The mosquito-born West Nile Virus has claimed its first victim this past week and another two suspected deaths are being investigated as being related to the virus in Kosovo. The disease which is making a debut for the first time in the Balkans claimed three victims in Serbia last month where there were at least 35 confirmed cases. While up to 80% of infected persons will not suffer any symptoms, extreme cases of the virus can lead the swelling of the brain tissue, coma, and eventual death. For those that do contract the virus, common symptoms mirror that of the regular flu.
Now to the local news, this week there has been a large focus on the proposed travel of a large delegation from the Kosovo Government to the US for the UN Assembly meeting which would require 200-300,000 Euros from the limited Kosovo budget. The proposal and cost of sending such a large delegation (20-30 people) to the UN has been met with large skepticism by the opposition parties in the press.
Announced in the news today after reports earlier in the week of being spotted in Kosovo, Naser Kelmendi, who is on the US blacklist, was arrested by Kosovo Police on Thursday (20 September). Kelmendi, who is a Bosnian citizen, is reported to be one of the biggest drug bosses in the Balkans.
The results of the Kosovo census have been revealed. Excluding municipalities in the north of Kosovo who refused to take part in the census, the population of Kosovo has been declared to be 1,739,825 inhabitants. The last known official count of the population of Kosovo was held in 1981 with 1.5 million persons. In 1991, Albanians boycotted the census and the population was estimated to be 1.9 million.
