STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, says U.S. President-elect Barack Obama should concentrate on the Middle East.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The European Parliament has boldly dared to go where the Nobel Peace Prize committee feared to: It has awarded its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Chinese political activist Hu Jia.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari is a great triumph for the Finnish government -- and for the government of China.

OSLO, Norway, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Finland's former president Martti Ahtisaari won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for his mediation in hot spots around the world, the Nobel Foundation announced.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush, in a letter Monday to Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu, recognized Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state.

HELSINKI, Finland, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Representatives from rival groups in Iraq are seeking middle ground via peace principles used in Northern Ireland and South Africa, it was reported.

ZAGREB, Croatia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Germany’s defense minister has left for the Balkans Wednesday for talks with leaders there on the status of the Serbian breakaway province Kosovo.

WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The United States and the European Union have asked the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution on Serbia's Kosovo province without delay.

MOSCOW, April 29 (UPI) -- The Russian government on Sunday condemned a United Nations resolution on the status of Serbia's independence-seeking predominately Albanian province of Kosovo.

BRUSSELS, April 25 (UPI) -- NATO's chief in Brussels Wednesday said the alliance supports a U.N. plan that may lead Kosovo on an independence path from Serbia.

NEW YORK, April 4 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council has begun considering a U.N. plan giving Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province independence amid Serbia's opposition.

NEW YORK, March 26 (UPI) -- The U.N. special envoy proposes internationally supervised independence for Serbia's predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province, a report said. Martti Ahtisaari, U.N. special envoy on Kosovo, in his report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York M

BRUSSELS, March 22 (UPI) -- A European Union envoy is warning the Balkans could again be in chaos if the status of Serbia's Kosovo province is not resolved soon.

UNITED NATIONS, March 20 (UPI) -- Russia is opposing a U.N. plan on the future status of Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province and is seeking a continuation of Serb-Albanian talks.

VIENNA, March 12 (UPI) -- A U.N. plan on the future status of Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province is ready to be sent to the U.N. offices in New York for consideration. The plan, which would grant Kosovo the right to govern itself, was worked out by Martti Ahtisaari, t