THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Three former Yugoslav army officers let soldiers under their command carry out mass murder in the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991, prosecutors said at the start of their trial yesterday. Prosecutor Marks Moore said the men — known as the “Vukovar Three” — ignored orders from their superiors to ensure that soldiers carried out no acts of retribution and, as a result, were complicit in one of the worst atrocities of the Balkan wars.

SARAJEVO (AP) - The US government urged Bosnia’s authorities yesterday to adopt police reforms so the EU can start negotiating a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Bosnia by the end of the year. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns arrives in Sarajevo today and will address the issue with the local authorities. “We urge all parties to demonstrate their commitment to this reform through speedy approval of the draft agreement without changes,” a statement issued by the US Embassy in Sarajevo said.

Albania’s Foreign Minister Besnik Mustafaj said yesterday he will visit Greece to strengthen bilateral ties and try to secure Athens’s support in his country’s integration efforts into NATO and the EU. Mustafaj’s two-day visit to Athens, starting today, will include talks on Albania’s Greek minority and the large community of Albanian immigrant workers in Greece, which both countries say should serve as a bridge between the two countries. (AP)

Romania’s Education Minister Mircea Miclea resigned yesterday, saying the government had not allocated enough money for education in next year’s budget. Miclea said he had been promised a substantial increase in the education budget, but the government budget proposal for 2006 allocated the same amount as in 2005. (AP)

A man stopped by police in the capital of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on suspicion of arms possession threw a hand grenade at the officers, seriously injuring two policemen, authorities said yesterday. The unidentified assailant was also injured in Monday night’s blast but managed to escape, police said. The incident occurred in a predominantly ethnic Albanian part of Skopje. (AP)

Turkey has dispatched additional aid to help Pakistan cope with the aftermath of last weekend’s killer earthquake, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. He said a military plane left yesterday with 40 doctors, an ambulance, a jeep and medical equipment on board and a second plane is set to leave today with 13 tons of food, medicine, and thousands of blanket and tents. (AFP)