Leaders of six Western Balkan nations are meeting British and European officials in London on Wednesday.

The Western Balkans is grappling with a severe drought following an intense heat wave.

Former Albanian President Ilir Meta has been formally charged with corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and hiding property from authorities.

Britain's prime minister says his government is talking with several countries to host rejected asylum seekers as they wait to be deported.

Albania’s main opposition leader has hired Trump-linked campaign consultants and a lobbying firm to help him in the country's May 11 parliamentary election.

The Albanian Cabinet has decided to shut down TikTok for 12 months, blaming the video-sharing platform for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.

Albania’s prime minister says the ban on TikTok his government announced was “not a rushed reaction to a single incident.”.

Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.

An Italian navy ship has arrived at the Albanian port of Shengjin with eight migrants who will be processed there after they were intercepted in international waters.

An Italian navy ship docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters.

Italy is transferring the first group of migrants to Albania as part of a contentious plan to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders.

Thousands of people have paid their last respects to Ismail Kadare in a state funeral in Tirana Wednesday, with a minute’s silence held nationwide in memory of the renowned Albanian novelist and poet who died earlier this week.

The Albanian soccer federation says UEFA banned its player Mirlind Daku on Sunday for two games at the European Championships after leading fans in nationalist chants.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has traveled to Albania to thank its government for its unique and controversial role in agreeing to host thousands of asylum-seekers while Italy processes their claims.

Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities have overwhelmingly boycotted a vote on removing their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year’s mayoral elections.

Albania has agreed to host two migrant processing centers on its territory that will be run by Italy under a deal that worries human rights activists.

Albania’s Parliament has approved a deal for the country to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy despite protests from opposition lawmakers and human rights groups.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Albania to reaffirm relations with a key partner in the region and assure Western Balkan countries of Washington’s support for their integration into the European Union.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has urged NATO to further boost its military forces in Kosovo and secure the country’s borders with Serbia.

Albanian opposition lawmakers have disrupted the Parliament’s session again to protest what they say is increasingly authoritarian rule by the governing Socialists.

Denmark and Albania advanced to soccer's European Championship on Friday.

Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare has been awarded the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor title by French President Emmanuel Macron.

European Union leaders have offered a new growth plan to the six Western Balkans countries that opens parts of the EU single market to them in return for deep reforms, ahead of their full membership in the bloc.

International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers left dozens injured.

The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force say that 25 of its troops were injured in the clashes with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo who were trying to take over the offices of one of the municipalities where ethnic Albanian mayors took up their posts last week.

A new mayor has been sworn in in northern Kosovo after a vote that was boycotted by the ethnic Serb minority which dominates the area.

U.S. special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorist operatives in remote northern Somalia.

Albania's president has granted citizenship to British pop star of Albanian origin Dua Lipa.

Albania’s prime minister says Britain is carrying out a “calculated attack” on his country by blaming it for the increased number of immigrants crossing the English Channel illegally.

Thousands of Albanian opposition supporters have protested the country's cost of living crisis, which they blame on the center-left government.

Albanian special forces police have forced the door of the Iranian Embassy in Tirana and officers have surrounded the compound in which it stands, shortly after the last staff members left the building following the government’s order to expel them.

Albania's prime minister says the government has cut diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled the country’s embassy staff.

An Albanian court has ordered two Russians and a Ukrainian to remain in custody while authorities conduct an espionage investigation into the suspects’ activities at a former military weapons manufacturing plant.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the Western Balkans are an integral part of the European Union, repeating his country's full support of the region's integration into the 27-member bloc.

Albania’s former President Ilir Meta has taken over the leadership of his old political party pledging to fight government corruption through referendums.

Albania plans to make the Vjosa River and its tributaries the country's latest national park.

A group of young Ukrainian track and field athletes have made their way to safety in Albania after fleeing from a war zone.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has said the bloc would support the Western Balkan countries to overcome the economic crisis caused by Russia's war on Ukraine.

Police in Albania have intervened to disperse protesters from the headquarters of the country’s main opposition party.

The leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia have met in Tirana to discuss and agree on furthering their Open Balkan initiative to promote political and economic ties.

Women who were evacuated to Albania after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan are urging the international community to pay attention to the plight of the Afghan women and girls who were left behind.

Albanian medical staff have launched a nationwide campaign taking medical teams door to door to convince unvaccinated people to get their shots against COVID-19.

A relatively smooth section of Greece's rugged border with Albania is turning into a major thoroughfare north for migrants in Greece seeking a better life in Europe's prosperous heartland.

The head of the European Union’s executive branch has called on Kosovo and Serbia to resolve their disputes through the dialogue and deescalate the recent tension over license plates.

Albania's prime minister has complained about the delay in the launch of his country's membership negotiations with the European Union.

Albanian authorities say that another group of Afghans has arrived in the country fleeing their homeland after the Taliban took power there.

In her last trip in the western Balkans as a German chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Albania to urge the leaders of six western Balkan nations gathered there to strengthen their regional cooperation in their strive for European Union membership.

The Albanian Parliament has impeached President Ilir Meta for violating the constitution and discharged him from the post.

Albania's parliament has decided to hold an extraordinary session next week on the impeachment of the country’s president for allegedly violating the constitution.

Albania’s prime minister has expressed his determination to remove the president from his post, saying he has embarrassed the country.

An Albania lawmaker says the governing left-wing Socialist Party legislators have started the impeachment process against the country’s president who they accuse of violating the constitution during the last election.

Albania’s main port of Durres has welcomed a huge influx of containers and big trucks this week ahead of NATO exercises, a concentration of military vehicles not seen in the Adriatic nation since World War II.

Albanian electoral officials say the left-wing Socialist Party has secured its third consecutive mandate in a parliamentary election, winning nearly one in two votes and enough seats in parliament to govern alone.

Preliminary results show that the ruling Socialist Party is ahead in Albania’s parliamentary election.

Albania’s president has accused the U.S. ambassador of intervening in the small European country’s internal affairs by supporting its prime minister in an upcoming parliamentary election.

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)BEIJING — Sinovac said on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac is safe and effective in children ages 3-17. State-owned Sinopharm, who has two COVID-19 vaccines, is also investigating the effectiveness of its vaccines in children. The House vote came just before the state health department reported that more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered within the state. State officials say about 2.9 million vaccine doses have been given to about 1.1 million people so far in Arizona. ___LISBON, Portugal — Portugal resumed administering AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, a week after temporarily halting its use.

With 65% of the votes counted by the central Election Commission, the main governing election body, the left-wing Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje, had 48% of the votes. It led two center-right parties — the Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, which had 18%, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, with 14%. Voter turnout was estimated at 47%, which was 2.5% higher than the last election in 2019, according to the Central Election Commission. “Today Kosovo showed how elections should be held, despite the many challenges it faced,” said Valdete Daka, election commission chief. In Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Belgrade asked Serbs to support the Serb List party.

TIRANA – Conservationist groups urged the Albanian government on Tuesday to rescind a decision to build a airport they say would seriously damage the country’s western wetlands. “Such an investment would bring about uncontrolled and unsustainable development models that would irreversibly damage the natural values and resources of the area,” the coalition of organizations said in a statement. The Narta lagoon and its surroundings comprising more than 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) represent one of the largest and most important wetland ecosystems in the Mediterranean, recognized as a key biodiversity area with more than 200 bird species such as pelicans, herons, gulls and flamingos. The organizations said such construction violates a number of conventions ratified by Albania. The conservationist groups also warned of airplanes potentially sustaining bird strikes with “tragic consequences" because of the large number of fowl there.

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama receives the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Tirana, Albania, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Rama was among the first to take the COVID-19 vaccine which the country has received from an undisclosed European Union member country. The Prime Minister said he was "not authorized" to say which EU country had provided 975 vaccines. Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was “not authorized” to say which EU country had provided 975 doses to the Balkan nation. The vaccinations Albania gave Monday are sure to spark some envy in other Balkan countries.

A protester holding a road sign makes his way with others during a protest rally in Tirana, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albanian police on Monday strongly warned demonstrators protesting over the fatal shooting of a man by police enforcing a coronavirus curfew to avoid illegal gatherings. Police mentioned “the concerning situation caused by the pandemic" in a statement, calling for everyone to respect lockdown measures set by health authorities. Scores of people have been arrested in five days of protests and almost 300 have been charged with holding an illegal protest during the pandemic, as well as with arson and public order breaches. Authorities say 28 police officers and at least four protesters have been injured in the clashes.

Albanian protesters run away from teargas during a protest rally in Tirana, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albanian demonstrators on Sunday kept up their daily protests over the fatal shooting of a man by police enforcing a coronavirus curfew. Later some hurled stones at the Tirana police station, where police responded with tear gas and water cannons. Albanians have defied a coronavirus ban on public gatherings and have clashed with police in recent days after Klodian Rasha was killed in Tirana amid a curfew early Tuesday. The U.S. and the European Union have urged Albania's political parties to exercise restraint amid the protests.

Albanian protesters run away from teargas during a protest rally in Tirana, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Albanian police swiftly dispersed a smaller crowd of demonstrators Saturday as part of their ongoing protests this week after a fatal shooting by police enforcing a coronavirus curfew. In the nearby western port city of Durres, demonstrators concluded their protest with fist-bumping with officers in front of a police station. Albanian politics has been mired by infighting since the shooting, with Rama accusing opposition politicians, including President Ilir Meta, of inciting the violent protests. The U.S. and the European Union have called on Albanian political parties to exercise restraint.

Albanian police use a water cannon against protesters during clashes in Tirana, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Albanian protesters on Thursday renewed clashes with police over the fatal police shooting of a man during curfew hours despite the call from the authorities to respect a pandemic ban on public gatherings. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)TIRANA – Demonstrators clashed with police for a second day Thursday in the Albanian capital, Tirana, during a protest over this week's fatal police shooting of a man during curfew hours. In a televised address broadcast just as the protest started, Prime Minister Edi Rama apologized to the dead 25-year-old's parents, and the country's interior minister resigned over the shooting. A police statement said three alleged organizers of Wednesday's protest have been arrested, and another four people were freed after being charged.

A few hundred Albanian men are known to have joined terror groups in Syria and Iraq in the early 2010s, and now many of them are dead and their family members are stuck in Syria camps, but will be repatriated via Beirut to Albania. (Albanian Prime Minister's office via AP)TIRANA – Albania's prime minister said Monday that four children and a woman, all related to Albanian nationals who joined Islamist extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, are being repatriated from a Syrian camp. A few hundred Albanian men joined the Islamic State and other groups fighting in Syria and Iraq in the early 2010s. Rama could not give the exact number of Albanian nationals in the camps. He added that Albanian nationals who took part in the fighting would face criminal prosecution if they are detained and repatriated.

Kosovo president Hashim Thaci speaks during a televised address to the nation, in Pristina, Kosovo, Monday, June 29, 2020. Kosovos president on Monday denied committing war crimes during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia and said he would resign if the indictment is confirmed by an international war crimes court. (AP Photo/Astrit Ibrahimi)

Israeli Ambassador in Albania Noah Gal Gendler speaks during the inauguration of a memorial in Tirana , on Thursday, July 9, 2020. A memorial to the six million Jews murdered during the World War II and for the Albanians who protected them from the Nazis was inaugurated Thursday in the capital. (Xhulio Hajdari /Tirana City Hall via AP)TIRANA Albania unveiled a Holocaust memorial in the capital on Thursday to honor the dead and the Albanians who protected Jews from the Nazis. Albanians protected their few hundred Jewish friends, and helped other Jews who fled from Germany and Austria by either smuggling them abroad or hiding them at home. A small Jewish community living in Albania left the ex-communist country for Israel just after the fall of the regime in 1991.

26, 2019, file photo, people walk past the National Theater of Albania in Tirana. Albania demolished its crumbling National Theater, which opened during World War II, above which sparked protests by artists, backed by the opposition, who wanted the theater to be renovated and condemned the $32.4 million price tag to build a new facility. (AP Photo/Gent Onuzi, File)TIRANA Albanian artists and opposition party supporters gathered for a second day Monday to protest authorities' demolition of the crumbling National Theater building in the capital, which has triggered strong political tension amid a major heritage debate. Artists and intellectuals addressed the crowd, denouncing the theater's demolition and pledging to continue protests until Rama's government is overthrown. Artists belonging to the Alliance for the Theater Protection had pressed for the renovation of the old theater building which they consider a national heritage.

But Alvin's release was the first case to be facilitated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. After she was killed, word got out confidentially through the Red Cross and Red Crescents' "Restoring Family Links" program. Alvin's father reached out the Italian Red Cross, and after a negotiation with the Italian and Albanian authorities, the boy now has an Albanian passport and a permit to stay in Italy with his family. According to the report, the Kurdish authorities refused to hand over the boy because no Albanian official was present. The Red Cross and Red Crescent opened up a negotiation with Italian and Albanian authorities to arrange the necessary paperwork and authorizations.

CNN Video(CNN) - At least 37 people were injured on Saturday when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Albania. The earthquake struck along Albania's central coast near the port city of Durrs, according to the United States Geological Survey, about 35 kilometers west of the capital Tirana. A trauma hospital in Tirana reported 37 injuries, according to public broadcaster Albanian Radio and TV. Prime Minister Edi Rama canceled a trip to New York, CNN affiliate A2 reported, and he's expected to return home from Frankfurt. The-CNN-Wire & 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.