Yummy, Yummy in My Tummy

Okay, that's a bit of a goof-ball title for a blog but I think it's a good description of how I feel following the discovery of a newer bakery in Pristina thanks to a good (maybe now my best...hey, bribe me with treats and you've got a friend for life!) friend.  The bakery is called Oddysea and is located kind of across from CPI in Peyton Place.  They serve up really delicious cheese Danishes, cheesecake, cookies, and all the other treats that are guaranteed to make people think "this is going to go straight to my hips"! 

Contrary to some popular belief UN employees do actually work and I've been busy so I haven't had as much of a chance to update on the news from Kosovo...but here are some of the latest happenings:
Last Thursday, a KPS officer serving in Close Protection was murdered in Pristina in broad daylight.  I have on good authority that the officer had previously served on an organized crime/criminal gang taskforce and had made some powerful enemies in Kosovo.  It is also rumored that the officer dated the girlfriend of the owner of one of the Kosovo's casinos (as well as pop-singer Adelina Ismalji) and was instrumental in the closure of the casino...and that the casino owner is in detention and has confessed to the murder.  The local paper Koha Ditore has reported about the murder confession but I am not certain if the person mentioned is the one I was told about from my source.

The UN has set the date for local elections in Kosovo.  The elections will be held on 17 November.  The date could possibly be changed if the UN sees that it is interfering with the status negotiations currently under way.  The elections would only be the third round since the UN took over in 1999 for the 120-seats in the PISG (Provisional Institution of Self-Government).  So far, the last two elections both resulted in coalition governments between the largest three parties in Kosovo however there are a couple new parties that have been gaining momentum in Kosovo.

MTCowgirl's Interesting News Articles 

• An editorial in Cleveland's Plain Dealer says shame on you (to Albanians, Serbs, and the US!)
• Albin Kurti, leader of Vetevendosje, says things will be better when the local institutions take over...then he goes on to say that once Kosovo becomes independent, Albanians will stop regarding Serbs as a threat
• Reuters UK looks at how Kosovo tensions simmer through long, hot summer
• Disillusioned Serb refugees look towards Kosovo in the International Herald Tribune
• Foreign Policy in Focus describes Kosovo like a bad cold that won't go away and looks at three possible outcomes