Belgrade

In a final ruling that was made public on Monday, Belgrade Appeals Court cleared Milorad 'Legija' Ulemek and six other former members of the Special Operations Unit, JSO of involvement in a rebellion in November 2001 against the Serbian government led by Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Heavy rain in Belgrade in the last few days has left many streets in the city under water. Many pavements, driveways and parking lots are submerged and in some places water has entered buildings.

On Sunday evening even the main highway was under water. Mayor Zoran Radojicic blamed this on malfunctions in two pumping stations. Due to the floods, traffic in Belgrade remains difficult.

The Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre on Friday criticised the Serbian war crimes prosecutors for not indicting Dusan Loncar, commander of the Second Guards Brigade of the Yugoslav People's Army, or any senior Yugoslav officer for the killings of Croatian civilians in Lovas in 1991.

Refugees, NGO workers and local residents gathered at Ada Ciganlija Lake in Belgrade on Thursday to celebrate World Refugee Day at an event organized by Info Park, a Belgrade-based NGO.

Lawyer Wayne Jordash told the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals as the trial resumed on Tuesday that the defence will call witnesses who will confirm that Jovica Stanisic, the former chief of the Serbian state security service, was not in command of Serbian paramilitary or police units in Bosnia or Croatia during the war, as the indictment claims.

Media in Serbia have accused the government of Montenegro of planning to "rob" the Serbian Orthodox Church, SOC, of its assets, while Serbian officials warn that a proposed law on Church property will worsen diplomatic relations.

"It is a good opportunity to see how both smaller and bigger European cities are doing, and how we are actually on the same page for how we want to introduce citizens to decision-making," Radomir Lazovic, one of the founders of Ne Davimo Beograd, said.

Paratroopers from Serbia will join elite counterparts from Russia and Belarus for this year's Slavic Military Brotherhood exercise over 13 days between June 14 and 27 in Pancevo, in northern Serbia.

Tomislav Kovac, who was deputy interior minister in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity in July 1995, when the Kravica massacre happened, told Belgrade Higher Court on Tuesday that Ljubisa Beara, who at the time was the security chief of the Main Headquarters of the Bosnian Serb Army, was to blame for the killings.

The winner was first announced in the online edition of the Koper-based newspaper Primorske Novice, ahead of a news conference in Ljubljana on Wednesday.

Commenting on the news, Velikić told the paper that the Vilenica festival was very important to him. The first time he was invited to attend the festival was in 1989, when he published his debut novel Via Pula.