Balkans

In this undated photo, trumpet player Will Magid performs at the Showbox Sodo venue in Seattle, Washington.

‘Osmanity': Ottoman Empire's founder inspires a new album

Trumpet player and ethnomusicologist Will Magid is the creative force behind the musical project Balkan Bump. He has a new album out Oct. 23 called "Osmanity."

‘Osmanity': Ottoman Empire's founder inspires a new album
Four men stand outside in a valley near a river bed

Small hydropower plants threaten Montenegro's last free-flowing rivers in a bid for cleaner energy

Small hydropower plants threaten Montenegro's last free-flowing rivers in a bid for cleaner energy
Protesters carry a hand-painted sign.

Thousands in Serbia continue to march in nationwide, anti-government protests

Thousands in Serbia continue to march in nationwide, anti-government protests
A Kosovo police officer crosses the bridge that connects north and south Mitrovica. The Ibar River serves as a natural divider in Mitrovica, where Serbs live on the northern side of the river and Albanians on the southern side.

There is one place where Serbs and Albanians coexist in Kosovo — in the country's version of Costco

There is one place where Serbs and Albanians coexist in Kosovo — in the country's version of Costco
A woman writes in a book inside a traveling monument called 'Prijedor 92' outside the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY

What does justice in the former Yugoslavia look like 25 years later?

What does justice in the former Yugoslavia look like 25 years later?
Jetmir Gjini used to grow marijuana -- lots of it. Now he and his family are back to herding sheep.

In Europe’s former pot capital, now the only grass is for sheep

The village of Lazarat, Albania, used to be notorious for its lucrative, but illegal marijuana business. Now that the government has cracked down on it, villagers struggle to make a living.

In Europe’s former pot capital, now the only grass is for sheep
DNA testing in The Hague

Cutting-edge DNA labs help identify people missing in conflicts and disasters

New technology, donated by the Dutch holding company Qiagen, enables scientists to better extract DNA from "even challenging bone samples. Ones that are decades old."

Cutting-edge DNA labs help identify people missing in conflicts and disasters
The team behind "Kosovo if Trump Wins" (from left) Fitim Krasniqi, Argjend Haxhiu and Kushtrim Krasniqi. All three are devout Muslims. They are also pro-American like most people in Kosovo.

These Kosovo website creators treated Trump as a joke. Then he won.

The young Muslims behind the website “Kosovo if Trump Wins” hope a President Trump won’t weaken ties with their staunchly pro-American country, even if his campaign rhetoric suggests otherwise.

These Kosovo website creators treated Trump as a joke. Then he won.
Refugees and migrants try to warm themselves as they take a break at a gas station before abandoning their trek to the Hungarian border, in the town of Indjija, Serbia on Oct. 5.

Refugees are still squeezing through Europe's clamped borders

Despite reports of closed borders in Europe, some refugees are still managing to find their way in — at a cost.

Refugees are still squeezing through Europe's clamped borders
Radovan Karadzic

20 years later, a genocide conviction for architect of the war in Bosnia

He was trained as a psychiatrist, fancied himself a poet and was known for his flamboyant head of hair. Today he was convicted of genocide and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

20 years later, a genocide conviction for architect of the war in Bosnia
A migrant sits on her bags while waiting for a train in Presevo, Serbia.

No bathrooms. No heat. Aboard the decrepit refugee 'cattle cars.'

A bakery owner from Massachusetts used her vacation days to volunteer in a refugee transit camp. She slipped aboard one of the decrepit trains that take refugees from Macedonia to Serbia and this is what she saw.

No bathrooms. No heat. Aboard the decrepit refugee 'cattle cars.'
Refugees on a private bus in Serbia en route to the border with Croatia.

Some Serbians are doing a brisk business in private bus trips for refugees

If you're a refugee trying to make it across Serbia, you can't take the train. So some enterprising Serbians are selling rides on private buses chartered for the seven-hour trip to Croatia.

Some Serbians are doing a brisk business in private bus trips for refugees
Vitomir Spiric in his home in Phoenix.

A Bosnian Serb in Phoenix says he's been labeled a war criminal without ever being tried or convicted

Twenty years after the massacre at Srebrenica, the US aims to deport Bosnian immigrants suspected of involvement. But one Bosnian Serb facing deportation says he's been unfairly labeled a war criminal.

A Bosnian Serb in Phoenix says he's been labeled a war criminal without ever being tried or convicted
A group of Serbian-speaking men have a leisurely lunch at the Q2 Café in Phoenix. The café, run by a Bosnian Serb refugee, aims to attract patrons from all parts of the former Yugoslavia.

Brutal enemies 20 years ago, they're learning to get along. In Phoenix.

It's been 20 years since the Bosnian War, but some of the ethnic tensions that fueled that conflict live on among Bosnian refugees in Phoenix, Arizona.

Brutal enemies 20 years ago, they're learning to get along. In Phoenix.
The temporary monument "Pillar of Shame" in Berlin commemorated the 1995 mass murder in Srebrenica.

Serbia is finally seeking those responsible for the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica

Serbian officials have arrested eight men suspected of having participated in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The killings took place in an area that the UN had declared a "safe zone."

Serbia is finally seeking those responsible for the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica