MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has met his deputy Sergei Storchak, charged with attempting to embezzle $43 million, for the first time since Storchak’s arrest, his ministry said on Friday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will offer Serbia a fast-track route to joining the bloc in a bid to soothe Balkan tensions over Kosovo’s push for independence, a summit draft showed on Friday.

GAZA (Reuters) – An explosion near a funeral procession in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday injured least 20 mourners, medical officials said.