EYE ON KOSOVO: Slobodan Samardzic, Serbia’s minister for Kosovo, suggested the government will seek to keep control over Serb-populated areas after the province declares independence.
MEXICO QUAKE: A 5.1-magnitude earthquake shook Baja California, shutting down factories near the U.S. border and leaving 400,000 people without power. No injuries were reported.
MYANMAR VOTE: Myanmar’s military government announced it will hold a constitutional referendum in May and elections in 2010.
EGYPT RULING: Egypt’s highest civil court ruled that 12 Coptic Christians who had converted to Islam could return to their old faith. An April 2007 ruling by a lower court forbade the 12 from returning to Christianity on grounds that Islamic law would consider that apostasy.
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Briefs compiled from Tribune news services.
