SARAJEVO – Ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Montenegro reject Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia and will try to block its recognition by their own countries, officials said on Monday.

DUBAI – Iraq is inching toward attracting the billions of dollars needed to revamp its oil sector but international oil companies are still not ready to commit the massive sums required.

Iraq currently produces only a fraction of its vast reserves, the third-largest in the world and among the cheapest to produce, and international oil firms have been positioning for years to gain access.