PRISTINA (AP) – Two children were wounded in a mine blast while playing in a village in southern Kosovo, police said yesterday. The blast occurred close to the southern town of Prizren, 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Pristina, after a boy found the mine and put it in his pocket. It exploded later and injured him and a girl, the statement said. “The boy was sent to the main Pristina hospital because of his serious wounds. He underwent surgery and his life is still in danger, while the girl’s wounds are not life-threatening,” a press release said.

BUCHAREST (AFP) – Romanian Defense Minister Teodor Melescanu made a lightning trip to Iraq yesterday and said the withdrawal of Romanian forces from the country was one of his top priorities, officials said. Melescanu, who was named defense minister last week following a cabinet reshuffle, made an “informational visit to the Iraqi theater of operations,” along with several Romanian army officers, the Defense Ministry said. The minister handed out medals, Easter eggs and cakes as he met with members of the Romanian contingent stationed since early February in Tallil in southern Iraq.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) warned on Sunday of discrimination of Roma in Bosnia, urging local authorities to improve the group’s social status. The Roma, who are Bosnia’s largest minority, are “often denied their basic rights and discriminated against,” the OSCE said in a statement, issued on International Roma Day. The community, which mainly lives in poverty here, “encounters obstacles in access to healthcare, education, employment and adequate housing,” the statement added. (AFP)

A ritual oath taken by the players of Bulgarian second-division team Minyor Bobov Dol on the eve of Orthodox Easter has failed to have its desired effect. Coach Dimitar Sokolov, angered by rumors that his players had accepted money to lose a match, decided to revive a traditional ritual established by Bulgarian rebels during their fight for liberation from Ottoman rule in the 19th century. The players were made to swear under oath in front of the Bible, a pistol and a knife used in World War Two that they would try their utmost to win the match. Minyor, however, were far from impressive on the pitch in a 2-1 defeat by Velbuzhd. (Reuters)