BRUSSELS (AP) – A senior Serbian official acknowledged yesterday that authorities in Belgrade had in the past obstructed cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, but said they are now fully committed to arresting all indictees. “They have reason to be suspicious because in the past there were examples when authorities claimed they did not have documents (regarding the suspects) requested by The Hague,” said Rasim Ljajic, Serbia’s minister of cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. “We later found those documents and eventually handed them over.”

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey will go ahead with a referendum on whether or not to elect presidents by popular vote and other issues, despite last-minute changes to the text on the ballot, voting officials ruled yesterday. Voters are widely expected to back constitutional changes in Sunday’s referendum that envisage Turkey’s future presidents being elected directly by the people, not by parliament as at present. Parliament agreed on Tuesday to scrap an article that specifies Turkey’s 11th president would be elected directly by voters.

An Albanian man shot his wife in the head at an Italian court during a separation hearing yesterday and killed her brother before police gunned him down. Police said the woman, who is also Albanian, was in critical condition. She earlier had been reported as dead. The couple were attending a separation hearing in the northern city of Reggio Emilia. Their two daughters were also present. (AFP)

Tens of thousands of mourners paid tribute Wednesday to Slav-Macedonian pop star Tose Proeski, a chart-topping Balkan singer who was laid to rest here a day after dying in a car crash. Seen at home as a national ambassador for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) who was gifted with an “angelic” voice, Proeski was buried with full state honors at his birthplace in the town of Krusevo. Proeski was killed when the car in which he was travelling slammed into a truck on a highway in eastern Croatia on Tuesday. He was 26 years old. (AFP)

Two Spanish members of the NATO-led mission in Kosovo were killed when their vehicle overturned and crashed into a petrol station, Spain’s Defense Ministry said yesterday. The cause of the incident late Tuesday had “yet to be determined,” the ministry said in a statement. (AFP)