Talks Aim at Kosovo Breakthrough

New talks are to take place in Brussels to try to break the deadlock over the future of the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo. International mediators will again try to achieve agreement between Kosovo Albanian and Serbian officials. Ethnic Albanians, backed by the US and most of the EU want full independence but Serbia, supported by Russia, is offering broad autonomy. The UN has set a deadline of December 10 for resolution. The UN has administered Kosovo since a Nato bombing campaign forced out Serbian troops in l999.

US Rejects Russian Missile Call

Talks between the US and Russia about the US anti-missile system in Europe have ended without any sign of progress. At the talks in Moscow the US rejected Russian appeals to halt the scheme. The Russian Foreign Minister said his country would take steps to neutralize the threat posed by the missile system if it went ahead. He said it was based on a false assumption, that there was a nuclear threat from Iran. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the shield system was not directed at Russia.