Eurasia

TEHRAN (FNA)- Azerbaijan has completely covered its electricity arrears owed to Iran.

Zagreb – Croatia has launched special courts, pledged improved witness protection and to rebuild the police force in an offensive against organised crime after last week’s murder of a journalist.

Sarajevo – Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity has launched preparations for a census after Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) and Croat lawmakers blocked the staging of a disputed nationwide census.

Skopje – Macedonia’s negotiators in the UN-sponsored “name” talks with Greece, are to hand Skopje’s remarks regarding the latest proposal for settling the row to the chief mediator.

Sarajevo – Bosnia’s top international envoy says the role of the international community should be adjusted and the Office of the High Representative should remain in Bosnia for now.

Pristina – The fact that UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari won the Nobel Peace Prize should encourage Kosovo to build a multi-ethnic society where the rule of law prevails, says the Belgian parliamentary speaker.

Podgorica – A doctor at Montenegro’s main clinical centre has announced the leader of the opposition Serbian List Andrija Mandic was released from hospital on Monday.

Sofia – A delegation from the European Parliament has been visiting a site near Bulgaria’s Rila Mountain national park, where activists claim illegal construction is damaging the environment.

Pristina – Kosovo Albanians have found their second home in Switzerland from where they have continued to help their homeland, Kosovo’s President said during a trip to the country.

WAM, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani rescuers pulled 160 bodies from the rubble of hundreds of mud-walled homes flattened by a powerful earthquake in the southwestern province of Baluchistan on Wednesday, government officials said.