NICOSIA (Reuters) – More than 1 million migratory birds were illegally trapped and killed over the past year to feed an illicit Cypriot taste for such delicacies, a conservationist group said yesterday. According to a field survey by Birdlife Cyprus carried out between March 2007 and February 2008, an estimated 1.1 million birds were indiscriminately killed with the use of mist nets and lime-sticks. These methods are used to catch black caps and song thrushes, much-sought-after delicacies on Cyprus that fetch 5 euros (more than $7) a bird at restaurants, making the illegal trade a lucrative one. “Cyprus is most probably the worst in Europe for killing migratory birds. They are in the premier league for offenders,” Birdlife Director Martin Helicar told AFP. “If there isn’t the political will to clamp down on the restaurants, then Cyprus will return to the bad old days of the 1990s when up to 10 million birds were killed,” he added.

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday made a fresh call for talks between Serbia and Kosovo, saying Kosovo’s declaration of independence had not brought peace to the region. “The unilateral declaration of independence of this Serbian territory has not led to stability and we call for the resumption of talks between Belgrade and Pristina,” Lavrov said after meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Markos Kyprianou. Noting Cyprus’s opposition to Kosovo independence, Kyprianou said Kosovo’s decision “should have been taken within the framework of the United Nations and with the direct participation of Serbia.” Russia has led international opposition to Kosovo’s independence declaration in February, which has been recognized by many Western countries.

Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors indicted two former farm ministers yesterday on charges of abuse of power, after months of foot-dragging due to political bickering. Prosecutors said former Farms Minister Decebal Traian Remes received food products worth 1,500 lei ($644) and the sum of 15,000 euros ($23,710) from a local businessman in exchange for favoring his son’s firm in two public tenders. They also indicted another ex-farm minister, Ioan Muresan, as an accomplice, saying he acted as an intermediary for the transfer of goods to Remes from businessman Gheorghe Ciorba. The businessman has been charged with bribery. (Reuters)

Three members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed in clashes with Turkish troops in eastern Turkey, while a soldier was killed by a mine near the Iraqi border, army sources said. The PKK guerrillas were killed in the eastern province of Tunceli late on Sunday and an operation against the rebels continued yesterday. Also late on Sunday, the sources said a Turkish soldier was killed when he stepped on a mine in Hakkari province, in the far southeast corner of Turkey, bordering on Iraq. (Reuters)

The smallest ex-Soviet republic is doubling the size of its peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo, Europe’s newest state. Armenia sent a company of 70 troops to Kosovo yesterday. They will replace the 34-person Armenian platoon now serving there. (AP)

Police say they have recovered $2.2 million (1.4 million euros) stolen from a bank in central Serbia, apparently by an employee. Investigators say the money was found yesterday buried in several locations near the central town of Kragujevac. The robbery took place Saturday. Police have arrested a 29-year-old bank cashier. They say he walked out of the bank with the money after leaving a note apologizing for the theft. (AP)

Saban Bajramovic, a crooner celebrated as the “king of Gypsy music” in the Balkans, has died at the age of 72, the Serb newspaper Politika reported yesterday. Bajramovic, who had been forced to stop performing several weeks ago due to serious health problems, suffered a fatal heart attack and died at a hospital on Sunday in his southern Serbian hometown of Nis. Bajramovic’s death was described as “an enormous loss to the national culture” of Serbia by Culture Minister Vojislav Brajovic in a message of condolence issued to his family. (AFP)