MITROVICA, Serbia – There are some new faces in the Serb-controlled slice of northern Kosovo, the breakaway province where 2 million Albanians will declare independence from Serbia within days.

OXFORD – Mistakes made in Iraq and Afghanistan should not deter Britain from exercising its moral duty to spread democracy, by military means where necessary, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Tuesday.

Iraq’s parliament is deadlocked over passing key legislation, including the 2008 budget. At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is under mounting pressure to take advantage of better security to improve the delivery of basic services and speed up reconciliation by pushing through important laws.