Belgrade

BELGRADE - The floods that hit Serbia in mid-May killed a total of 57 people, including 23 who drowned, and 31,879 people have been evacuated, the Serbian parliament’s Defense and Internal Affairs Committee said at a meeting they held Wednesday.

BELGRADE - Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic met with Tunisian Ambassador to Serbia Majid Hamlaoui on Wednesday to discuss the promotion of all forms of defense cooperation, including the strengthening of military-economic ties.

Gasic and Hamlaoui agreed that the defense cooperation established so far primarily involves the military-economic forms of cooperation.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric announced that indictments against over 40 war crime suspects in cases Istok, Strpce and Srebrenica would be raised in the next few months.

BELGRADE – From January to May this year, Serbia saw a total of 786,333 tourist visits, down four percent from 2013, a result of the number of domestic tourist visits decreasing despite a larger number of foreigners arriving, data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia shows.

BELGRADE - A festival of organic production will be held in Belgrade on July 12-13 under the slogan “Buy organic food- be friendly to yourself and your environment”.

The festival of organic production will take place at a market in New Belgrade. It will be organized by Serbia Organica, with the backing of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

BELGRADE - Novak Djokovic Foundation signed an agreement with the central Serbian municipality of Svilajnac on a donation of EUR 146,000 to be used for the renovation of “Decija radost" preschool facility, severely damaged in the May floods.

BELGRADE - Serbia's chief negotiator in the EU accession talks Tanja Miscevic said Wednesday that the screening process has so far been completed for 20 acquis chapters, adding that the screening on information society and the media will start this week in Brussels.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic attended the European Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Milan and expressed hope that the donor conference scheduled for July 16 in Brussels and the EU Solidarity Fund will provide financial aid to Serbia, which was hit by severe flooding in May.

No confirmation of West Nile virus

BELGRADE -- The latest report of Belgrade’s Institute for Biocides and Medical Ecology gives no confirmation that mosquitoes in Serbia carry West Nile virus (WNV).

This is the case despite the May flooding and high humidity that provides these insects with favorable breeding conditions.

BELGRADE - Companies South Stream Serbia and Centar Gas from Russia signed the Contract on the construction of the Serbian section of the main South Stream gas pipeline to the total value of EUR 2.1 billion.

The contract was signed by co-directors of South Stream Serbia Dusan Bajatovic and Aleksandar Siromjatin and Director General of Centre Gas Stanislav Anikeyev on Tuesday.