Turnaround party

Serbian opposition parties have slated the Defence Minister, Bratislav Gasic, for allowing a local authority to use soldiers to serve alcoholic drinks - rakija [fruit brandy] and boiled wine - at a pop concert in the minister's home town of Krusevac on December 31.

The event was a concert by the popular folk singer Svetlana "Ceca" Raznatovic.

After several hours of debate in the Serbian National Assembly on Monday, 139 of the 169 MPs present voted for lawyer Mladen Nenadic as the new chief prosecutor for organised crime.

But the Assembly failed to elect a new chief prosecutor for war crimes because none of the five candidates attracted the required majority of 126 votes.