Putin says Russia ready for talks with Ukraine

PRISTINA: Kosovo votes on Sunday after a combative election campaign in which opposition candidates clashed with Prime Minister Albin Kurti over the economy, corruption and relations with the country’s old foe and neighbor Serbia.
Kurti, a leftist and Albanian nationalist, came to power in the small Balkan country in 2021 when a coalition run by his Vetevendosje party received more than 50 percent of votes and secured a seven-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament.
Political analysts say his popularity has been bolstered by moves to extend government control in Kosovo’s ethnic Serb-majority north. But critics say he has failed to deliver on education and health, and his policies in the north have distanced the country from its traditional allies, the European Union and the United States.
The EU placed economic curbs on the country in 2023 for its role in stoking tensions with ethnic Serbs, cutting at least 150 million euros ($155 million) in funding, Reuters has found.
A drop below 50 percent of the votes for Kurti’s party could potentially prompt coalition talks after the election.
Leading opposition parties include the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo which has campaigned on restoring relations with the United States and the EU, and joining NATO; and the Democratic Party of Kosovo, also center-right, which was founded by former guerilla fighters of Kosovo Liberation Army.
Nearly two million voters are registered in Kosovo. Voting starts at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) and ends at 7 p.m. Exit polls are expected soon after, and results later into the night.
KURTI’S DIVISIVE RHETORIC IN FOCUS
Kurti’s government has overseen some gains. Unemployment has shrunk from 30 percent to around 10 percent, the minimum wage is up and last year the economy grew faster than the Western Balkans average.
He says his policies in the north, which include reducing the long-held autonomy of Serbs living in Kosovo, are helping to bring ethnic Serbs and Albanians together under one system of government. But his rhetoric worries centrist politicians.
“When you have a bad neighbor, then you have to keep your morale high and your rifle full,” he said in a campaign speech near the Serbian border this week.
Differences of opinion have contributed to a bitter war of words with the opposition. The Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel, which monitors party and candidates’ complaints, has issued more than 650,000 euros in fines to parties this election season, three times the 2021 tally, data from NGO Democracy in Action show.
Kosovo, Europe’s newest country, gained independence from Serbia in 2008 with backing from the United States, which included a 1999 bombing campaign against Serbian forces.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: A handful of demonstrators gathered outside Trump International Golf Club on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies while the commander-in-chief spent leisure time at the club.
Carrying signs and Mexican, Guatemalan and US flags and chanting “Immigrants Make America Great,” the small group of people shouted loudly and was visible as Trump, who spent several hours at the club, exited in his motorcade and drove by on Saturday afternoon.
Their chant was a reference to the president’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
One sign in Spanish said “the American Dream is also ours.”
Trump, a Republican who has been in office just shy of three weeks, won the presidency in large part on the back of a promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
He has implemented that promise with speed, starting on the day he was inaugurated, by tasking the US military to help with border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum and seeking to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil.
Protesters and supporters frequently gather outside venues where Trump is staying to show their disdain or their enthusiasm for his policies.