Albanian culture minister fired in sex scandal

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government should consult the church and the Missionaries of Charity before taking a decision on the Albanian government's request for Mother Teresa's remains, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) said Monday. "As and when such a request comes to us, we will take a considered decision in consultation with the Missionaries of Charity," said CBCI spokesperson Rev Babu Joseph.

October 9th, 2009 Albania wants remains of Mother Teresa, kingTIRANA, Albania — Albania wants the remains of Nobel Peace laureate Mother Teresa and the only post-independence monarch to be returned to the country, the prime minister said Friday. Mother Teresa's remains are in India and King Ahmet Zog's in France.

October 9th, 2009 Sarkozy popularity dips amid minister sex scandalPARIS — The sex scandal surrounding France's culture minister has come at a bad time for President Nicolas Sarkozy whose popularity among voters took another dip, according to a poll published Friday. The survey was conducted this week, when Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand had to defend his honor over a book he wrote describing paying young men for sex.

September 7th, 2009 Quake in Albania causes damage no injuriesTIRANA, Albania — Albanian authorities say an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 in the northeast of the country caused some damage but no injuries. The Albanian Institute of Seismology says the quake struck at 11:49 p.m.

September 4th, 2009 US Embassy fires 8 guards in lewdness scandalKABUL — Eight security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan have been fired following allegations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters, the embassy said Friday.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Eight security guards at the US embassy in Kabul have been fired in a hazing scandal and two others have resigned, the US State Department said Friday. The State Department has asked the ArmorGroup, the private firm that employed the guards under a contract to protect the embassy, to replace its senior management team in Kabul, spokesman Ian Kelly said.

July 27th, 2009 Albanian prime minister's re-election confirmedTIRANA, Albania — Albanian officials confirmed Monday that Prime Minister Sali Berisha's party has won re-election following a lengthy recount process. Election officials said Berisha's Democrats won 68 seats in the June 28 general election, while allies set to join the next government won two seats in the 140-seat parliament.

July 16th, 2009 Car explodes in front of Albanian parliamentTIRANA, Albania — Police say a car parked in front of Albania's Parliament has exploded, but there were no injuries. Police spokesman Klodian Branko says the Mercedes owned by a private company exploded at about 11 p.m.

June 20th, 2009 British PM laments fallout of expense scandalLONDON — Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the fallout over the recent lawmaker expense scandal has been the worst time in his political life. Brown made the remarks in a rare personal interview in the Guardian newspaper Saturday.

June 18th, 2009 Albanian politician killed in car blastTIRANA, Albania — A conservative politician was killed in a car explosion Thursday, 10 days ahead of Albania's parliamentary election, police said. Aleks Keka, a 34-year-old regional leader for the small conservative Christian Democratic Party, died in the blast while driving through Shkodra, a city 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of capital Tirana, police said.

June 11th, 2009 Serb lawyer quits murder trial of 3 AmericansBELGRADE, Serbia — A legal representative of the families of three Albanian-American brothers who were murdered execution-style in Serbia in 1999 says she is quitting the trial of the alleged killers. Serbia's leading human rights activist Natasa Kandic said Thursday she has decided to stop participating in the trial of two Serb policemen because Serb authorities are allegedly protecting the real killers and those who ordered the slaying.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With no one in the 79-member council of ministers entrusted with the culture ministry, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be holding the portfolio, PMO officials said here Friday. While Kumari Selja has been given the tourism ministry, the culture ministry was not allocated to anyone.

April 28th, 2009 Colombia sacks 11 in wiretapping scandalBOGOTA — Colombia's domestic intelligence agency has fired another 11 people in a scandal over illegal eavesdropping of judges, journalists and politicians. That brings to 33 the total number of people dismissed from the Department of Administrative Security since the scandal broke in February.

April 28th, 2009 EU police disperse Serb protest in Kosovo's northMITROVICA, Kosovo — Serbs protesting the building of homes for ethnic Albanians in Kosovo's tense north threw two hand grenades and fired gunshots at European Union police officers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades to drive the crowd away Monday. It was the gravest incident since the EU took over policing Kosovo from the United Nations late last year, as part of an earlier peace plan that opened the way for the heavily Albanian region to declare independence from Serbia.

December 26th, 2008 BELGRADE - The Serbian police Friday arrested 10 former guerilla fighters of Kosovo Liberation Army suspeced of involvement in crimes against Serb and non-Albanian civilians in the former Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999, the authorities said. Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the suspects had been arrested in the southern town of Presevo, near the border with Kosovo, the official Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.