Thursday 18th September 2008 MEDIA HEADLINES IN ENGLISH

You’re listening to NEWS REPORT, a summary of today’s media, prepared by UNMIK ON AIR

Serbia challenge Kosovo’s legality at the UN,
Romania and US sign radiation agreement, and
925 million go hungry

KOSOVO
UN’s General Committee yesterday gave the green light to Serbia to present its arguments against the independence of Kosovo. Serbia will try to convince the General Assembly that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was illegitimate and that an advisory opinion must be sought from the International Court of Justice.

This green light in New York sparked reactions of Kosovo’s leaders in Pristina. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said “nobody should be surprised with Serbia’s initiatives against Kosovo…but Serbia’s efforts cannot impede Kosovo’s progress.”

A day before appearing before the Kosovo Assembly, Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni presented his case for setting up the ministry before Assembly Commission for Foreign Policy. Hyseni mainly listened to what others had to say about his or the Ministry’s work, adding that lobbying issues are just one of the tasks of the Ministry.

KFOR is ready to intervene in any case, if requested to do so by UNMIK or by Kosovo institutions, the Commander of KFOR said yesterday. Gen. Giuseppe Gay said that despite the fact that they are ready to act not only in the north but also throughout the rest of Kosovo, thus far they had not been requested to do so.

Seven months after it ceased operation, the court in Mitrovica north is ready to get back to work again at the start of next month. UNMIK spokesperson Alexander Ivanko said yesterday that international judges and prosecutors will initially start work for a temporary period.

In Montenegro, an Assembly session set for October 3, will debate a draft resolution to recognize Kosovo’s independence. The text of the document says that Montenegro is ready to respect the political reality which NATO and EU countries consider important for regional stability.

Serbia’s Minister for Kosovo opened yesterday the headquarters of the Kosovo Coordination Center in Gracanica. Goran Bogdanovic said the move is a call to Kosovo-Serbs and other non-Albanians that Serbia takes care of them. He added that this is a message that Serbia will never recognize Kosovo and give up the holy land.

UNMIK’s regional commander in Mitrovica David Mclean was suspended from his post last week. Kosovo Police confirmed that the action came as a result of an accident in which Mclean was involved on the main road from Mitrovica to Pristina in July.

REGIONAL
Romania has signed a deal with the United States to allow the installation of radiation-detection equipment to prevent nuclear proliferation. The agreement establishes a collaboration framework between the two countries to deter the trafficking of nuclear weapons materials.

The Greek government said yesterday it will shut down ailing state carrier Olympic Airlines. It will re-launch it under a new structure, ending years of failed efforts to find a buyer.

Eight central and south-east European countries plan to link their gas pipeline networks to import Azeri gas and diversify sources of supply away from Russia. The New Europe Transmission System would give south-eastern Europe access to Azeri gas via an existing Turkey-Greece pipeline as well as North Sea gas.

INTERNATIONAL
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed treaties with Georgia's South Ossetia and Abkhazia yesterday that commits Moscow to defend the breakaway regions from any Georgian attack. The treaties formalize military, diplomatic and economic co-operation between Moscow and the separatist regions.

Rising food prices are partly to blame for adding 75 million more people to the ranks of the world's hungry in 2007 and lifting the global figure to roughly 925 million, the U.N.'s food agency said yesterday. This distances the international community from reaching Millennium Development Goals that include halving hunger and poverty by 2015.

WEATHER
Today is expected to be partly cloudy with a high of 13 degrees and a low tonight of 2 degrees; tomorrow will be partly cloudy and temperatures ranging from a high of 14 to a low of 4 degrees Celsius.

And that’s all for today, thank you for listening.