Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine used their appearances at the Nobel Peace Concert in Norway on Thursday to appeal to world leaders to find peace with each other.

Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe dealt with his country’s growing cholera epidemic crisis today by declaring it did not exist.

The death toll from Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak has risen sharply, the United Nations said, reporting 775 deaths and 16,141 cases of the waterborne disease in the southern African nation.

NOBEL peace prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari urged US president-elect Barack Obama yesterday to delve into solving the Middle East conflict in his first year in office, calling it a knot that could be untied.

Martti Ahtisaari has received the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for mediating in some of the world’s thorniest conflicts.

President Mary McAleese has paid tribute to Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari for his work in verifying that IRA arms were put beyond use.

Finland’s ex-president Martti Ahtisaari received the Nobel Peace Prize today for his efforts in places as diverse as East Timor and the Balkans.

Kosovo has never been a state and its parliament isn’t deemed worthy to do anything very much beyond collecting rubbish.

US President George Bush said today the US will work to prevent violent clashes following Kosovo’s declaration of independence. The State Department was reviewing the development with European allies as the province sought swift recognition from the West.

Britain was this evening poised to recognise the independence of Kosovo, as the Balkan province prepares to break away from Serbia tomorrow.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received a report yesterday confirming a deadlock in negotiations between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders and Serbia over the future status of Kosovo.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he expects to receive a report today from negotiators who say they have failed to break a deadlock over the future of Kosovo.

Talks on the future of Kosovo resumed today in Vienna, where international mediators were presenting rival Serbs and ethnic Albanians with a new list of proposals.

Politicians from the North have helped Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions reach agreement on moves to end the sectarian violence in their country.

Representatives of feuding parties in Iraq are meeting in Finland to discuss ways of ending the continuing violence in the country, organisers said today.

The European Union’s envoy to the Kosovo talks threatened to withdraw the possibility of bloc membership from Serbia and Kosovo if they failed to reach a compromise solution on the province’s future.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today appealed to all parties involved in the dispute over the future of Kosovo to avoid any unilateral moves that could provoke violence.

THE United States and European nations yesterday circulated a draft UN security council resolution that would pave the way for independence in Kosovo if further negotiations fail in four months’ time.

The UN Security Council headed to Europe last night on a crucial visit before considering whether to back eventual independence for Kosovo.

IN the coming months, a fundamental decision will be made that will challenge the capacity of the international community, particularly Europe, for conflict resolution.

Year-long talks on the future status of Kosovo have ended in deadlock, a UN envoy said today, reflecting bitter divisions between Serbia’s government and the disputed province’s pro-independence ethnic Albanian leadership.

Serbia’s and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders remain deadlocked on the heart of a UN plan that would put the restive province on the road to eventual independence, the UN special envoy who drafted the proposal said today.

Serbia’s new parliament today convenes to reject a UN plan that gives Kosovo virtual independence, shattering a compromise for the breakaway province.

Thousands of ethnic Albanians demonstrated today in Pristina, protesting against a UN proposal for Kosovo they say doesn’t go far enough in granting the province independence.

Negotiations over a UN plan for Kosovo were postponed today for one week, after Serbia requested more time to allow for a parliament to be formed in Belgrade, a UN mediator said.

Serbia’s president today rejected a UN plan for Kosovo, saying it “opens the possibility of independence” for the breakaway province.

Kosovo was widely expected to take its first tentative step toward statehood today with the unveiling of a UN proposal for the future of the bitterly-contested province.

A UN envoy was briefing the US, Russia and key European allies in Austria today on his proposal for the future of Serbia’s independence-minded province of Kosovo.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today backed an initiative by Italy to push for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

Serbian president Boris Tadic today called on pro-democratic parties to put differences aside and quickly form a coalition government to stave off gains made by ultranationalists in the weekend parliamentary election.

Serbian ultra-nationalist Radicals won most votes in Serbia’s parliamentary election, but several pro-democratic groups won enough seats to form a new government if they can settle their differences.

Serbs voted today in a closely-contested parliamentary election between pro-Western democrats and ultranationalists to determine whether the troubled Balkan nation drifts toward mainstream Europe or returns to its wartime nationalist past.

European Union foreign ministers were to press Serbia today to live up to international demands it hunt down and hand over top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic to the UN war crimes tribunal.

EU defence ministers today gathered in Finland to consider winding down the international peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and eventually replacing it with a mostly civilian operation in the Balkan nation.

A Finn who helped mediate peace in Indonesia is tipped to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, while bookmakers favour a Turkish novelist for the literature award.

Ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials today discussed how to protect the rights of Kosovo’s minorities, putting the issue on the agenda for the first time during their UN-brokered talks on the province’s future status.

Ethnic Albanians and Serbian officials will discuss how to protect the rights of Kosovo’s minorities today, putting the issue on the agenda for the first time during their United Nations-brokered talks on the province’s future status.

Top Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders met face-to-face in Vienna today in unprecedented talks aimed at resolving the dispute over the breakaway province of Kosovo. But with the two sides intractable, chances of a breakthrough are slim.

Bob Geldof and U2 frontman Bono are among a near-record 191 nominations for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

President Ibrahim Rugova died of lung cancer today, leaving a leadership vacuum in Kosovo’s fraction-ridden political scene before crucial talks on whether the province should gain the independence that was his lifelong dream. He was 61.

A UN envoy today told ethnic Albanian leaders that minority protection was essential to resolving Kosovo’s disputed status.

UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari arrived in Kosovo today on a fact-finding mission before crucial talks that will determine whether Kosovo becomes an independent nation or a self-governing region within Serbia.

BOB GELDOF and Bono are among the bookmakers’ tips to win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, alongside more orthodox candidates like campaigners against nuclear arms or a peace broker for Indonesia.

THE Indonesian government and Aceh rebels yesterday signed a peace treaty to end nearly 30 years of fighting that has seen 15,000 people killed, but rebel leaders voiced concern about troops remaining in the province.