Belgrade  - As Serbs and Albanians continue their tug-of-war over Kosovo, almost a year since the breakaway province declared independence, the European Union seems destined to watch the game instead of decisively joining in.

Following an encouraging wink from the West, Pristina announced secession from Serbia on February 17, almost eight years after a United Nations administration arrived in Kosovo to take over governance from Serbian authorities, who had been ousted by NATO.

But while the United States immediately recognized the new country, an EU consensus on how to treat Pristina and Belgrade remained elusive. In the end, individual members were left to make their own decision, with some nations choosing recognition and some choosing against.

Belgrade - Serbia, its stability already under much pressure, faces ad hoc financing as the deadline for the 2009 budget expired Tuesday amid endless obstruction by the opposition.

Parliament had until midnight on December 15 to adopt the budget for the coming year, but could not wade through filibustering by the ultra-nationalist opposition.

Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic was quoted as saying that the government was "ready" to begin ad hoc financing, but also that the restrictive budget may yet be put in place in time.

Belgrade - Serbian police Friday launched a second raid in a week in the so far futile search for war crime fugitives, the private Beta news agency said.

Police were checking several locations in Arandjelovac, a town 50 kilometres south of Belgrade, Beta said, quoting the Serbian war crimes prosecutor's office.

A week ago, commandos raided the Belgrade home of the top war crime suspect Ratko Mladic's son, after storming a factory in western Serbia last month.

The arrest of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime military chief, is a crucial condition for Serbia's closer ties with the European Union.

Belgrade - A Serbian policeman taking photos of what he thought was an emaciated corpse nearly fainted when the body raised its head and complained about flashes of light, the Belgrade daily Blic reported Friday.

The incident occurred after police in Kragujevac, an industrial town 120 kilometres south of Belgrade, were called to check up a single- room home owned by a man nobody has seen in two weeks.

The man's neighbours thought the worst when a horrible stench emanated from behind his locked doors.

"We broke in and the man was as dead," said one policeman. "When he spoke we panicked, but the colleague with the camera fell into real shock."

BELGRADE, Serbia, Dec. 5 - Serbian authorities have stepped up the search for accused Bosnian war criminal Ratko Mladic, searching his son's house in Belgrade Thursday.

Rasim Luajic, president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, told Radio B92 that no arrest was expected immediately.

"No operation to arrest Ratko Mladic is under way, but rather a search for clues that will lead to Mladic''s arrest," he said.

Other locations in the Serbian capital were also being searched.

Belgrade - When web designer Petar Jakovljevic found a cramped two-bedroom apartment close to downtown Belgrade for 70,000 euros (90,000 dollars), he jumped at the chance.

It was a good deal in Serbia, where a severe housing shortage is keeping the capital's apartment prices at levels similar to the Paris suburbs while the average Serbian earns less than 400 euros (500 dollars) a month.

Jakovljevic, who has a wife and small child, also considered a larger, old apartment on the run-down Balkan city's outskirts that was selling for the same price per square meter.

In the end, they chose the new 35-square-metre flat with elevator and central heating, thinking it's the better investment.