The UN Security Council is meeting to discuss a controversial plan to give UN-administered Kosovo independence. The meeting launches what diplomats expect to be many weeks of formal and behind-the-scenes discussions, reports BBC News.

The US and the European Union have given their backing to a comprehensive set of proposals drawn up by the UN's special envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, after Serb and Kosovo Albanian negotiators failed to reach agreement on Kosovo's future.

For further details, see BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6519565.stm