The people of Kosovo went to the polls today to choose mayors and local councilors in an election that will test the country’s fragile relations with Serbia as both countries seek to move closer to the European Union.

Kosovo marked its first full week of independence with prayers and protests today as outraged Serbs geared up for demonstrations across Europe.

Thousands of Kosovo Serbs took to the streets in protest today over their ethnic Albanian leadership’s declaration of the province’s independence from Serbia.

Nato peacekeepers and UN police regrouped throughout Kosovo today to put down rioting and violence that left eight dead and hundreds injured in one of the bloodiest days since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999.