News stories by Vesna Peric Zimonjic, page 8

Ljubov Obradinovic only cried when her neighbours complimented her that she was hardworking. 'Vredna', they said. Except that in Ukraininan that word means 'wicked'.

Almost two decades after the break-up of former Yugoslavia, people from some of the new states that emerged have been granted visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) from the beginning of next year.

Journalists are in the dock now for their role in provoking the wars of the 1990s across former Yugoslavia that left more than 100,000 dead.

The torture of drug addicts who had turned to the Serbian Orthodox Church for help has sent shock waves across the country.

Two decades back many people in what was once Yugoslavia were fighting Serbs. Today some are fighting to invite them over.

Few visitors to Belgrade miss the pedestrian Knez Mihailova Street. Apart from its colourful stores and boutiques, it is known for its street vendors selling DVDs, CDs, T-shirts, international and Serbian magazines, and books.

Five-year-old Admir does not come from a Muslim family, and so among the early lessons he is learning in school in Sarajevo is that he is out while most others are in.

The new century brought new growth across the Balkans after the turbulent 1990s. But the advance is proving short-lived as the global recession hits the region hard.

An estimated 160,000 people in Serbia are still in danger from thousands of unexploded cluster bombs, ten years after the NATO bombing campaign. The danger is gravest in the south, close to the border with Kosovo.

Ten years after the NATO bombing of Serbia, concern is rising over a rise in the number of reported cases of cancer.