An Albanian political candidate was shot and a supporter of a rival party killed in an exchange of gunfire near a polling station, police said yesterday, as the country held elections already marred by a dispute that could leave the outcome up in the air.

Albania and Kosovo have called for an independent investigation into former Hague Tribunal prosecutor Carla del Ponte for her “tendentious and illegal role” in the case against former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj.

A bus carrying university students on a pre-graduation trip toppled off a mountain cliff in southern Albania yesterday, killing 12 people and injuring another 21, authorities said.

Albania’s political crisis escalated as the government and its opposition traded blame for the deaths of three protesters during a violent demonstration against an administration accused of deeply-rooted corruption.

Fourteen people have died and 12 others have been injured, many seriously, after a bus fell off a cliff in Albania.

Twenty-two opposition Socialist MPs and 180 supporters have launched a hunger strike to press the government to allow a partial recount of an election they claim was tainted by vote-rigging.

INDIA flatly rejected yesterday a demand by the Albanian government for the return of the remains of Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, buried in the eastern city of Calcutta.

Albania wants the remains of Nobel Peace laureate Mother Teresa and the only post-independence monarch to be returned to the country, the prime minister said.

ALBANIANS have voted in a general election that is seen as crucial for the country’s European Union aspirations, with surveys showing the two main rivals neck and neck.

ALBANIANS have voted in a general election that is seen as crucial for the country’s European Union aspirations, with surveys showing the two main rivals neck and neck.

An explosive device killed a conservative politician as he drove through northern Albania today, 10 days ahead of the country’s parliamentary election, police said.

Rescuers were preparing today to enter the heart of a massive blast site at an Albanian army ammunition dump, where a chain of explosions killed at least five people and injured 243.

A massive explosion at an Albanian army ammunition dump near Tirana today killed at least four people and injured 215, including many children, authorities said.

A massive explosion at an Albanian army ammunition dump near Tirana today killed at least four people and injured more than 170, including many children. The country’s prime minister said he feared there could be many dead.

A powerful explosion at an army depot near Tirana today injured more than 150 people, including many children, and damaged the city’s nearby international airport, authorities said.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush, receiving a hero’s welcome as the first American president to visit Albania, said yesterday it was now time for neighbouring Kosovo to be given independence.

US President George Bush received a hero’s welcome as the first American president to visit Albania today, and said there cannot be endless dialogue about achieving independence for Serbia’s province of Kosovo.

Albania is to sign a pre-membership agreement with the European Union, considered as the first step in Tirana’s efforts to join the bloc, the government said today.

Opposition leader Sali Berisha’s coalition was officially declared winner of Albania’s July 3 parliamentary elections today, following weeks of delays in confirming final results.

Albania’s opposition leader was said to be ahead today in parliamentary elections seen as a key test of the country’s post-communist democracy.

Albanians today cast ballots in a key test of its post-Communist institutions, but local observers raised some concerns over voting procedures in rural areas.