PRISTINA: Kosovo, which celebrates 10 years of independence on Saturday, has a flag that few people care about, four international telephone codes and a judoka hero.
Here are five things to know about the youngest European country.
1. Kosovo’s flag bears the shape of its territory and six yellow stars, for its six main ethnic groups, on a blue background. It is mockingly called a towel by members of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority, who believe it was adopted largely to please Western patrons. The flag flown all over Kosovo is that of neighboring Albania — a black double-headed eagle on a red background. The American stars and stripes are also prevalent, owing to Washington’s strong support in Kosovo’s struggle for independence from Serbia. In the areas that are home to Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority, the “towel” is rarely seen and instead, the Serbian flag dominates.
2. Owing to Serbia’s opposition to independence, three other countries’ dialling codes are in use in Kosovo: Serbia’s +381 for landlines plus Monaco’s +377 and Slovenia’s +386 for mobile phones. Kosovo was allocated +383 as its own code after striking a deal with Belgrade. This is already being used on the popular messaging app Viber and is due to be fully operational later this year.
3. Kosovo beat its big brother Albania to an Olympic medal during the country’s first appearance at the Games in Rio in 2016, when national heroine Majlinda Kelmendi took gold in judo. Kosovo uses sport as a diplomatic tool and gained admission to the International Olympic Committee in 2014 to the great displeasure of Serbia. It proudly celebrated skier Albin Tahiri, Kosovo’s lone athlete in last week’s opening parade in Pyeongchang and its first sportsman in a Winter Olympics.
4. Kosovo is home to around 1.8 million people but another 700,000 Kosovo Albanians are estimated to live abroad, mostly in Germany and Switzerland. The diaspora, which has its own ministry, sent some 620 million euros ($760 million) to Kosovo in the first 10 months of 2017, making it a major contributor to the functioning of the country, alongside international aid.
5. Some 95 percent of Kosovo Albanians are Muslims, but one of the Balkan region’s largest Roman Catholic cathedrals sits in the center of Pristina. Dedicated to Saint Mother Teresa, of ethnic Albanian heritage, the church is a symbol of gratitude to the West for supporting independence.
Five things to know about Kosovo as it celebrates 10 years of independence
Five things to know about Kosovo as it celebrates 10 years of independence
Record low homicide rates in London as mayor defends policies
LONDON: The number of homicides in London last year were the lowest since 2014, UK police data revealed Monday, at a time when mayor Sadiq Khan faces mounting criticism over criminality in the British capital.
There were 97 homicides in 2025, the lowest total since 2014, and London’s homicide rate per capita was the lowest since records began in 1997, according to the new figures.
“Many people have been trying to talk London down, but the evidence tells a very different story,” Khan said in a statement.
“It’s clear that our sustained focus on being both tough on crime and tough on the complex causes of crime is working,” he added.
Khan has faced fierce criticism from Conservative and far-right politicians in the UK, as well as international figures like X owner Elon Musk, who claim that criminality in London has increased.
Some of his critics pin the accusations on the mayor’s pro-immigration stance.
The Labour party politician, who became London’s first Muslim mayor in 2016 and regularly uses his platform to celebrate the capital’s diversity, has also faced rising Islamophobic attacks on social media.
“The statistics speak for themselves, London is a safe place to live, work and visit. Thanks to the work of our dedicated officers, violent crime has reduced, and homicides are at their lowest levels since 2014,” the Met police said in a press release.
Violent incidents resulting in injuries were down by a fifth since 2014, while National Health Service data showed that the number of people hospitalized after being stabbed in London fell by nearly 30 percent in the last five years.
The police also pointed out that London’s homicide rate per capita was the lowest on record despite a growing population, and claimed it was lower than other major cities like New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Berlin.
However, the latest release did not include data on other types of crime including thefts and sexual offenses.
Anti-immigration Reform UK last week said fighting crime in London would be a priority for the party going into key local elections in May and mayoral elections in 2028.
Its mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham last week said London “is no longer safe,” particularly for women.
Phone thefts also continue to plague the British capital, with the Met recording 117,211 stolen phones in 2024, up 25 percent from 91,481 in 2019.
