Skopje – The United States will continue to support the UN’s efforts to reach a settlement between Macedonia and Greece on the `name’ row, the US State Department reiterated on Thursday.

Belgrade _ The Serbian government wants to delay the sale of its Naftna Industrija Srbije, NIS, oil industry to Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom until the end of 2009, amid uncertainties over how the buyer plans to provide the €500 million in the overhaul of the company, Belgrade-based Politika daily …

Pristina – Albania hopes Malaysia will soon recognise Kosovo’s independence, contributing to preserving peace and stability in the region, media in Kuala Lumpur report.

GAZA, Oct 31 – A Palestinian policeman was killed while three others were injured last night due to an explosion near a police headquarters in the Gaza Strip, a local radio reported on Friday.

Egypt is planning to host a meeting of the Middle East peace Quartet on November 9, the same day Palestinian groups begin reconciliation talks in Cairo, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 – Kuwait late Thursday reaffirmed its continued financial support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), whether through its annual contribution of USD 1.5 million to its budget or through financing projects undertaken by other UN agencies, out …

HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) – Masked Jewish settlers threw stones at Palestinian photographers Friday near the West Bank city of Hebron, injuring one, Reuters television footage showed.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Relations between Bosnia’s Serb and Muslim-Croat halves are more poisoned today than at any time since the 1992-95 war, according to the architect of the Bosnian peace accords, who also regretted a flaw in the deal he crafted.

MINSK (Reuters) – The Supreme Court in Belarus on Friday upheld a three-year sentence on a U.S. lawyer convicted of industrial espionage, one of several irritants in Washington’s relations with the ex-Soviet state.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed nine people on Friday in an attack on police in the northwestern Pakistani town of Mardan.