LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – Current European Union president Slovenia became the first former Yugoslav republic to recognize Kosovo’s independence from Serbia on Wednesday.

ARBIL, Iraq – Turkish warplanes bombed villages in remote northern Iraq on Tuesday, a week after a major eight-day offensive by Turkish forces against Kurdish PKK guerrillas in the region, border officials said on Wednesday.

BAKU – Azerbaijan accused neighbor Armenia on Wednesday of stoking unrest in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, following shooting there in which Azerbaijan said 16 soldiers had been killed.