Milosevic's allies return to power in Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Socialist leader Ivica Dacic won a mandate Thursday to form a new Serbian government, marking a full-scale return of the late Slobodan Milosevic’s former allies to power for the first time since the autocrat’s ouster in a popular revolt in 2000.

President Tomislav Nikolic formally approved Dacic as prime minister designate to lead the new coalition government that would include the Socialists, Nikolic’s nationalists and a small center-right party.