Three Injured as Clashes Continue in Albania

 Albania’s Health Ministry confirmed that three people were hospitalized following renewed clashes between protesters and police in Tirana on Sunday.

EU countries agree to open second, third negotiation clusters for Ukraine, Moldova and close chapter 20 for Albania

 Minister for European Affairs and Defense of Ireland Thomas Byrne, which currently holds the EU Council presidency, announced that all European Union member states have agreed to open two negotiation clusters regarding Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

Evacuations as floods hit Greece, Albania, Turkey

 Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes after flash floods caused by heavy rains hit northwestern Greece, southern Albania and northwest of Turkey...

About 1,500 people had to be evacuated from their villages to safer zones after torrential rains hit the northwest Turkish province of Edirne on the border with Greece, causing the Tunca and Meric riverbeds to overflow, officials said Monday.

Four villages and several isolated farmhouses close to the city of Arta in Greece were also evacuated after heavy rains swept across the northwestern province of Epirus.

The historic Plaka Bridge near Arta also collapsed after at least four rivers in the region burst their banks, three of them near Arta and another closer to Greece's border with Albania.
[www.aa.com.tr]
2/2/15
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• Flash floods hit Greece and Albania

Flash floods hit Greece and Albania

A winter storm has brought flooding to parts of Greece and southern Albania.

No fatalities have been reported in either country, but considerable disruption has been caused by a combination of torrential rain and strong winds.

Rain began falling in Greece’s northwestern province of Epirus on Saturday, prompting the authorities to evacuate people from four villages near the city of Arta.

By Sunday, four rivers in the area had overflowed.

One high-profile casualty of the flooding was the Plaka Bridge, the largest arch bridge in the Balkans. The bridge, which spans the Arachthos River, was built by Konstantinos Bekas in 1866. It is reported that the whole of the central section of the bridge was washed away.

In southern Albania, scores of families and their livestock were moved from homes and farms in Vlore, Fier, Berat and Gjirokaster, south of the capital, Tirana.

In Gjirokaster, 220mm of rain fell between Saturday and Monday, more than would normally be expected in the whole of February.

In coming days, further troughs of low pressure moving through the Mediterranean could bring another 100mm to 150mm of rain to coastal areas of southern Albania and northwestern Greece.
Source: Al Jazeera
2/2/15
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