11.   Turkey has threatened to end its decade-long EU membership bid unless the EU reverses its decision to exclude Turkey from its new expansion plans.

12.   He also emphasised the need for Latvia to gain the support of its neighbors for its membership bids.

13.   Beijing has accused Washington of blocking its WTO membership bid by refusing to grant a request for preferential developing-nation status in the organisation.

14.   The Nepalese Commerce Ministry was preparing documentation to support its membership bid, the radio said.

15.   The success of the membership bids of Romania and Bulgaria is not a precondition for Turkey supporting NATO enlargement to central European states, he added.

16.   Latvian lawmakers faced Friday a choice between national identity and security after being warned their NATO membership bid hinged on scrapping Latvian language requirements for candidates to office.

17.   King Juan Carlos lauded Japan during the dinner for assuming its international responsibilities and its support of fundamental UN decisions but did not specifically address the UN membership bid.

18.   Macedonia needs to implement a broad series of tough reforms as part of its membership bid for NATO, a NATO representative said Friday.

19.   South Korea, which has buried its differences to support the membership bid, is at odds with Japan over the issue.