Headlines:

 General Election Leaves Bosnia in Limbo

Bosnia looks likely to be left without a central government for months, following October 3 general elections in which two starkly opposed political parties came out on top.

 Obraz: Young Face of Rightwing Violence in Serbia

The ultranationalist organisation cherishes a vision of a Great Serbia populated only by Orthodox Christians - and does not shrink from advocating physical force to achieve its goals.

 Rastko Pocesta, Serbia’s Controversial Prodigy

At only 12, the human rights advocate is the bane of Serbia’s far right - but death threats will not halt his liberal crusade, he says.

 Sofia Highlights Importance of Being Blonde

Bulgarian capital plays host to first world congress of blondes – brainchild of a Russian who says being blonde is not so much a hair colour as ‘a state of mind’.

 Macedonia Albanians Threaten Protests over Census

Albanian opposition parties want the census moved from April to July, while smaller opposition parties accuse the government of fixing the results in advance.

 Serbia May Veto Kosovo Chair of Trade Group

Belgrade looks set on blocking Kosovo’s chairmanship of the Central European Free Trade Agreement from January 2011, if it represents itself as an independent state.

 Skopje’s Big Cats Draw Artistic Catcalls

The erection of huge statues of lions beside a modernist bridge is reviving criticism of nationalist government’s costly revamp of the Macedonian capital, known as Skopje 2014.

 Kosovo Ruling Party Risks Exclusion From 2011 Poll

Opposition says they will ask the Constitutional Court to rule on whether the Democratic Party of Kosovo has broken the rules by not holding internal elections within last three years.

 Wires Stay Crossed in Serbia-Kosovo Electricity Row

A year after Serb-run northern Kosovo suffered a power cut for 18 hours, as temperatures plunged, the energy dispute between Belgrade and Pristina shows no sign of resolution.

 Thousands of Kosovars Face Expulsion to Forgotten Homeland

The case of nine-year-old twins, returned to Kosovo by Austrian Police on Wednesday, highlights the plight of thousands of families being thrown out of Western Europe.

 Stalled Reforms Worsen Health Crisis in Romania, Bulgaria

Unless Sofia and Bucharest get to grips with underfunding and corruption in their ailing healthcare sectors, they will remain saddled with substandard hospitals and medics intent on going abroad.

 Threat of Violence Hangs over Beleaguered Balkan Gays

As the weekend’s anti-gay rioting in Belgrade has shown, EU-imposed anti-discrimination laws have done little to change deep-seated attitudes of homophobia in the region.

 Tax Cuts Better for Serbia Than Soft Loans

Serbia should cut taxes to unburden local small and medium-sized enterprises instead of directing its efforts at soft loan programmes aimed at bolstering investment and liquidity, critics say.

 Albania Blast Victims Win Hearing in Strasbourg

After a two-year battle, two dynamic Albanian lawyers have convinced the European Court of Human Rights to hear the case of the victims of the fatal explosion in Gerdec.

For further information: Balkan Investigative Reporting Network