United States

Albanian police said the four-month investigation was aided by exchanges of information between the office of the prosecutor for serious crimes and US law enforcement agencies.

“Fifteen suspects have been detained while an international warrant has been issued for another one,” the general directorate of police said.

Malik Obama, who runs a charity foundation, on Monday said it was time for the people of the Balkans to turn to one another and cooperate closely to ensure a better life.

In the presence of Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the Belgian company officially opened its new factory near the capital, Skopje, in its first big investment abroad.

The plant is in fact already operational, employing some 450 workers, and produced over 100 buses for the US market this year.

The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Ukraine has begun unification talks the rebel-controlled Luhansk region, its representatives claim.

US Vice-President Joe Biden is to visit Bucharest for talks with Romanian leaders on the volatile situation in Ukraine, among other matters.

President Traian Basescu on Monday said he had invited Biden to Romania, but declined to specify the timing of the visit.

ROME - Serbian female tennis player Bojana Jovanovski was ousted at the onset of the WTA Premier in Rome as she lost the Monday match to Sloane Stephens of the U.S., 2-1 (3-6, 6-3, 6-3).

In the second round of the tournament, Stephens will cross rackets with her compatriot Varvara Lepchenko who beat China's Peng Shuai with the convincing score of 6-1, 6-0.

All US warships that were previously deployed to the Black Sea have now left its basin, the Russian Navy's General Staff has announced.

The destroyer USS Taylor was reported by Interfax agency to be in the Mediterranean on Monday after its 21-day-long stay in the Black Sea allowed by the Montreux Convention setting a three-week time limit for foreign vessels.

By Rich Miller

Financial professionals are optimistic about the global economy, just not as fervent about it as they were at the start of the year. That’s the message from the latest Bloomberg Markets Global Investor Poll, which shows concern about risks ranging from the turmoil in Ukraine to the threat of deflation in Europe.

Romania has demanded that Russia clarify its position after a Russian deputy prime minister said he would return to Romanian airspace – to which he had been denied access - in a bomber plane.

Dmitry Rogozin was turned away when his plane tried to fly to Moscow from Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region.

MADRID - Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic and Canada's Daniel Nestor reached the Madrid Masters men's doubles finals, after beating Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.

The Serbian-Canadian duo took the first set after a break in the 12th game.