SARAJEVO (AFP) – Up to 40 million euros will be invested in Srebrenica over the next three years to help the town recover from the 1995 genocide committed there, organizers of a development conference said yesterday. The conference, organized by the municipal authorities in Srebrenica on Tuesday with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), gathered 90 participants, including 17 international donor delegations and representatives of national authorities. Participants reviewed a set of priority projects for Srebrenica in the areas of infrastructure, social services and economic development jointly valued at some 21 million euros.

The conference secured confirmation and pledges for some 40 million euros from national authorities and international donors, including the governments of the Netherlands, Greece, Pakistan and Canada, UNDP representative Stefan Priesner said.

TIRANA (AP) – Parliament convened yesterday for a third round of voting to elect a new president, but failure to agree on candidates could force the country to early elections. Lawmakers have failed twice to elect a new president. Earlier in the week, Albania’s two main political parties submitted lists of potential candidates – but immediately rejected the other side’s proposals. If parliament fails to vote on a candidate during the third round, the constitution calls for dissolving the legislature and holding elections within 60 days.

A Croatian district court launched an investigation yesterday into four managers of the government’s agency in charge of selling formerly state-owned property, who are accused of fixing sales in exchange for hefty bribes. The four – three vice presidents of the Croatian Privatization Fund and its agent for real estate – were arrested in June after a longtime investigation by the state prosecutor’s office. The prosecution has charged the four with taking money for arranging deals to sell factories, hotels and land. They are charged with bribery, abusing official position and revealing business secrets. (AP)

The death toll from a suicide bombing in May in Ankara rose to 10, including the bomber, when one of the wounded died in hospital, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The latest victim, who perished late Tuesday, had been under treatment since the attack on May 22. The explosion ripped through a busy central commercial district in Ankara. (AFP)