, has been unsettled by recent violence in Ukraine.
‘‘The events in Ukraine have worried us,’’ Kiska said in his inaugural address. ‘‘Security issues are on the agenda in Europe again.’’
‘‘I will continue in the tradition of previous presidents who were always strong supporters of Euro-Atlantic cooperation,’’ Kiska said, alluding to the EU and NATO. He succeeds Ivan Gasparovic, who served two terms.
Kiska, a successful 51-year-old businessman-turned-philanthropist, was elected in March, in an embarrassing defeat to his major rival, left-leaning Prime Minister Robert Fico. Kiska was until recently a relative unknown in Slovakia, and attracted voters fed up with corruption and politics-as-usual to beat Fico.
As prime minister, Fico remains the country’s most powerful politician. In Slovakia, the president holds a largely ceremonial post but appoints Constitutional Court judges, can veto laws, and appoints the prime minister after parliamentary elections.
The founder of two successful credit companies, Kiska also helped create the charity Good Angel, which contributes money to families who have financial troubles because they have seriously ill children. He hosted a lunch for homeless, elderly, and other disadvantaged people on Sunday.
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