By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - An ally of Kosovo's president is under investigation for allegedly granting jobs at state institutions and companies to people based on their political affiliation, Kosovo's prosecutor said on Friday.

The investigation of Adem Grabovci is based on evidence from phone taps made in 2011 during an anti-corruption operation by the European Union police and justice mission, known as EULEX.

On a busy road in Kosovo, brand new signs have been put up ahead of a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, showing the 35-km route in the southeast of the small Balkan nation that has been renamed after his late son Beau.

Naming streets after U.S. officials is becoming something of a tradition in Kosovo, whose population is mainly ethnic Albanian and which considers the United States its savior since 1999 NATO air strikes halted killings by Serbian troops.

A lawmaker opened a tear gas canister in Kosovo's parliament and protesters hurled stones in the capital on Tuesday ahead of a vote on a deal to demarcate its border with Montenegro as the last hurdle to obtaining visa-free access to the European Union.

http://news.trust.org/item/20160809142542-w88wj/?source=hpbreaking

An explosive device was thrown at Kosovo's parliament building on Thursday evening, a policeman on the scene said, adding that there were no casualties.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kosovo-blast-idUSKCN10F2N8

Kosovo's officials have rejected a demand from the Turkish embassy for Kosovo to punish a journalist for making satirical comments on Facebook about the failed coup.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kosovo-turkey-journalist-idUSKCN1071I0

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Turkey's embassy in Kosovo has urged the government to take action against a journalist over tongue-in-cheek Facebook comments he made about the failed military coup in Turkey, a document seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

As the failed coup unfolded on July 15, Berat Buzhala, a leading Kosovo journalist known for his satirical comments, wrote on Facebook:

A Kosovo court sent five people to prison for terms ranging from four to 13 years on terrorism charges for planning to pledge loyalty to ISIS and post a video of the event on the internet.

"Their aim was to read the oath of the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) and publish it on the Internet to show the presence of ISIS in Kosovo," a judge said while reading the verdict in a Pristina court.

Koha Ditore runs an analysis originally by Reuters.

European leaders greeted the defeat of Turkey’s coup on Saturday with relief as it averts chaos and keeps alive a deal that has helped to stem the migration crisis threatening the continent.

European Union leaders on Monday sought to reassure Balkan nations that talks on their becoming members of the bloc would continue despite Britain's vote to leave the union.

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held a meeting with Balkan leaders in Paris during which they underlined their determination to continue the accession talks.

A court in Kosovo sentenced a Serbian man to 13 years in jail on Wednesday on charges of preparing a terrorist attack after police found him transporting explosives in the streets of the capital Pristina.

Slobodan Gavric, born in 1968, was arrested in December 2015 after police found 12.2 kilos of explosives in his car in an area where the United States and other Western embassies are located.