ANKARA (AFP) - A Turkish court has blocked a circular restricting alcohol sales that sparked accusations that the government is seeking to reinforce the role of Islam in this strictly secular Muslim country, Anatolia news agency reported Saturday. The country’s top administrative court ordered the suspension of the circular pending a final ruling in the case, following a petition by the Ankara Bar Association in December. The circular entitles local administrations, many of them in the hands of the Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to designate “red” districts for bars and restaurants serving wines and spirits.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Commission plans to recommend in a May report that Bulgaria and Romania be admitted to the European Union on January 1, 2007, though both will be urged to pursue further reforms, a newspaper reported yesterday. The German daily Die Welt said in a preview of an article to appear today that high-ranking Commission sources said this would be the Commission’s recommendation in a formal assessment to be issued in May. However, the EU’s executive body will demand further reforms from the two eastern European countries, otherwise they could face a cut in EU financial aid, the report said.

An explosive placed in a car Saturday in a southwestern Albanian city killed a bystander and injured four children playing nearby, police said. The explosive device detonated Saturday morning, destroying a Mercedes car in a parking lot near downtown apartments in Vlora, a port city about 140 kilometers (87 miles) southwest of capital, Tirana. A man identified as Astrit Elmazi, 35, was killed in the blast, which also injured four children aged 13-15 who were playing nearby, police spokesman Enkeled Selmani said. (AP)

Official symbols adopted by Bosnia’s main ethnic groups are to be abolished following a ruling by the former Yugoslav republic’s top court. The symbols introduced after the 1992-95 Bosnian war in the country’s two semi-autonomous regions were discriminatory because each ethnic group should enjoy equality in all areas of the country, according to a decision by the Constitutional Court published late on Friday. (Reuters)