The Hague - The war crimes trial of Serb General Momcilo Perisic has been postponed, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said Wednesday, shortly before proceedings

The Hague  - Fewer charges are to be brought against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, according to the amended indictment released Tuesday by the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

The Hague-based court reduced the number of municipalities where Karadzic was allegedly responsible for war crimes from 41 to 27 - a move expected to speed up the trial. However, the court has yet to approve the altered indictment.

Karadzic faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He was arrested in Serbia in July after being on the run for more than 12 years.

The Hague - What colour hat will Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands wear when she presents the government's budget to both houses of parliament on Tuesday?

That, rather than government policies, was the question preoccupying most Dutch on the eve of Prinsjesdag - Prince's Day - the day that government is to make known its plans.

Ever since 1848, successive Dutch governments have presented their budget proposals on the third Tuesday in September at 1 pm sharp.

The Hague - Threats posed by global warming to large parts of the Dutch coastline and river plains are more serious than estimated and countermeasures requiring billions of euros are needed, an expert group warned Wednesday.

The findings were contained in a long-term study by the Delta Commission set up by the Dutch government under the leadership of Cees Veerman, a former agriculture minister.

Sea levels are rising even quicker than feared, Veerman said when he handed over the study to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

The Hague - The former vice-admiral of the Yugoslav Navy responsible for the shelling of the historic city of Dubrovnik has been released after serving most of his sentence for war crimes, the UN war crimes tribunal said Tuesday.

Court president of the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Fausto Pocar, announced in The Hague on Tuesday that Miodrag Jokic, 72, had on July 24 served two-thirds of his seven-year sentence for the destruction of Dubrovink and was being released in consideration of good conduct.