Serbia-Montenegro will downsize its military by 9,300 people this year as part of its efforts to adjust to NATO standards, the defence ministry’s office of public relations said Sunday (29 May). A total of 1,400 professional soldiers and 5,300 civilians will be released in Serbia, while in Montenegro the number …

The decision by the Republika Srpska National Assembly (RSNA) to reject an EU-backed proposal to unify Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) police forces jeopardises the country’s future, top international envoy Paddy Ashdown said Tuesday (31 May). After 12 hours of debate, 62 lawmakers in the 83-seat RSNA voted against the police …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Sudan arrested a second aid worker from the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid agency on Tuesday over a report on hundreds of rapes in the troubled Darfur region, the agency said. Vince Hoedt, Darfur coordinator for MSF Holland, said he was under arrest and police were escorting …

DUBAI (AFP) — Iraq’s most wanted man Abu Musab Al Zarqawi has thumbed his nose at the Americans, in a message attributed to him on the Internet, and played up the threat of his alliance with Osama Ben Laden. Zarqawi said he was “lightly” wounded but still battling alongside his …

TRIPOLI (AFP) — Libya’s high court on Tuesday delayed a ruling on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in a case that has raised international concern. Judge Ali Al Allush said the case involving five Bulgarian nurses and …

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran announced Tuesday it had successfully tested a new solid fuel missile motor for its arsenal of medium-range ballistic missiles, a technological breakthrough that sparked fresh alarm in Israel. “It was a test of a motor and not a test of a missile,” a defence ministry official …

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari vowed Tuesday to beef up security in the war-weary country, as US President George W. Bush said Washington and its Iraqi allies were making progress against the insurgency. Meanwhile, four US troops, four Italians and one Iraqi soldier were killed in air …

PARIS (Reuters) — French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin became the first victim of a crisis over the European Union’s constitution on Tuesday as EU leaders braced for Dutch voters to follow France by rejecting the new charter. President Jacques Chirac accepted Raffarin’s resignation and appointed loyal ally Dominique de Villepin …

GAZA (Reuters) — Hamas said on Tuesday it would boycott a rerun of some Palestinian town elections in Gaza, stoking tension with President Mahmoud Abbas Fateh movement that could complicate his agenda for peace-making with Israel. A potential solution surfaced later, when a Fateh leader said it had agreed to …

Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish officials have voiced regret over France’s rejection of the EU constitution on Sunday (29 May). While insisting they do not expect the result to affect their countries’ EU bids, they called for stronger efforts towards meeting all membership requirements. Tariceanu A “no” vote would mean EU …