Serbia and its former province of Kosovo struck a historic accord to settle relations, potentially setting Belgrade on the path to membership of the European Union – in a major milestone in the region’s recovery from the collapse of Yugoslavia.

A 60-year-old war veteran who shot dead 13 relatives and neighbours in his village, then turned the gun on himself, has died in hospital.

Doctors were trying to save the life of a 60-year-old man last night who shot dead 13 people, including six women and a two-year-old boy, in a pre-dawn rampage in Serbia.

Men, women and a child among the dead

I suffered from acute asthma as a child. Until I was 11 or so, there was no effective medication for the ailment, so I spent a fair bit of time off school. Adventure stories, read propped up in bed, provided my escape from tedium, and the spoonfuls of sticky malt I had to swallow to "build me up". I read everything from The Eagle of the Ninth to The Silver Sword to John Buchan's The 39 Steps – but it was another Buchan novel, Greenmantle, that sent me on a lifetime's flight of fantasy.

Greece has sold the luxurious British home of its former consul for £23.3m in a bid to reduce its mountain of public debt.

Scotland lost to Wales last week

This was a settling of scores of epic proportions between two nations who two decades ago were at war

Manchester City among those to respect the anniversaru of the disaster

Today marks the 55th anniversary of the accident

He condemned his brother's arrest by the UN for alleged war crimes as 'kidnapping'

The vintage carriages of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (0845 217 0799; vsoe.com) head for Scandinavia next year, visiting Stockholm for the first time.

Outstanding debts have led to decision, although Spanish club are clear to continue in this season's Champions League

At least five people have been killed in the Balkans after freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused travel chaos across the region.