Man's body found in Serbia as Balkans struggles with floods
Serbian state television says that a man's body has been pulled out of a swollen river in a southwestern town and rescuers are searching for another man as floods in the Balkans close down schools, cut railway traffic and soak homes and farmland.
Tsitsipas, with Big Three missing, makes 4th round in Miami
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece returns to Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)MIAMI – For tennis up-and-comers like Stefanos Tsitsipas, the draw at the Miami Open began to look a lot less daunting even before the tournament began. “It’s a first test to see how it is playing without them,” Tsitsipas said after his third-round victory Saturday. 2-seeded Tsitsipas is among those with the best chance to take advantage, and he looked the part against Damir Dzumhur, winning 6-1, 6-4. “I created a lot of opportunities with my serve — I wasn’t rushing at all, finding the right angles and executing it perfectly,” Tsitsipas said. In women's play, top-ranked Ash Barty and three-time champion Victoria Azarenka advanced to a round of 16 showdown.
Migrants in burnt Bosnia camp wait for new tents in blizzard
Migrants cook inside a makeshift shelter at the Lipa camp, outside Bihac, Bosnia, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. A fresh spate of snowy and very cold winter weather on has brought more misery for hundreds of migrants who have been stuck for days in a burnt out camp in northwest Bosnia waiting for heating and other facilities. Meanwhile, the migrants were staying in tents and containers amid the snow, while seeking shelter under make-shift nylon covers. “We have too much trouble here in (the) Lipa camp." There are thousands of migrants in Bosnia who are trying to reach Western Europe.
Bosnia: Uncertainty persists for migrants from burnt camp
Migrants warm themselves around a fire at the Lipa camp outside Bihac, Bosnia, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 202, after hundreds failed to be relocated from the burnt-out tent camp in the northwest of the country. The migrants were supposed to move on Tuesday from the much-criticized Lipa camp in northwest Bosnia to a former army barracks in the central part of the country. The tent camp, located near the border with Croatia, lacked basic facilities such as running water and heating. European Union officials and aid groups warned of a humanitarian disaster and increased pressure on Bosnia to move the migrants away from the camp. To get to Croatia, migrants use mountainous illegal routes and often encounter pushbacks and alleged violence at the hands of Croatian police.
Fire breaks out at squalid migrant camp in Bosnia
Smoke rises from a fire at migrant camp Lipa, Wednesday, Dec 23, 2020, near Bihac in western Bosnia. Thick black smoke could be seen rising Wednesday from parts of the Lipa camp near the Croatian border which currently houses some 1,200 migrants. Thick black smoke rose from the Lipa tent camp near the Croatian border that once housed 1,200 migrants. He said most camp residents were still around the area because “there's no alternative accommodation available” in Bosnia for them. The Lipa camp was only set up as a temporary shelter during the summer to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Bosnian city of Mostar holds 1st local election in 12 years
(AP Photo/Kemal Softic)MOSTAR – MOSTAR, Bosnia-Long-entrenched ethno-nationalists were projected to win the first local election in Bosnia’s southern city of Mostar in 12 years, but early results of Sunday's vote also indicated multiethnic parties and alliances would be a strong part of the future city council. Mostar is split between Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, who fought fiercely for control over the city during the country’s 1992-95 war. It hasn’t held a local election since 2008, when Bosnia’s constitutional court declared its election rules discriminatory and ordered them changed. Thus, the lawmakers from multiethnic parties appear set to become tiebreakers in all but certain disputes between the dominant Bosniak and Croat nationalists. Prior to the war, ethnically mixed couples made up 10% of all marriages in Mostar, and the city was markedly cosmopolitan.
Russia to give icon that sparked controversy back to Bosnia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, listens Bosnian Serb official Milorad Dodik, who is the member of Bosnia's multi-ethnic presidency during a press conference after their talks in the capital Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. Lavrov is on a two-day visit to Bosnia. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)MOSCOW – Russia said Saturday it will return an Orthodox icon presented to the Russian foreign minister in Bosnia, a gift that has triggered a protest from Ukraine. The presiding Serb member of Bosnia’s three-member presidency, Milorad Dodik, gave the icon to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov when he visited Sarajevo earlier this week. On Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the icon would be returned to Bosnia pending an Interpol probe to clarify its origins.
Bosnia doctors appeal for respect of rules amid virus surge
A patient on oxygen support is seen in the COVID-19 ward at a former military hospital in the capital Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. Doctors in Bosnia, one of the hardest hit countries in the Balkans with the new coronavirus, are appealing on the citizens to respect preventive measures and help the ailing health system. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)SARAJEVO – SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Doctors in Bosnia, one of the hardest-hit countries in the Balkans with the new coronavirus, are appealing to citizens to respect preventive measures to help the ailing health system. As Bosnia battles a surge in infections and a mounting death toll, authorities have converted one third of all hospital wards to treat COVID-19 patients. )”On Thursday, Cehajic was making his round on the COVID-19 ward, where patients could be seen on oxygen support.
The Latest: Ohio Stadium off limits to family and friends
A limited number of media will be allowed to cover Saturday’s football game, which will be nationally televised on FOX. Hickok got into the tournament as an alternate after Bill Haas tested positive earlier in the week. That’s the most positive tests on the PGA Tour since late June, when four players tested positive in a span of a week. Cameron Champ, Denny McCarthy and Dylan Frittelli had positive tests in Connecticut, and Harris English tested positive in Detroit. The Bosnian soccer federation said Wednesday that besides Kolasinac, another national team player, Ibrahim Sehic, also tested positive.
Croatia accused of brutality, sexual abuse against migrants
The Danish Refugee Council's officials told The Associated Press Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 that dozens of migrants interviewed by the organization's staff in Bosnia over the past 10 days reported "horrifying" experiences with Croatian police, including "savage beatings and even sexual abuse." Upon entering Bosnia, most migrants walk northwest to the country’s highly porous 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) border with Croatia, one of the last gateways to northern Europe. Bay said that testimonies collected from groups who had not been in contact with each other included the same descriptions of violence. Human rights organizations have been accusing Croatia’s police for years of brutality and illegal pushbacks of migrants, which Croatia has consistently denied. The man, who asked not to be identified out of fear of repercussions, said Croatian police also confiscated migrants’ belongings such as mobile phones and money.
The Latest: Venezuela's Guaidó urges nations to decry Maduro
Member state flags fly outside the United Nations headquarters during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)TANZANIA – The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times EDT):8:10 p.m. But U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó still put out his own online message during this year’s gathering of world leaders. Guaidó is recognized by nearly 60 nations as Venezuela’s president and has been in a nearly two-year standoff with Maduro. This week at the U.N. gathering of world leaders, African nations again have made it clear it’s time that changed.