BELGRADE (AP) – Serbia’s prime minister sought support yesterday from the United Nations’ new secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, against granting independence to Kosovo, the separatist province whose future is being discussed in international talks. Vojislav Kostunica sent a letter to Ban insisting that “the United Nations ensure inviolability of Serbia’s borders, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “It is simply unacceptable and impossible that Serbia’s borders be redrawn against its will,” Kostunica said in his letter.

PRISTINA (Reuters) – A prosecutor in Kosovo has charged the British former director of the UN-run province’s main airport with taking bribes for handing out jobs, the United Nations said yesterday. A UN statement said Ioan Woolett, who was employed by the European Union-run economic wing of the UN mission in Kosovo, was indicted by an international prosecutor on December 19, 2006. “He is accused of accepting bribes, through a local businessman acting as the intermediary, from Kosovar residents in exchange for employment,” the statement said.

Immigration brings few economic benefits to Britain, adding just 4 pence a week to people’s pockets, a campaign group said yesterday. Migrationwatch UK said the gains to British economic growth from recent inflows of cheap labor from Eastern Europe and elsewhere were almost outweighed by the proportionate rise in population from immigration. But the government and the Confederation of British Industry said immigration had brought real benefits to the economy. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU on January 1 has added to concerns over immigration. (Reuters)

A district court yesterday fined a Croatian-American millionaire 60,000 kuna (US$10,830) for slandering incumbent President Stipe Mesic during an election race in which both were candidates. Judge Andrea Grahovac ruled that Boris Miksic “had overstepped the line of accepted conduct,” during the 2004 election campaign, a court statement said. (AP)

Croatian mobile phone users sent a record 32.5 million text messages expressing New Year’s wishes, which is 41 percent more than in the same period last year, the main operators said yesterday. From 7 p.m. (1800 GMT) on New Year’s Eve until midnight on January 1, users of Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and Mobilkom Austria’s VIPnet sent 16.5 and 16 million text messages respectively, the two operators said. Croatia, with a population of some 4.4 million, has more than 3 million mobile phone users. (AFP)