ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Reforms to a controversial Turkish law used to prosecute writers and journalists will be debated in parliament soon, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code makes it a crime to insult Turkishness, and the European Union, which Turkey wants to join, has criticized its use in trials of writers including Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk. “I will listen to the thoughts and opinions of my colleagues,” Erdogan told reporters.

SARAJEVO (AP) – Another round of talks between Bosnia’s leaders failed late Tuesday night to produce an agreement over a police reform. The continuing disagreement is preventing the country from taking the next step on its path toward EU membership. Representatives of 11 parties could not find a compromise between a EU proposal on how to organize Bosnia’s police force and the wishes of the Bosnian Serbs.

Croatia’s Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has disclosed that he owns valuables worth 1.5 million kuna (–200,000 euros; $270,000), a commission official said yesterday. A parliamentary anti-corruption commission asked Sanader to provide a list of his valuables after the local media reported in January that he owns a large collection of expensive watches that he failed to declare when taking office in 2003. Responding to the commission’s request, Sanader added a line in the form listing his assets, saying he owns valuables – “including watches” – worth 1.5 million kuna. (AP)

The Romanian government will set up a panel to examine the slavery of Gypsies in the past, a statement said Tuesday. The panel will also make recommendations to promote Gypsy, or Roma, history and culture in schools, the government said. The decision comes as the country marks 151 years since slavery was abolished in Romania. Officially, Romania’s current Roma population numbers about 500,000, but polls have put the actual figure at more than 1 million. (AP)

The Bulgarian parliament approved yesterday a plan to extend by a year the mission of its troops in Iraq. NATO member Bulgaria will send up to 155 troops to Iraq to replace the 120 troops and 35 support personnel operating there at present. The new troops will leave Bulgaria in March and their mission will continue until March 2008. (Reuters)