PARIS - Serbian President Milan Milutinovic on Wednesday accused international mediators of trying to impose a fraudulent solution at the Kosovo peace talks by rejecting Belgrade‘s proposals.

TOKYO - Japan‘s parliament enacted a hefty stimulative budget for fiscal year 1999/2000 in record time on Wednesday, providing a boost to the government‘s efforts to pull the economy out of its worst postwar downturn.

BELESSA, Eritrea - At least 300 Ethiopian soldiers were killed during two days of fighting upto Tuesday on the border with Eritrea.

TOKYO - French automaker Renault SA‘s offer to buy a 35 percent stake in Nissan Motor Co may provide the debt-ridden Japanese giant some breathing room, but traders and analysts fret any alliance may be gasping for air.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Congress struggled on Tuesday to decide what to do about charges of Chinese espionage amid growing calls for an independent investigation and an end to foreign scientist exchanges.

LONDON - Shares in BSkyB and Manchester United fell on Wednesday on fears that a billion dollar bid by the pay TV company for the soccer club had fallen foul of competition authorities.

PARIS - Serbian negotiators face another torrid day of pressure to accept a peace deal on Kosovo on Wednesday, with tough talking in Paris coinciding with the publication of a long awaited report on an alleged massacre.

European Commissioner Edith Cresson of France said in an interview published on Wednesday that an expert report sharply critical of her management had been rewritten at the last minute to make her look bad.

JERUSALEM - Israeli political kingpin Aryeh Deri was convicted of taking a bribe, fraud and breaching public trust on Wednesday in a climax to an affair that has inflamed ethnic Jewish tension ahead of the May 17 election.

ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit attempts to beat off a series of parliamentary moves to threaten his minority government and the elections it plans to hold in April.

MADRID - U.S. Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross urged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Tuesday to avoid unilateral action that could jeopardise peace and to rely on dialogue to solve differences with Isreal.

CAPE TOWN - A South African court on Wednesday found former anti-apartheid cleric Allan Boesak guilty of theft and fraud relating to money donated by U.S. singer Paul Simon intended to help children. South African President Nelson Mandela will meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli on Friday in an apparent effort to break the deadlock over the 1988 Pan Am jet bombing over Lockerbie Scotland.

SEOUL - South Korea‘s foreign minister called for a "comprehensive approach" towards Pyongyang on Wednesday after a deal was struck in New York allowing U.S. access to a suspected underground nuclear site in North Korea.

JAKARTA - The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Wednesday that a proposed meeting with the European Union (EU) would not proceed unless Myanmar is allowed to participate.

QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador‘s President Jamil Mahuad suffered a fresh setback on Wednesday with news that a key aide had resigned amid mounting opposition to the government‘s handling of the country‘s deep financial crisis.

HAVANA - Cuba on Tuesday faced a stern international reaction to its jailing of four dissidents, whose case has threatened to undermine diplomatic gains won by Havana since Pope John Paul‘s historic visit in 1998.