logo
Kosovo's prime minister again refuses to testify at prosecutor's office for a corruption case

Kosovo's prime minister again refuses to testify at prosecutor's office for a corruption case

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday again refused to report to the Special Prosecutor's Office that had summoned him as a witness in an alleged corruption case of state reserves.
Kurti, who was first summoned in December and refused, instead has said they can take his testimony at his office. He is not accused in the case but other officials are. Few details have been made publicly available.
The prime minister has said he considers the prosecutor's request to be politically driven.
'It is using and abusing its freedom to fight the government, not crime and corruption. I have always been ready to testify,' Kurti told journalists.
The prosecutors' governing body and chief prosecutor supported the request to summon Kurti and denounced his allegations of taking political sides, adding that his words 'seriously damage the functioning of the democratic institutions.'
His Self-Determination Movement Party won the most seats in the Feb. 9 election but was left without a majority in parliament, forcing it to look for a partner to form the new government.
The incident comes as Kosovo's ties with its norther neighbor, Serbia, remain tense. Normalization talks with Serbia, which the European Union has facilitated since 2011, have stalled, though they are key for the countries' potential membership in the bloc.
Kosovo was a former Serbian province until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists there. That left about 11,400 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, proclaimed in 2008.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

2026 race for California governor goes into new gear and directions with Kamala Harris out
2026 race for California governor goes into new gear and directions with Kamala Harris out

Hamilton Spectator

time23 minutes ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

2026 race for California governor goes into new gear and directions with Kamala Harris out

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After months of uncertainty, the race to become California's next governor started Thursday. Former Vice President Kamala Harris' decision Wednesday to bypass the 2026 contest pushed the campaign into a new phase, lacking its biggest potential star and the presumptive early favorite. Harris' formal exit opens the door for additional candidates to venture in, while scrambling a crowded field with no dominant candidate. Democrats remain favored to hold the seat now occupied by term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a state where Republicans have not won a statewide election in nearly two decades. Democrats hold a nearly 2-to-1 advantage over registered Republicans statewide. 'The starting gun just popped,' said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta, calling it the first truly wide-open governor's race in over a quarter-century. 'The race is on.' Other Democrats work to position themselves Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter moved quickly to establish herself as a leading contender, as her campaign pleaded for donations to 'solidify Katie as the Democratic front-runner.' Former Biden administration health secretary Xavier Becerra sought to position himself as an heir to the Harris legacy: They both previously served as California attorneys general. 'The vice president and I have been together in this fight to restore the American Dream for a long time,' Becerra said in a statement. ''I'm proud of our shared record — expanding health care for millions of Americans, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, tackling our country's mental health crisis and defending reproductive freedom.' Harris' decision 'reshapes this race for governor, but not the stakes,' he added. Because of Harris' potential candidacy, the contest had been in a slow-walk for months. Now, following her decision, campaigns will be chasing her supporters while reevaluating a field in which Harris will not be taking part. Fundraising emails jammed inboxes. Democratic consultant Michael Trujillo, a former aide to Democratic candidate and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said voters loyal to Harris are going to have to rethink their choices while looking at candidates they might not know much about in a large and growing field. 'I think everyone is picking up points from Kamala's voters now that she is not an option,' Trujillo said. 'There now is more oxygen for everyone else.' California is known as the epicenter of the so-called Trump resistance. The race will unfold with President Donald Trump dominating daily headlines as his administration battles the liberal-leaning state over health care funding for lower-income residents, immigration and environmental protection. More than half of voters think the state is headed in the wrong direction, with many households vexed by inflation, notorious taxes and some of the nation's highest utility bills. Soaring rents and housing prices are driving residents to other, more affordable states. The state budget is expected to be in the red in coming years. And billions in spending on homelessness has done little to check the crisis. But the primary election is not until June 2, so it is impossible to know what will be motivating voters in 10 months. Republicans see glimmers of hope Long-suffering Republicans in the state have been heartened by last year's elections, in which the heavily Democratic state displayed a slight rightward shift. While Harris — a former San Francisco prosecutor, state attorney general and U.S. senator — won the state in a landslide, she fell well short of former President Joe Biden's vote totals in 2020 while Trump picked off a string of counties that eluded him four years earlier. Among the candidates, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a statement that Harris realized 'the status quo is impossible to defend.' And conservative commentator Steve Hilton welcomed Harris' decision and said 'after 15 years of one-party Democrat rule, everyone can see it's time for change in California.' As is the case in high-profile races for governor, a long list of candidates — some known, others not — fills out the ballot. California has what is known as a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same primary ballot regardless of political party, but only the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election, regardless of party. Other Democrats in the mix include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis; former state controller Betty Yee; former state Senate leader Toni Atkins; state schools superintendent Tony Thurmond; and real estate developer Stephen Cloobeck. Rich outsider could shake up race In California, home to some of the nation's richest Americans, it is always possible a wealthy outsider could shake up the race. That was the case in 2010, when billionaire Republican Meg Whitman spent nearly $180 million, much of it her own money, but lost to Democrat Jerry Brown, a former governor. Newsom — who has not endorsed a successor — was asked Thursday what he thought of the possibility that he and Harris, old friends from the San Francisco Bay Area, might meet again in the 2028 presidential race. Harris has not ruled out another run for the presidency after falling short in 2020 and 2024. Newsom is widely seen as positioning himself for a run in 2028 though he has veered away from speculating about his political future. 'We'll see where fate brings all of us,' Newsom told reporters. 'I'm looking forward to what she does next.' ___ Associated Press writer Tran Nguyen in Sacramento contributed. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .

Federal court denies Boston bomber's request for new judge to oversee death sentence appeal
Federal court denies Boston bomber's request for new judge to oversee death sentence appeal

Hamilton Spectator

time38 minutes ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

Federal court denies Boston bomber's request for new judge to oversee death sentence appeal

BOSTON (AP) — A federal court on Thursday denied a request by attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to remove the judge overseeing the protracted legal battle over his death sentence. The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument made by Tsarnaev's lawyers that U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole should be recused from the case because, the lawyers contend, he is not impartial. During an August 2024 hearing, Tsarnaev's attorneys pointed to what they said were comments O'Toole made about the case on podcasts and at public events during the appeals process. In a two-page judgment released Thursday, appeals court judges ruled that O'Toole should continue to preside over the case, determining that 'two panel discussions and a podcast in which Judge O'Toole discussed various aspects of organizing complex jury trials and the problems associated with social media in that context' did not constitute grounds for his removal. One of O'Toole's attorneys, David E. Patton, didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. A federal appeals court in March 2024 ordered O'Toole to investigate claims of juror bias by the defense and to determine whether Tsarnaev's death sentence should stand. He was convicted of helping carry out the 2013 bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds of others near the marathon's finish line. It's unclear when O'Toole might rule on the juror bias issue. If he finds that jurors should have been disqualified, he should vacate Tsarnaev's sentence and hold a new penalty-phase trial to determine if Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death, the appeals court said. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence given to Tsarnaev after the 1st Circuit threw out the sentence in 2020. The circuit court found then that the trial judge did not sufficiently question jurors about their exposure to the extensive news coverage of the bombing. The 1st Circuit took another look at the case after Tsarnaev's lawyers urged it to examine issues the Supreme Court didn't consider. Among them was whether the trial judge wrongly forced the trial to be held in Boston and wrongly denied defense challenges to the seating of two jurors who they claim lied during questioning. Tsarnaev's guilt in the deaths of those killed in the bombing was not at issue in the appeal. His lawyers have argued that Tsarnaev fell under the influence of his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a gun battle with police days after the bombing. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted of all 30 charges against him. Prosecutors portrayed the brothers — ethnic Chechens who moved to the United States from Russia more than a decade ago — as full partners in a brutal and coldblooded plan to punish the U.S. for its wars in Muslim countries. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .

Migrant crossings in once-overrun Darien Gap route drop to almost zero
Migrant crossings in once-overrun Darien Gap route drop to almost zero

New York Post

timean hour ago

  • New York Post

Migrant crossings in once-overrun Darien Gap route drop to almost zero

Panama's Darien Gap, once a hotbed for US-bound migrants, is now completely deserted as President Trump's illegal immigration crackdown has been in full swing. Migrant crossings in the dangerous jungle path connecting Colombia to Panama have plummeted to almost zero, according to Panama's migration agency. Only 10 migrants traversed the Darien Gap in June, according to the data. 3 Clothing and garbage litter a trail in the now-deserted Darien Gap. AP 3 Migrants cross a river in the Darien Gap during a surge in crossings. Getty Images Under President Joe Biden, crossings peaked at 37,166 in February 2024, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security. In 2023, human smugglers helped more than 530,000 migrants navigate the 2,600-mile trek on their way to the US. And in 2022, Panamanian authorities were seeing an average of 16,400 migrants crossing each week, according to DHS. The Trump administration attributes the massive drop to its border crackdown and mass deportation campaign. Under President Trump's watch, illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border have dropped to record lows. In June, border agents caught roughly 6,000 illegal migrants — the lowest level yet — and none of them were released into the US, according to 'border czar' Tom Homan. More than 83,000 migrants traversed the southern border in June 2024, 99,000 in June 2023 and 192,000 in June 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection. 3 A migrant reception center in the Darien Gap that previously helped hundreds of people every day sits empty. AP 'In Panama's Darien Gap, migrants are turning BACK before they even reach our border— only 10 migrants crossed in June,' Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios. 'The world is hearing our message that America's borders are closed to lawbreakers,' she added. Panama's right-wing President José Raúl Mulino pledged to shutter the migrant pathway, leading crossings to drop by 40% in 2024. 'Effectively, the border with Darien is closed,' Mulino declared in May.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store