To balance out a powerful president, most seem to prefer a professional politician like Mr Sharif who has a track record of cutting backroom deals and doling out favours.. After 78 days of protests, President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia yesterday apparently surrendered to the will of his people and ordered his government to recognise opposition victories in the local elections. But last night youths looking for a return match with riot police stoned traffic police and smashed windows, provoking shooting from plainclothes policemen and increasing tension in Belgrade. The Prime Minister, Marko Marjanovic, is to implement Mr Milosevic's demand today, according to state television, and will ask parliament to enact a law allowing councillors from Zajedno, the opposition coalition, to take control of the city hall in Belgrade and 13 other large towns. However, Zajedno leaders are cautious, aware that Mr Milosevic has used such concessions only to gain time.Zoran Djindjic, the most charismatic of the triumvirate leading the opposition, said yesterday that Serbia's crisis had deepened since the poll on 17 November and that the Socialists would have to do more than acknowledge electoral defeat. The opposition also demands a free press and punishment of officials responsible for the electoral theft and the violent repression of demonstrators by riot police.Earlier in the afternoon, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Belgrade's Republic Square.

They cheered in response to news that Mr Milosevic had written to his Prime Minister seeking a resolution to the crisis, and urged the President to resign.But despite the crowd's optimism, opposition leaders were wary. "We have not seen the letter and we will not talk about it," Vuk Draskovic said disdainfully, while Mr Djindjicwarned that the opposition would continue marching each day until all its demands are met."Milosevic has recognised the result he should have accepted on 17 November, and since then many things have happened to deepen our political crisis," Mr Djindjic said. "This will resolve one part of the crisis, but not all, and we will continue our protests."According to Tanjug, the official news agency, the President informed the Prime Minister, Mirko Marjanovic, that "electoral disputes ... have considerably hurt our country both internally and on an international level and that it is high time to put an end to the problem". The President has requested parliamentary approval of a "special law" designating as final the electoral results ratified by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

This is meant to imply that Serbia is acting more to appease the international community than bowing to pressure from the streets. "I would like to stress that the state's interest in promoting relations between our country and the OSCE and the international community as a whole far surpasses the importance of any number of council seats," the President wrote.If this were true, Mr Milosevic would have implemented the election results when the OSCE ratified them in December. But while Serbia has bowed to international pressure in the past over the war in Bosnia, Mr Milosevic does not want to be seen giving in to the ordinary people airing their grievances on the street."I will not believe this until I see Zajedno take their seats and form Belgrade's new city council," said one sceptical local journalist. Vesna Pesic, the third Zajedno leader, said the regime had blown hot and cold throughout the crisis "They recognise the results, then they beat us up ... at the same time."The crowd dispersed peacefully watched by at least 1,000 riot police but a few dozen youths hung around and stoned traffic police.By 7.30pm, when citizens whistle and bang pots and pans to drown the propaganda on state television, demonstrators and some hooligans were mingled in Republic Square, muddying the waters of protest. Some youths among them were clearly determined to provoke violent scenes and within half an hour hundreds of riot police were back in the square.Bulgaria poll dateSofia (Reuters) -- Bulgaria's ruling Socialists agreed yesterday to hold early elections in April, defusing a tense showdown with the opposition after 30 days of anti-government protests, a joint statement said.The statement by the Socialists and opposition parties said that they had agreed that President Petar Stoyanov "should set early general elections in the second 10 days of April".. Washington (Reuter) - In a State of the Union speech setting his second-term goals, President Bill Clinton said last night that improving US education would become top priority, followed by "unfinished business" like campaign finance reform.

The televised address before the joint houses of Congress appeared to be a compilation of poll-tested themes from his 1996 re-election campaign and represented what a senior aide called a "concrete plan of action" for preparing America for the 21st century. In pre-released excerpts from the speech, Mr Clinton appealed for a "national crusade" to raise education standards to a level competitive with other industrial nations."The greatest step of all - the high threshold to the future we now must cross - and my number one priority as president for the next four years - is to ensure that Americans have the best education in the world."We must begin a national crusade for education standards - not federal government standards, but national standards representing what all of our students must know to succeed in the knowledge economy of the 21st century."Mr Clinton proposed $51bn (pounds 32bn) for education in the fiscal year, starting on 1 October, a 20 per cent increase over current spending, to pay for education, training and tax cuts tied to education. Under his education programme, spending would rise to nearly $60bn a year by 2002 as other pro- grammes are cut to balance the federal budget by that year.Mr Clinton went into the annual ritual in the chamber of the House of Representatives enjoying some of the highest public approval ratings of his presidency in spite of a nagging controversy over how he and his Democratic Party had raised money for last year's campaigns.The President's speech, expected to last about an hour, was thin on grand, large-scale initiatives, in line with the country's perceived mood towards less government intrusion. But he was clearly hoping to make education his ticket to the history books, in addition to two big items left over from his first term: balancing the budget by 2002 and carrying out a welfare reform law in a way that gets people jobs.Mr Clinton's national education crusade involves a 10-point plan, top-ped by setting up a programme in the next two years for national achievement tests in reading and mathematics to make sure children master the basics.The crusade would also ensure high quality standards for teachers and make schools safe, disciplined and drug-free.. Two powerful earthquakes struck several villages in north-east Iran yesterday, killing at least 38 people and injuring more than 90, Iranian television reported. Twelve villages in the Khorasan province were destroyed by the two quakes, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. A magnitude-5.4 quake hit the villages of Quchan, Esfarayen, Shirvan, Sabzevar and Neyshabur at 1:24 pm local time.

Forty minutes later, a magnitude-6.1 quake hit the area, IRNA and Iranian television said. Their epicentre was outside Bojnurd, about 360 miles north-east of the capital Tehran. The governor of Bojnurd, Hassan Movahedian, told IRNA that 35 villages in the area had been affected by the earthquakes, which had also damaged and blocked roads in the area. The Interior Ministry has set up a relief operation in Bojnurd and two helicopters have been sent to the affected villages to help in the rescue efforts AP - Tehran. Bulgaria's ex-communist rulers bowed to 30 days of mass protests, agreeing to elections by 20 April, but President Petar Stoyanov warned that a political settlement would not ease the economic crisis. Thousands of opposition supporters turned road blocks into street parties, celebrating late into the night, despite sub-zero temperatures.