BELGRADE (AP) - Landslides in central Serbia, brought on by heavy rains and melting snow in recent weeks, have caused damages of 41.31 million euros, a government minister said yesterday. Investment Minister Velimir Ilic said that more than 1,000 landslides have destroyed hundreds of houses, dozens of roads and thousands of acres of arable land, threatening entire villages and leaving hundreds of people homeless. Experts have said that the landslides were caused by the spring meltoff which led to the swelling of rivers and underground waters. Ilic said the government was preparing for another possible wave of flooding by the rising Danube, particularly in the north of the republic.

TIRANA (AP) - The United States and Albania signed a 11.48-million-euro aid agreement yesterday to help the tiny Balkan country tackle corruption and improve its business environment. The two-year assistance pact was signed by the chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Ambassador John Danilovich, and Albanian Finance Minister Ridvan Bode to support Tirana’s reforms to fight corruption in tax administration, public procurement and business registration.

A wall at one of Istanbul’s glitziest nightclubs collapsed onto a nearby house early yesterday, killing a mother, father and their 6-year-old child in their sleep, CNN-Turk reported. The collapse at Reina, an enormous club and restaurant complex on the Bosporus coast, occurred when an older wall was toppled by the pressure of a new wall being constructed behind it, firefighters said. Four construction workers were taken into police custody after the wall’s collapse, CNN-Turk said. (AP)