Albania's parliament on Friday voted in the first cabinet to be dominated by women since the multi-party system was introduced 30 years ago, news wires reported. After a very long parliamentary session, Edi Rama was voted as PM for third time. His government consist of 12 women and only 5 men.

A special tribunal in The Hague investigating allegations of atrocities committed by Kosovo rebels during the 1998-1999 conflict with Serbia opened its first case on Wednesday, news wires reported. The first defendant was a commander accused of torturing prisoners.

Ten people died in a fire Wednesday evening at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in North Macedonia, news wires reported.The fire broke out following an explosion in a Covid-19 clinic in Tetovo in the northwest of the Balkan country, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said. "A huge tragedy has occurred in the Tetovo Covid-19 centre," he said on Twitter. "An explosion caused a fire. The fire was extinguished but many lives were lost." Zaev immediately headed to Tetovo.

Thousands protesters blocked roads in Montenegro to halt the enthronement of a new Serbian Orthodox Church archbishop. Angry crowds attacked the police with stones and demolished security fences around the monastery in the city of Cetinje where the ceremony had to take place, BBC reported.

Kosovo on Tuesday postponed the beginning of the school year for students up through high school by two weeks following a surge of coronavirus infections due to the delta variant, and new precautions were taken in other Western Balkan countries like Albania and Serbia, news wires reported. Perparim Kryeziu, the spokesman for the Kosovo government, told the Associated Press that “we have put up some new restrictive measures,” which include postponing classes until Sept. 13, imposing a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. nightly curfew, having restaurants and bars only operate outside and mandatory mask-wearing both indoors and outside.

Police in Montenegro said they seized over 1 ton (2,000 pounds) of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas. The seizure is the biggest in the history of Montenegro, police said Friday on Twitter.

North Macedonia has expelled a Russian diplomat, the second this year, authorities confirmed on Tuesday, without offering any explanation for the decision, news wires reported. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the Russian ambassador was summoned last week and informed of the decision concerning one of his senior diplomats.

North Macedonia has reimposed restrictions on access to cafes, restaurants and public events in a bid to subdue a fresh spike in Covid-19 infections and force citizens to get vaccinated, prompting public anger and protests, news wires reported.

The Turkish authorities announced a massive search and rescue operation as floods killed 31 people along the country’s Black Sea coast areas. Dozens more are missing under the debris, BBC elaborated. Kastamonu province is the worst-hit area as it accounted for a total of 29 deaths so far. Floods caused some buildings to collapse, smashed bridges, and blocked streets with wrecked cars. The power supplies were cut off. This month Turkey has also had to battle huge wildfires in the south.

A German diplomat on Monday took office as the top international envoy to Bosnia, facing opposition from the country's Serbs, who have rejected both his appointment and a ban on genocide denial brought by his predecessor, AP reported. Christian Schmidt took over from Valentin Inzko, an Austrian diplomat, at a ceremony in the capital, Sarajevo. The Office of High Representative (OHR) that Schmidt will run was established after Bosnia's 1992-95 war to oversee peace implementation and promote reconciliation and development.