Belgrade, Dec 29 - Bosnia's 1992-95 war could have been avoided, says wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

He Monday blamed Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic and foreign powers for triggering the conflict that killed at least 100,000 people.

In an interview with Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti, the first given to Serbian media in 13 years, Karadzic said the war was provoked by the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and by Izetbegovic's insistence on secession against the will of the second biggest group, the Serbs.

Belgrade, Dec 8 : A Belgrade court ordered Serbian President Boris Tadic to pay a fine of 40,000 dinars ($617) for drinking champagne at a stadium after Serbia qualified for the World Cup in October, local media reported Thursday.

Tadic, along with the sports minister and a Belgrade city hall official, appeared last week in court where they faced misdemeanour charges for drinking alcohol at a sports stadium.

According to Serbian so-called anti-hooligan law, aimed at suppressing violence at sports events, the sale or consumption of alcohol at sports stadiums during and after a match is illegal.

Belgrade, Nov 26 : Serbia is looking forward to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa mixing hope that it finally has a "real team" with fear of another huge disappointment.

Serbia qualified directly and surefooted for the tournament, but it did the same four years ago, then as Serbia-Montenegro, only to be cast out after the opening stage with three humiliating defeats.

Belgrade  - The first Serbian animated movie, Edit i ja (Edith and Me), became an instant hit last month among local fans of comic books and science fiction, drawing in filmgoers with futuristic images of Belgrade and the city's unique slang and humour.

The movie, directed by Aleksa Gajic, was inspired by his comic book Technotise.

Belgrade  - Serbian lawyers said Monday they were going on a three-day strike to protest tighter financial oversight ordered by the government.

The head of Serbia's attorney bar, Dragoljub Djordjevic, told radio B92 all 7,000 lawyers in the country will join the stoppage and effectively block the justice system by refusing to perform any procedural activity until Thursday.

Belgrade - Well-known Serbian film-maker Emir Kusturica caused a mini scandal this week when he threw out a Croatian television crew and confiscated their footage after being offended by their questions, Belgrade dailies reported Friday.

"This is typical robbery and theft," said Croatian journalist Aleksandar Stankovic.

Stankovic asked Kusturica, a two time Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, about his ties with late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, which enraged the director.

Belgrade - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will unfreeze funds from a 4-billion-dollar standby loan to Serbia, which in return must curb spending and reform its social care system, officials said Wednesday in Belgrade.

The head of the IMF mission, Albert Jaeger, said the agreed economic policy framework was "balanced," warning Serbia that it must now implement the reforms.

Belgrade  - For the Jovanovic family, the Belgrade Book Fair, which opens Monday, is an annual family gathering - "food for the soul" they call it.

"The first time I went to the fair I was a student. I can still remember the smell of the new books and the atmosphere and the thrill of being surrounded with so many book lovers," Srecko Jovanovic, a retired pilot from Belgrade told the German Press Agency dpa.

Belgrade - An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission on Thursday began reviewing Serbia's economic policies, with two tranches of a 4-billion-dollar standby loan hinging on its verdict.

The IMF and Serbia agreed to the two-year loan in March. The first 1-billion-dollar tranche was disbursed in May, in accordance with the planned schedule.

But the second instalment was halted in September when Serbia failed to persuade the IMF that it would keep its 2010 budget deficit below 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product.

Belgrade - Serbian health officials reported the country's first death from swine flu after a 46-year old woman succumbed to the illness.

The woman, suffering from respiratory problems, arrived in critical condition at a hospital in Kragujevac, central Serbia, on October 5. The woman was placed in intensive care and on a respirator.

Her condition, complicated by pneumonia, deteriorated, and she died Wednesday afternoon, doctors at the hospital told local media.

Belgrade  - Belgrade police launched legal proceedings against Serbian President Boris Tadic because he violated an anti-hooligan law by cracking open a bottle of sparkling wine at a stadium, local reports said Friday.

Tadic opened the sparkling wine Saturday on the VIP balcony of the Red Star Belgrade stadium to celebrate the 5-0 win over Romania and Serbia's direct qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Belgrade  - Serbian and US security forces seized 2.8 tons of cocaine destined for the European market on two ships in the Atlantic Ocean, Belgrade daily Blic reported Friday.

A number of people were arrested on the ships and in Serbia, and many were Serbian citizens who organized the entire deal, the daily quoted an unnamed source as saying.

Belgrade - Serbia, whose path to European Union (EU) membership is being blocked by its inability to bring war criminals to justice, voiced "strong satisfaction" with the European Commission's enlargement report that urges closer trade ties with the Balkan country.

"Serbia made clear progress towards achieving its central strategic priority, the membership of the EU," Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said. "Serbia's will to join EU is not questioned anymore."

Belgrade - An unusually early cold wave hit the Balkans, with heavy snowfall in Bosnia and a sharp drop in temperatures in Serbia and Macedonia, local media reported Tuesday.

Heavy snowfall during the night knocked out power lines in Sarajevo and eastern Bosnia, leaving thousands of households without electricity and roads blocked by fallen trees. The snow, which came early this year, reached a depth of some 25 centimetres.

Belgrade  - Serbian President Boris Tadic congratulated US President Barack Obama Saturday on getting the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he hopes it will "be a guarantee of future politics of peace."

"The world needs dialogue and compromise instead of the politics of forced solutions," Tadic said in a short statement. (dpa)

Belgrade  - International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts, due in Belgrade in October to review Serbia's compliance with terms of a standby loan, will want concrete measures instead of "promises" to unblock the 4-billion-dollar credit, central bank Governor Radovan Jelasic said in an interview released Thursday.

Belgrade - The death of French football fan Brice Taton dominated the front pages of all Belgrade dailies Wednesday, with headlines such as "Serbia cries over Frenchman" and reports of public shock and disbelief.

The daily Blic, under the headline "Shock and sorrow in Serbia over the death of Frenchmen," reported that "the public is demanding that the state finally deal with hooligans and show that it is capable of providing safety to all those living in Serbia."

Belgrade - A Serbian court on Monday sentenced former Bosnian security officer Ilija Jurisic to 12 years in prison for ordering an attack on a Yugoslav army convoy in 1992 in which at least 50 soldiers were killed.

Jurisic's lawyers called the court's decision "scandalous" and said they plan to appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court, Serbian media reported.

Belgrade (Serbia), Sep 25 : A Serbian court has upheld a ruling that sentenced Damir Dokic, father of Serbian-Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic, to 15 months in jail over threats to Australia''s ambassador to Serbia and possession of illegal weapons.

He had earlier appealed against his conviction and sentence that was given by the same court in June, where he argued that he had not been given a fair trial in the court.

Belgrade - The Serbian official in charge of pursuing alleged war criminals said he would resign at the end of the year if Belgrade fails to arrest the fugitive Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, wanted for a genocide trial, the daily Blic reported Thursday.

"In that case, it would have been my false presumption, for which I would have to bear consequences," Rasim Ljajic, the coordinator of the team tasked with capturing Mladic, said.