Israelis and Palestinians tonight threatened to scrap a truce that has largely ended five months of Gaza violence, with Palestinian militants insisting it must also apply to the West Bank and Israeli leaders complaining that Gaza rocket squads are still active.

Austria's foreign minister today congratulated South Korean Ban Ki-moon on his appointment as the next UN Secretary-General and invited him to make a return visit to the alpine country where he once served as his country's ambassador.

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.

TURKEY’S membership negotiations with the EU are back on track, after EU foreign ministers resolved a stand-off with Cyprus over Ankara’s relationship with the divided island.

Turkey was set to conclude the first round of membership negotiations with the European Union today, after EU foreign ministers resolved a stand-off with Cyprus over Ankara’s relationship with the divided island.

The European Union today urged Iran to “grasp the hand extended to it” and return to international negotiations on its suspect nuclear programme.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik today urged the United States to close a prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay as soon as possible, warning against a legal vacuum created by the detention of inmates there.

Bolivian President Evo Morales has defended the decision to nationalise his country’s gas and energy sectors, saying before summit talks begin today with European and Latin American leaders that it was a necessary move to end 500 years of foreign exploitation.

THE European Union told Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko yesterday that he was unwelcome in the 25-nation bloc after his re-election last month in a vote observers said was rigged.

European Muslims are not content to remain “separate and isolated” and moderate Islamic leaders must make greater social and political integration their main goal, the head of Austria’s Islamic community urged at the opening of a conference of imams and religious advisers.

The son of General Ratko Mladic – the Bosnian Serb wartime commander sought by the UN war crimes tribunal – said he would refuse to negotiate his father’s surrender with Serbian authorities, according to a Belgrade newspaper today.

The European Union today said the presidential election in Belarus was marred by a “climate of intimidation”.

EU FOREIGN ministers raised the bar on the former Yugoslavia states and Albania joining the bloc over the weekend, but reaffirmed that the ultimate goal was membership.

The death of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic does not absolve Serbia of responsibility to hand over war crimes suspects from the Balkan wars of the 1990s, the European Union said today.

European Union foreign ministers in Brussels today threatened to freeze talks with Serbia on its EU membership bid, setting an end-of-March deadline for Belgrade to hand over top fugitive Ratko Mladic.

Austria’s foreign minister said today that an emergency meeting with her Danish counterpart and leading representatives of the international Islamic community had made progress on diffusing tensions over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme with European Union leaders in Vienna this week, ahead of talks with Iranian negotiators in Moscow.

THE European Union has demanded that all Islamic states offer adequate protection to European citizens and property in case of further violent demonstrations over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

EU foreign ministers today called on the militant group Hamas to clarify its political intentions in an eventual Palestinian government, urging it to embrace peace efforts with Israel.

Austria assumed the presidency of the European Union today with a pledge to make the 25-nation bloc “more tangible to our citizens”.

Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel says he’s “proud” of the tough position Austria staked out in crisis talks on the launch of negotiations with Turkey to join the European Union.

The European Union overcame last-minute doubts and opened membership talks today with Turkey – a historic move to include a predominantly Muslim nation that both sides said would benefit all of Europe.

Austria refused to drop its objections to Turkey’s bid to become the first predominantly Muslim nation to be a full member of the European Union, forcing EU foreign ministers to suspend crisis talks and resume them later this morning.

PRESSURE was being piled on Austria last night to allow negotiations to open today as planned on Turkey's EU membership bid.

European Union foreign ministers were preparing for a last-ditch attempt today to persuade Austria to drop its objections to starting membership negotiations with Turkey.

EU ambassadors meet today in an effort to overcome differences that threaten to derail the start of Turkey’s formal EU membership negotiations – with opposition from Austria appearing to be the biggest obstacle.

Turkey will walk away from its talks with the European Union if it is offered anything less than full membership, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying.