international crisis group

Iranians will head to the polls the day after tomorrow, Friday, to elect a new president from a field of six candidates, including a relatively unknown reformist aiming to challenge conservative dominance.

It is also estimated that tensions in Kosovo have increased since the coming to power of the Prime Minister of the temporary institutions of Pristina, Albin Kurti.

According to the document, there are three possibilities for an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, but it is also pointed out that none of them is "ideal".

All parties involved in the stalemated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue should seek an agreement on mutual recognition and the two countries should acknowledge the need for compromise, a new report by the International Crisis Group, ICG, think tank says.

Their real goal is maintenance of the political status quo, which allows them to stay in power, manage their patronage networks and avoid prosecution.

While most of the Croat population in Bosnia and Herzegovina would support the creation of a separate Croat entity, or even secession, the elites would lose too much to genuinely support such a policy.

China has confirmed that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has visited Beijing, where he met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and pledged his commitment to denuclearising the Korean peninsula.

Confirming several reports over the last two days, Xinhua state news agency said Kim had been in China on an "unofficial visit" from Sunday to Wednesday.