Why have tensions boiled over in the Balkans?
Good evening,
The last time tensions flared in Kosovo between the country's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations, the cause seemed on one level to be relatively trivial: a row over car number plates.
This time the reason for the brewing violence is rather more obvious: a fiery electoral dispute whose flames are being fanned by forces both domestic and foreign.
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| TODAY'S BIG QUESTION | | Dozens of Nato peacekeepers were injured in attacks by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo this week, during protests over the attempted installation of ethnically Albanian mayors in the country's north.
Nato reported that 11 Italian and 19 Hungarian soldiers were injured in the clashes, with some sustaining fractures and others burns from the use of improvised explosives and firearms. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that 52 ethnic Serbs were also injured in the skirmishes.
In the wake of the violence, Nato announced its plans to send an additional 700 peacekeeping troops to north Kosovo as the relations between Belgrade and Pristina continue to deteriorate.
Tensions "are running high in the region", Politico said, after ethnic Albanian mayors attempted to take office in four municipalities in northern Kosovo. |
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GETTING TO GRIPS WITH . . . | | MPs, academics and trade unionists have accused supermarkets of deliberately "profiteering" from inflation, alleging that they are increasing food prices beyond the pace of inflation and their own rising costs.
Although general inflation fell to 8.7% last week, "food-price inflation remains stubbornly high at 19%", said BBC News.
Downing Street is also "drawing up plans for retailers to introduce price caps on basic food items such as bread and milk to help tackle the rising cost of living", The Sunday Telegraph reported last weekend, in a move akin to deals that other European governments such as France and Germany have agreed with retailers. |
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FACT FILE | | While above ground the world grappled with a pandemic, a problem has been swimming below the surface |
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Read more from Money File | |
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WHAT THE SCIENTISTS ARE SAYING… | | Men who gain excess weight before the age of 30 are more likely to die of prostate cancer in older age, according to the results of a major study in Sweden. Researchers tracked health data on almost 258,477 men over several decades, 23,348 of whom were diagnosed with prostate cancer. The men had had their weight checked three times a year; their average age at diagnosis was 70. The team's analysis revealed that gradual weight gain – averaging at least half-a-kilo a year between the ages of 17 and 60 – was associated with a 29% increased risk of fatal prostate cancer; but they also found that rapid weight gain carried a similar risk. The men who'd gained two stone (12.7kg) between the ages of 17 and 29 were 27% more likely to die of the disease in old age than those who'd maintained their teenage weight. Almost 12,000 men die of prostate cancer in the UK each year. Afro-Caribbean men are at particular risk: they are twice as likely to be diagnosed as white men.
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T H E W E E K M A G A Z I N E |
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| Try The Week magazine today to get straight to the heart of the issues that matter, without angle or agenda. Our easily digestible format gives you the clarity and space to step away from the noise of the news. |
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poll watch | | More than half (53%) of 16- to 18-year-olds believe that it is "likely" that the world will end in their lifetimes because of climate change.
Civitas/The Daily Telegraph |
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| picture of the day | | New Yorkers gathered for one of the two annual spectacles of "Manhattanhenge" yesterday evening. Every year the city's famous grid system frames the setting sun around the same two days in May and then again on two days in July.
Ed Jones / AFP via Getty Images |
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Good week for... | Castle enthusiasts, with the news that a castle in Shetland is up for sale for just £30,000. However, prospective buyers are warned to read the fine print: renovations to save the 200-year-old building will cost £12 million. Brough Lodge, on the island of Fetlar, is seeking a "philanthropic entrepreneur" who will take on plans to turn the site into a world-class retreat. | |
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Bad week for... | Donald Trump, who has been told his Turnberry golf course remains blacklisted by organisers of the Open Championship. The 45th US president has been lobbying for his Ayrshire venue to be picked again but insiders close to the R&A, the company which runs golf's original championship, confirmed he is facing rejection due to the perceived security risk from potential protests. | |
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PUZZLES | | Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section |
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instant opinion | | Your digest of analysis from the British and international press from the past seven days
"Labour spent much of the 1980s and 1990s telling the Scots and Welsh the UK was undemocratic, centralised, and existed only to serve a minority of the population," writes Tom Harris in The Daily Telegraph. "It then spent the subsequent two decades acting surprised that so many – Scots in particular – took them at their word and voted for nationalist parties," he adds. The "rhetoric at this week's conference, organised by [Gordon] Brown's Our Scottish Future think tank, is likely to reflect the same grievances from the pre-devolution era", says Harris. "This could all massively backfire on Labour," he argues. "If you tell voters often enough…that the UK is a political basket case, then the public will believe in your own irrelevance. Not the wisest strategy for a party in search of a majority," Harris concludes. |
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| Motoring review | | This five-door electric car can do 0-60mph in 8.3 seconds |
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DOWN TO BUSINESS | Wednesday afternoon markets | The US dollar rose strongly today to a more than two-month high after data showed European inflation is falling quicker than expected and China's recovery is faltering.
FTSE 100: 7,454.44, down 0.90%
Dax: 15,653.21, down 1.61%
Dow: 32,770.00, down 0.83%
Dollar: £1 = $1.2381, down 0.26%
Euro: £1 = €1.1603, up 0.36%
Brent crude: $72.77, down 1.05%
Gold: $1,970.00, up 0.61% | |
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WIT & WISDOM | "The business of progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected." | G.K. Chesterton, quoted on The Knowledge | |
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More from The Week | Our editors are keen to hear your thoughts on The WeekDay. Share your feedback with this short survey. | |
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