Brussels - Croatia should be able to finish all talks on joining the EU by the end of 2009, paving the way for it to enter the bloc as early as 2011, the EU's executive body said Wednesday.

"Croatia is expected to reach the final phase of accession negotiations by the end of 2009 if it has taken the necessary preparatory steps," the European Commission said in an annual report on the former Yugoslav republic's progress towards membership.

It is the first time that the EU's Brussels-based executive has set out a timetable for Croatia to become the EU's 28th member since the Adriatic state became a candidate for membership in 2004.

Zagreb  - Barack Obama's election victory opens "a new chapter" in US relations with the rest of the world, Croatia's president said Wednesday.

Stjepan Mesic congratulated the US president-elect in a statement.

"I am convinced your arrival as US president will mark the start of a new chapter, not only in the lives of many of your compatriots, but also of US relations with the world and of the world's relations with the US," Mesic said.

Kassel, Germany - German-Croat author Marica Bodrozic was awarded the German Language Culture Prize on Saturday.

Zagreb - Croatian police have arrested 10 people suspected of taking part in the killing of journalist Ivo Pukanic, and were continuing the investigation with forces in neighbouring countries, a police spokesman said Thursday.

"They are dangerous members of the criminal milieu ... with the gravest crimes in their records," police spokesman Krunoslav Borovec told a press conference.

"We are continuing to collaborate with police in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina," Borovec said. Two of the suspects are Serbian nationals.

Several of the arrested suspects were prominent figures from the powerful Balkan underworld, local reports said.

Zagreb - Even as it hopes for an invitation to join the European Union, Croatia on Friday reeled in the wake of another high- profile murder and fears that organized crime has overpowered the state.

Croatia's top security body met in an urgent session after a bomb killed journalist, editor and publisher Ivo Pukanic and the marketing director of his NCL Media Group, Niko Franic, on Thursday evening.

Zagreb - Croatia's government has agreed to pay 78 million euros (101 million dollars) in damages to firms from Italy and Austria for claims arising from a cancelled highway project and a bank privatization, a local media report said Thursday.

The Croatian news portal business. hr, quoting a government source, said the settlements involve 44.3 million euros for Rome-based builder Astaldi SpA and 34.5 million euros for Austrian-based Hypo Alpe Adria Bank AG.