France and its African allies want a heavily-armed force able to counter any resurgent Islamist threat in Mali as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, diplomats said. The United Nations is considering setting up a 10,000-strong force in the former French colony

A joint session of the old and new cabinet will be held today in Banja Luka and a new government of the Republic of Srpska (RS) will take office. The RS Assembly elected late Tuesday the new government led by Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović.

European Parliament (EP) President Martin Schultz believes the EU should set a date for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations for Serbia. He stressed that the EP’s Foreign Affairs Committee would say in a draft resolution that Serbia had make a great effort.