• Funeral for 13 victims of Serbian shooting spree

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    Priests attend the funeral ceremony of shooting victims in the village of Velika Ivanca, about 25 miles southwest of Belgrade on April 12, 2013. A Serbian war veteran who killed 13 relatives and neighbors in a dawn rampage in a Serbian village this week, before turning the gun on himself, died in hospital on Thursday. Serbs were stunned by the massacre on Tuesday in a sleepy rural region southwest of the capital. Six men, six women and a 2-year child died, the gunman's mother and son among them.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    Women mourn during the funeral ceremony of shooting victims in the village of Velika Ivanca, on April 12, 2013.

    Andrej Isakovic / AFP - Getty Images

    Mourners carry crosses with pictures of some of the victims of the shooting rampage in the village of Velika Ivanca on April 12, 2013. Church bells rang out in the tiny Serbian village, as hundreds of tearful mourners buried 13 people gunned down in Serbia's worst massacre in two decades.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    A relative of a victim mourns during a mass funeral in the village of Velika Ivanca, Serbia, on April 12, 2013. Hundreds gathered in this Serbian village Friday to bury 13 people shot to death by a man whom many once knew as a quiet, helpful neighbor.

    By Jovana Gec, The Associated Press

    Mourners wailed and church bells tolled Friday in this Serbian village as hundreds came to bury 13 people shot dead by a man some called a quiet, helpful neighbor.

    Ljubisa Bogdanovic, a 60-year-old veteran of the Balkan wars, went on a pre-dawn, house-to-house rampage Tuesday in Velika Ivanca, before turning the gun on himself and his wife, police said. The 13 victims included his mother, his son and a 2-year-old boy who was his cousin.

    On Friday, the dead lay in coffins — a dozen brown wooden ones and a small white one for the boy — all lined up on a red carpet before a small church near the village cemetery. Mourners, many dressed in black, crowded the small graveyard, just a few kilometers (miles) from the scene of the shootings.

    Two women, relatives of the boy's family, fainted when his coffin was lowered into the grave.

    "Sometimes humans do evil that would shame the devil," Serbian Orthodox Church Bishop Jovan said in a eulogy. "No knowledge can explain why this happened in this quiet village."

    Continue reading.

    Related:

    13 dead, including a baby, after house-to-house shooting spree in Serbian village

    Andrej Isakovic / AFP - Getty Images

    Orthodox priests and mourners hold candles during the funeral of victims of the shooting rampage in the village of Velika Ivanca on April 12, 2013.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    A teddy bear is placed on the coffin of a shooting victim during the funeral ceremony in the village of Velika Ivanca, on April 12, 2013.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    A coffin is interred as bystanders react during a mass funeral in the village of Velika Ivanca, Serbia on April 12, 2013.

     

  • Winter storm strands thousands of motorists overnight in eastern Europe

    Szilard Gergely / AFP - Getty Images

    A man walks past a damaged truck at the site of an accident on the E71 motorway, near the Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian borders on Friday, a day after a heavy snow storm hit the area.

    By Krisztina Than, Reuters

    BUDAPEST - Hungary deployed tanks to reach thousands of motorists trapped in heavy snow on Friday as a sudden cold snap and high winds struck parts of the Balkans, Slovakia and Poland, leaving at least two people dead.

    Snow stranded people in cars, buses and trains through the night and conspired with strong winds to cut off dozens of towns and villages in Hungary.

    "The situation is most critical on the M1 motorway (linking Budapest and Vienna) where hundreds of cars are stranded in the snow, most of them for 18-20 hours now," said Marton Hajdu, spokesman for the National Directorate for Disaster Management.

    Reuters photographer traveling with a rescue convoy said high winds had caused snowdrifts on the motorway up to three feet high.

    People took to Facebook to appeal for help.

    "At the Gyorszentivan exit on the motorway I have friends stranded since yesterday evening," wrote Ibolya Csukovics. "Can anyone help? They've run out of food and drink."

    The government said it had sent in tanks and other military vehicles with caterpillar tracks.

    The weekend's premier league and second tier football fixtures were canceled, with night-time temperatures expected to drop as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit).

    After a relatively mild winter for much of the region, almost 200,000 people in Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia were left shivering without electricity on Friday. Heavy rain hit parts of Serbia and Bosnia.

    In Bulgaria, one woman was killed when scaffolding collapsed in high winds in the central town of Gabrovo, and a school was evacuated in the southern town of Krichim when wind tore off the roof.

    To the south, in Kosovo, a 10-year-old girl drowned when a river burst its banks in heavy rain in the northern town of Skenderaj. Dozens of homes were flooded in the west of the country, a Reuters reporter said.

    "The situation is alarming," Klina municipality spokeswoman Samije Gjergjaj told Reuters. She said some 300 people were stranded by floodwater.

    "There's just one small boat evacuating these people," said Gjergjaj. "We're waiting for the state emergency services to help out."

    Heavy snow also paralyzed parts of southeastern Poland, where police banned heavy lorries from entering the city of Rzeszow for fear they would get stuck.

    In eastern Slovakia, snow stranded some 40 lorries on a highway in the High Tatras region. The army deployed hundreds of soldiers to help out and authorities appealed to people to avoid venturing out by car. 

    Alexey Gromov / AFP - Getty Images

    People struggle against wind and drifting snow in the Belarus capital, Minsk, on Friday.

  • Only European king buried on U.S. soil goes back home

    AFP - Getty Images

    Serbian Patriarch Irinej performs a liturgy during a solemn burial ceremony for the remains of Yugoslavia's last king Peter II Karadjordjevic, in Belgrade, on Jan. 22. The remains of the last Yugoslav king Peter II Karadjordjevic, who fled the country in the onset of Nazi invasion, were repatriated today for a re-burial in Serbia, 43 years after his death in exile in the United States. After being exhumed last week from the Serb Orthodox monastery Saint Sava at Libertyville, US, the coffin with remains of the Peter II, covered with the Serbian flag, was brought to the church at the Royal palace of Karadjordjevic in Belgrade.

    By Hasani Gittens, News Editor, NBC News

    The King has left the country.

    Yugoslavia's last king, Peter II Karadjordjevic, who died in the United States in 1970, was taken to Serbia Tuesday, thus removing the only European royal to be buried on American soil.

    The former ruler had fled the Nazis at the start of World War II. He decided to stay in the U.S. when Communists took over Yugoslavia at the end of the war. 

    He died in exile at the age of 47 and had been buried at the Serbian Orthodox Church monastery in Libertyville, Ill.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    A royalist supporter holds up a candle and picture of Yugoslavia's last king — Peter II Karadjordjevic during a solemn ceremony in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 22.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    This photo shows a Serbian Orthodox style icon depicting Jesus Christ, said to have been damaged by bullet holes from rounds shot by Serbian communist supporters after World War II, seen inside the Serbian royal family complex in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 22. The remains of Yugoslavia's last king, Peter II Karadjordjevic, who died in the U.S. in 1970, were flown back to Serbia in a solemn ceremony on Tuesday, despite protests by some Serb royalists in America. The former king fled the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia at the start of World War II and never returned, as Communists took over at the end of the war, and he died in exile with his remains buried at a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Libertyville, Illinois, the only European monarch buried on U.S. soil.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    Royalist supporters wearing old military uniforms are seen during a solemn ceremony after the remains of Yugoslavia's last king — Peter II Karadjordjevic were flown back to Serbia in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 22.

     

  • Armend Nimani / AFP - Getty Images

    Change of command ceremony in Pristina

    NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo stand at attention during a KFOR change of command ceremony in Pristina, Sept. 7, 2012. German General Volker Halbauer took command of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo. NATO deployed peacekeepers in Kosovo after a 1999 air campaign that ousted Serbian forces waging a crackdown on the pro-independence ethnic Albanian majority.

  • Marko Djurica / Reuters

    Air show marks 100th anniversary of military aviation in Serbia

    A Serbian 'Orao J-22' strike aircraft flies during the international air show in Belgrade Sept. 2. Participants from 16 countries and the Serbian Airforce demonstrated their flying skills on Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary of military aviation in the Balkan country. The air show at the Batajnica airport marks the first flight of a sole Serb biplane aircraft from the southern airfield of Nis during the 1912 Balkan war against Turkish empire.

    See more PhotoBlog posts about air shows.

  • Scientists marveling over a mammoth mine in Serbia

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    People look at the skeleton of a mammoth at an open-pit coal mine in Kostolac 62 miles southeast of Belgrade on June 27.

    By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

    What started out as a coal mine near the Serbian town of Kostolac, southeast of Belgrade, has turned into a gold mine for mammoth bones. Archaeologists say they've found the remains of at least five of the ancient beasts, scattered across 20 acres of sandy terrain.

    "There are millions of mammoth fragments in the world, but they are rarely so accessible for exploration," Miomir Korac of Serbia's Archaeological Institute told The Associated Press. "A mammoth field can offer incredible information and shed light on what life looked like in these areas during the ice age."

    Experts have been finding mammoth remains at the open-pit mining site for years. In 2009, a well-preserved, 16-foot-long mammoth skeleton was discovered about 89 feet (27 meters) beneath the surface. That specimen, nicknamed Vika, was a furless southern mammoth that lived about a million years ago. Another mammoth skeleton, thought to be 500,000 years old and nicknamed Kika, was found at a factory site in northern Serbia in 1996 and is now on display at a museum in Kikinda.  

    The more recently discovered bones, excavated last month at a depth of about 66 feet (20 meters), appear to be from woolly mammoths that lived tens of thousands of years ago.

    "This discovery is interesting because, unusually, there are many bones in one place," Sanja Alaburic, an expert from Serbia's Museum of Natural History, told AP. He speculated that the bones were carried to the site by flooding.

    Korac said that colleagues in France and Germany have been contacted for consultation. Unearthing all the bones will require at least six months of work, he said.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    Archaeologists work to find mammoth bones at an open-pit coal mine in Kostolac, 62 miles southeast of Belgrade on June 27.

  • Breaking ice crushes boats on Danube in sudden Serbia thaw

    Andrej Isakovic / AFP - Getty Images

    A man takes a picture of big chunks of melting ice moving on the Danube River in Belgrade, Serbia, on Feb. 20, 2012.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    People break the ice on a frozen part of the Danube in Belgrade on Feb. 20, 2012. Big chunks of melting ice have damaged hundreds of small boats and several restaurants located on rafts, officials said Monday.

    The Associated Press reports from Belgrade, Serbia — Big chunks of melting ice moving on the Danube River have damaged hundreds of small boats and several restaurants located on rafts, officials said Monday.

    The thick ice, which had closed hundreds of miles of Europe's busy waterway during the region's recent cold snap, started moving Sunday afternoon because of rising temperatures.

    As ice floes up to 1.6 feet thick began to break up in the Belgrade area, hundreds of parked boats crashed into each other and several barges were swept away, officials said. Read the full story.

  • Serbia at a loss to stop population decline

    After a decade of war and isolation in the 1990s, Serbia is struggling to rebound since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Hundreds of thousands fled the country in search of a better life. For those who stayed, there is a strong migration from rural to urban locations in search of jobs.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    An elderly woman looks on as she tends her goats in the southern Serbian town of Trgoviste Nov. 8. Serbia has lost more than 377,000 people -- 5 percent of its population -- over the past nine years, according to the results of its most recent census released last month. Many municipalities such as Trgoviste offer incentives for people to stay and have babies, to no avail, as statistics show a migration from village to city as Serbs abandon rural life in search of jobs. The trend towards small families has driven up the national average age to 42.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    Schoolchildren look out of a classroom window in the southern Serbia's town of Trgoviste Nov. 8.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    An elderly woman walks past death notices in the southern Serbian town of Trgoviste Nov. 8.

    Read more in this Reuters report.

  • The Danube is running dry

    Ivan Milutinovic / Reuters

    A boat is stranded on dry land along the Danube river bank in Belgrade on Dec. 2, 2011. Record low water levels have pushed up power prices across the Balkans and may force local utilities to further boost expensive power imports to meet demand.

    AP reports

    "This is a disaster," said Branko Savic, the manager of a privately owned Danube shipping company in Serbia that he says is operating at only a third of its capacity. "Traffic on the Danube is practically nonexistent. . . We are in dire need of enormous amounts of water, rain, or melting snow in order to better the situation."

    "In my many years of experience as a boat captain, I don't remember a drought as harsh as this one," said Anton Balasz, whose ship is among those stuck where exposed sand banks are preventing boats from passing. Read more...

    Srdjan Suki / EPA

    Vessels carrying more than 1,000 tons were blocked in this area of Belgrade earlier this week because the water level was lower than normal. For river traffic to resume water levels would have to rise by at least 19 inches, but meteorological services forecast no rain in the coming days.

  • Kosovo Serbs clash with NATO troops during months-long standoff

    Zveki / AP

    Kosovo Serbs clash with German army soldiers serving under the auspices of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, as the NATO troops work to remove a roadblock near the village of Jagnjenica, Kosovo, Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Two NATO soldiers were shot and wounded during clashes with Serbs on Monday after the peacekeepers fired rubber bullets and water canons and used heavy machinery to remove trucks and buses that were being used to block a main road in Kosovo's ethnically tense north. Kosovo's authorities decided to extend their authority into the areas under de-facto Serb rule, and NATO troops are trying to remove roadblocks after months of tension.

    Bojan Slavkovic / Reuters

    Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers from Germany and Austria fight with Kosovo Serbs during clashes in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok November 28, 2011. Two NATO soldiers were wounded by gunfire on Monday in clashes with demonstrators in north Kosovo, NATO said, in the latest spasm of violence in a months-long standoff with Serbs who reject the country's 2008 secession from Serbia.

    Zveki / AP

    Kosovo Serbs clash with German army soldiers serving under the auspices of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

     

    From the full story:

    Two German NATO soldiers were shot and wounded and eight Austrian peacekeepers hurt on Monday in the latest clashes with Serbs in the north of Kosovo who reject the country's 2008 secession from Serbia.

    Fighting broke out when NATO peacekeepers began removing roadblocks erected by Serbs in July after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated government tried to send border police to the mainly Serb north.

    Western diplomats warn the turmoil could cost Serbia official candidate status for membership of the European Union when the bloc meets on December 9.

    Read more...

    Related stories:

  • Tension mounts between Kosovo Serbs and NATO troops

    Reuters

    A Kosovo Force soldier from Germany sprays tear gas towards Kosovo Serbs during clashes in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok October 20, 2011. NATO troops in Kosovo fired teargas to disperse hundreds of Serbs blocking a contested border crossing with Serbia on Thursday, and used armored vehicles in a bid to remove makeshift barriers.

    Marko Djurica / Reuters

    Kosovo Serbs sit on the street in front of Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers from Germany in the village of Jagnjenica near the town of Zubin Potok October 20, 2011. NATO troops in Kosovo (KFOR) fired teargas to disperse hundreds of Serbs blocking a contested border crossing with Serbia on Thursday, and used armored vehicles in a bid to remove makeshift barriers.

    By Natalia Jimenez, NBC News

    Hundreds of Kosovo Serbs took over a border crossing with Serbia early Thursday morning, leading to a confrontation with NATO troops who used teargas to disperse the crowds.

    AP Reports:

    Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers confronted crowds of angry Serbs on Thursday as they tried to remove Serb roadblocks in the volatile north of the country.

    For nearly three months, Kosovo Serbs have been blocking roads to stop the country's ethnic Albanian leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs. The Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and consider the region a part of the larger Serbian nation.

    After Kosovo Serb leaders refused NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved in at dawn Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.

    For complete story: NATO moves to remove Kosovo Serb roadblocks

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    German army soldiers serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo move to remove a roadblock near the village of Jagnjenica, Kosovo, early Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo confronted angry Serb crowds manning their roadblocks as tensions escalated Thursday in the volatile north of the country. After Kosovo Serb leaders refused NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved at dawn Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.

    Darko Vojinovic / AP

    German army soldiers serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo clash with Kosovo Serbs on a roadblock near the village of Jagnjenica, Kosovo, early Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo confronted angry Serb crowds manning their roadblocks as tensions escalated Thursday in the volatile north of the country. After Kosovo Serb leaders refused NATO's demand to allow freedom of movement, the peacekeepers in riot gear moved at dawn Thursday against hundreds of Serbs at roadblocks consisting of parked trucks, rocks, mud and logs.

    Visar Kryeziu / AP

    Kosovo Serbs carrying Serb national flag protest against NATO's move to remove roadblocks in northern Kosovo, in the town of Gracanica on Thursday, Oct 20, 2011. Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeepers confronted crowds of angry Serbs on Thursday as they tried to remove Serb roadblocks in the volatile north of the country.

  • Marko Djurica / Reuters

    People bathe in mud in the village of Ovca near Belgrade, Serbia, Aug. 21. In the 'Ovcanska Spa' the water is salty and comes from the depth of several hundred meters with high mineral content. Locals believe that various vein diseases, rheumatics, sciatica, and vision disorders are treated by the curative mud and mineral water that contains more than 28 minerals.

    Locals look to mud for healing near Belgrade

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    I wonder if this mud has a high sulfur content, as the one time that I soaked in a natural mud spa, I had to dispose of my swimsuit and the clothes that I wore later that day since not even the laundry could get the smell out. Despite all of that, I would absolutely soak in the mud again since it felt great!

Older posts