NATO's Campaign:
NATO, in effect, admits responsibility for a direct hit on the Dragisa Misovic hospital that has left three patients dead. Alliance spokesman Jamie Shea concedes that a missile had "gone astray". But mirabile dictu, "seven laser-guided bombs hit the target".
Hospital director Radisav Scepanovic said that two bombs or missiles which struck the hospital also badly damaged the gynaecological department and the children's wards, and slightly injured male and female nurses. The hospital is situated in the same residential district as a villa belonging to Mr Milosevic, which was hit by a missile earlier in the NATO campaign.
Air strike on army barracks near the hospital damages Swedish embassy, cranking up diplomatic pressure for a peace settlement. The bomb damage to embassy touches raw nerve after last week's Chinese embassy debacle
Diplomacy:
In Stockholm, Foreign Minister Anna Lindh concedes the embassy was "probably not" the target, but insists her government will "get its message across" to NATO, which is responsible for the attacks: "We now want a breakthrough in the negotiations under way, leading to a UN Security Council resolution. It is unacceptable for such powerful bombs, causing this kind of damage, to be used against a major city centre." Sweden is a neutral country whose embassy in Belgrade has remained open throughout the war. Like Ireland, it is a member of the European Union but not of NATO.
High-ranking Western envoys head to Moscow for Kosovo talks. They include Kofi Annan's special envoy on Yugoslavia, Eduard Kukan, and former Swedish premier Carl Bildt, now a UN special representative on Kosovo. Bildt and Kukan are reported to be having separate talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
In addition, Viktor Chernomyrdin is to hold further talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, both of whom he met in Helsinki on Tuesday.
Refugees:
The latest statistics on refugees from the UNHCR reveal some 433,000 Kosovan Albanians are now in neighbouring Albania, 227,500 in Macedonia and 64,000 in Montenegro. In Bosnia, the agency says, there are 20,000; in addition that country has taken in 21,000 arrivals from Serbia's Sandzak region as well as other displaced Serbs and Montenegrins. The figure for Croatia is between 5,000 and 6,000, and for Bulgaria, around 2,500, of whom only 275 have so far sought refugee status.
In Turkey, some 16,240 refugees are reported to have arrived so far by various routes; 7,000 of them are being sheltered in a camp in western Turkey. The others are thought to be staying with relatives or friends. UNHCR says 7,474 refugees have been airlifted to Turkey since the beginning of April.
And . . .
The equivalent of £3,000 in cash in different currencies is found in jacket donated for Kosovo refugees at Magee barracks, Kildare. The money is to be used to help the destitute refugees.
Quote of the Day:
"We believe there should be great care to avoid tragic errors that would increase the sense of unease and incomprehension of the public in NATO countries." Italian Prime Minister Massimo d'Alema.