BUCHAREST (AP) - An outbreak of measles has infected over 2,500 people in Romania, killing eight of them, the health minister said yesterday. The ministry launched an investigation into why some children had not been vaccinated despite it being mandatory for children aged 1-7 to be immunized against measles, mumps and rubella. The outbreak appeared “because the vaccinations were not done on time, and there was no coordination in the immunization campaign,” according to Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania sacked two of its chief veterinarians yesterday after a television station showed junior vets throwing live birds into an open fire during a culling campaign to halt the spread of bird flu. Romania culled up to 17,000 birds on Sunday, quarantining a remote village to prevent bird flu from spreading westward toward more populated areas after avian flu was detected outside the Danube delta for the first time.

A district court in central Serbia upheld yesterday an earlier 15-year prison sentence against a home alcohol brewer who in 1998 sold brandy that is believed to have killed 43 people. The sentence against the brewer, Miroslav Zivadinovic, was earlier overturned following his lawyer’s appeal and Serbia’s Supreme Court ordered the retrial. (AP)

Romanian teachers’ unions announced yesterday they would end a three-week strike over demands for higher pay after their members voted to accept a government offer of limited pay raises and funds to upgrade schools. The government had made a final offer of an average 11.8 percent pay raise for teachers for next year, with the biggest hikes going to the lowest-earning teachers. In addition, over 1 billion euros (about $1.2 billion) will be allocated for school improvement. (AP)

Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek visited Montenegro yesterday as several hundred pro-Serb opposition supporters rallied in protest against his stance for independence for Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo. Drnovsek was greeted by Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic and was to talk later with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, both of whom are campaigners for Montenegro’s independence from Serbia. (AP)