Russia: U.N. chief exceeded authority over Kosovo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon overstepped his authority by scaling back the United Nations mission in Kosovo, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published on Thursday. "We were surprised by the position of the U.N. secretary-general, who, bypassing the U.N. Security Council, drafted a ... declaration on the need to replace these forces," Medvedev said in an interview with media outlets from Group of Eight countries before a G8 summit in Japan next week. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin in Moscow in this June 30, 2008 file photo. (REUTERS/Denis... [read full story]