Europe

(Reuters) – Russia called on the United States on Tuesday to press the Syrian opposition to hold direct talks with Damascus, saying President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents must appoint negotiators. 

France has called for peace talks to be held between Mali's government and "legitimate representatives" from rebel groups in the north of the country, after French troops took control of the city of Kidal, the last settlement held by al-Qaeda-linked rebel fighters.

Western powers overseeing Kosovo have announced the end of their supervision of the tiny Balkan nation.  Kosovo had been overseen by a group made up of 23 EU countries, the US and Turkey since 2008, when it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.

Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations will visit Serbia as a part of his 'Balkan journey'. The main purpose of his visit is to discuss the issue of Kosovo independence with the new president Tomislav Nikolić. But experts are convinced that they will not manage to find common ground.

French president François Hollande will move to avoid an international row over his controversial election pledge to withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year when he meets Barack Obama at the White House on Friday, according to western officials.

Foreign Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia have blamed each other’s country for the tense ethnic relations in Kosovo.

Vandalism, threats and attacks against facilities of the Serbian Orthodox Church are on the rise, which could narrow the room for the Belgrade-Priština dialogue in the months to come, he said.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says that ethnic Serbs in Kosovo are eligible to cast their ballots in the Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections this weekend.

Pristina - NATO began reinforcing its peacekeeping force in Kosovo on Wednesday, faced with the threat of unrest over Serbian plans to conduct elections in its Balkan neighbour four years after it broke away.  The first 250 German soldiers of a 700-strong reinforcement flew into Pristina airport, with the rest due to arrive by Monday before the vote on May 6.

Thaci informed Ban about the latest tensions in Kosovska Mitrovica and the technical dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, Thaci's office said in a release.  During the meeting on Tuesday, the Kosovo PM thanked the UN and the secretary general personally on the UN's refusal to organize Serbian elections in Kosovo, says the release.