France

Italy and France have been placed on an economic "watch-list" by the European Commission.

High debt and deficit levels are the reason for the EC's decision to put the second and third-largest Eurozone economies among 14 nations with "imbalances", according to a report published on Wednesday and cited by EUObserver.

MANAMA - Milica Mandic, Serbia's Olympic champion in taekwondo, claimed a gold medal in the women's under 73 kg event at the Bahrain Open on Saturday.

The tournament in Bahrain, which brought together around 500 athletes from 28 countries, brings points for the world's ranking and direct qualification to the Olympic Games that will be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Some 11 million homes lie empty across Europe, according to figures collated by the Guardian from across the EU.

In Spain more than 3.4 million homes are vacant, the numbers are 2 million for both France and Italy, 1.8 million in Germany and more than 700,000 in the UK.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met on Tuesday with member of the French parliament and former president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon and thanked him for the support for Serbia's EU integration and efforts to solve the Kosovo issue.

BELGRADE - Serbia will start the qualifications for the UEFA European Championship in France in 2016 with an away match against Armenia on October 11 this year, and three days later the team will face Albania at home.

The draw for the qualification round of the football European Championship 2016 took place in Nice, France on Sunday.

Bulgaria was drawn in Group H together with Italy, Croatia, Norway, Azerbaijan, and Malta.

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias used his appearance at a meeting of Med Group diplomats in Paris on Friday to stress the geopolitical importance of Greece?s eurozone partners helping to prevent the country?s economic collapse.

DUBAI - Serbia's Jelena Jankovic has failed to reach the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Dubai, since she lost to Serena Williams from the US 6-2 6-2 on Thursday.

This marked Williams' 9th victory in 13 matches against Jankovic.

Williams will next face the winner of the match between France's Alize Cornet and Spain's Carla Suarez Navaro.

STARA PAZOVA - First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the most important task for Serbia is to solve its economic issues.

Vucic stressed late on Tuesday that good results will be achieved in economy if the same dedication is shown as in the fight against corruption and crime.

BELGRADE - The International Wine Fair BeoWine will be held in Belgrade from February 27 to March 2 and it will gather over 140 presenters from 13 countries famous for their rich wine production tradition.