Belgrade  - Where until recently people quietly leafed through books in the heart of Belgrade or met to discuss literary works, today they read newspapers while drinking franchise coffee or eyeing designer clothes.

The government plan to privatize one of the older Serbian publishing houses, the Prosveta, stirred book lovers into a state of alarm amid concern that the city's oldest bookstore, which it owns, may be converted into another brand-name store.

Belgrade - Several people were injured and arrested during clashes on Sunday between Serbian veterans and the police, Belgrade media reported.

Belgrade - Pressed by the global crisis and falling demand, the American giant US Steel would within "consolidation plans" suspend production in Serbia for at least three months in order to save money, a spokesman said Friday.

US Steel Serbia, launched with the purchase of a bankrupted Serbian mill in 2003, already turned off one blast furnace and was set to shut down the other, spokesman Nemanja Brkovic told the Serbian television RTS.

Belgrade  - As Serbs and Albanians continue their tug-of-war over Kosovo, almost a year since the breakaway province declared independence, the European Union seems destined to watch the game instead of decisively joining in.

Following an encouraging wink from the West, Pristina announced secession from Serbia on February 17, almost eight years after a United Nations administration arrived in Kosovo to take over governance from Serbian authorities, who had been ousted by NATO.

But while the United States immediately recognized the new country, an EU consensus on how to treat Pristina and Belgrade remained elusive. In the end, individual members were left to make their own decision, with some nations choosing recognition and some choosing against.

Belgrade - Serbia, its stability already under much pressure, faces ad hoc financing as the deadline for the 2009 budget expired Tuesday amid endless obstruction by the opposition.

Parliament had until midnight on December 15 to adopt the budget for the coming year, but could not wade through filibustering by the ultra-nationalist opposition.

Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic was quoted as saying that the government was "ready" to begin ad hoc financing, but also that the restrictive budget may yet be put in place in time.

Belgrade - Serbian police Friday launched a second raid in a week in the so far futile search for war crime fugitives, the private Beta news agency said.

Police were checking several locations in Arandjelovac, a town 50 kilometres south of Belgrade, Beta said, quoting the Serbian war crimes prosecutor's office.

A week ago, commandos raided the Belgrade home of the top war crime suspect Ratko Mladic's son, after storming a factory in western Serbia last month.

The arrest of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime military chief, is a crucial condition for Serbia's closer ties with the European Union.