Celebrities, sun-seekers fuel Montenegro property boom

Celebrities and sun-seekers from the East and West are fuelling a property boom in Montenegro that has seen prices surge two-fold in the year since the tiny Balkan state won independence
Investment speculators led the influx, snapping up houses, apartments and plots of land wedged between Montenegro’s craggy mountains and its glimmering Adriatic coastline
But, with the [...]

World defense briefing

Deepwater budget gets flexibility not funds
The US Coast Guard (USCG) is to be allowed to shift funding in its federal accounts to hire additional staff to manage the USD24 billion Integrated Deepwater System contract, according to a source in the US Congress. However, that budget flexibility does not mean additional dollars for the beleaguered programme, [...]

Greek-Turkish Cypriots demand opening of crossing points

Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot residents of Pyrgos Tyllirias and Limnitis villages, on the northwest of the island, have demanded the opening of a crossing point in the area to facilitate movement of people between Cyprus’ southern government-controlled areas and the northern Turkish occupied part of the island.
In their petition to the UN Special Representative [...]

Worldwide military update

Iraqi 350ERs set to receive General Atomics suites, ground stations
New Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) Beechcraft King Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft are to be fitted with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) suites and associated ground stations, it has been awarded. The contract – announced on 11 June – revealed that the 350ER [...]

SYRIA: Warning of looming crisis as Iraqi refugee influx continues

A joke circulating here has two Iraqis wandering the streets of the Syrian capital, angrily protesting the large number of Syrians taking over their city.
With up to 2,000 Iraqi refugees arriving each day, adding to the 1.5 million – equivalent to around 8 percent of the Syrian population – who have flooded into Syria since [...]

Indonesia proposes solution to Kosovo row

Rather than directly supporting or rejecting independence for Kosovo, Indonesia has suggested the province be treated the same way as other ex-Yugoslavian territories in terms of independence and European Union membership (EU).
Speaking in front of lawmakers Monday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said that both the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should [...]

AFRICA: Urban population to double

The urban population of Africa will double from 294 million in 2000 to 742 million in 2030, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stated on 27 June.
“In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas,” said Monique Rakotomalala, UNFPA representative [...]

US proposes withdrawal from Kosovo, report

In a statement for the Serbian news agency, Tanjug, Serbian Prime Minister’s Advisor Srdjan Djuric said that the government has received a proposal from the US Ambassador to Serbia, Michael Polt, in which the “US would withdraw from Kosovo”.
“Serbian Government has for the first time heard a new interesting proposal presented by American Ambassador Michael [...]

International defense show opens in Belgrade

The Third International Weapons and Military Equipment Show kicked off here Tuesday, drawing together Serbian and overseas foreign-purposes arms industry manufacturers.
Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac, who opened the show, was confident the event would aid the development of the domestic economy.
Sutanovac said the Defense Ministry would not only “support the potentials of the domestic defense [...]

Washington Shouldn’t be Fooled by Albania’s Euphoric Welcome of President Bush

By Erion Veliaj
When US President George Bush visited Albania earlier
this month, my little Balkan country made international headlines for the first time in a very long while — and it’s not hard to see why.
At a time when the American president’s popularity is at an all-time low at home, and when his visits abroad are [...]