MUNICH (Reuters) – Two men were found guilty of attempted murder yesterday for beating up a German pensioner at a railway station last year, an assault that sparked a nationwide debate on crimes committed by foreigners. A Munich state court sentenced a 21-year-old Turk, identified as Serkan A., to 12 years in prison and an 18-year-old Greek, Spyridon L., to eight-and-a-half years. The younger defendant was 17 at the time of the assault. The pair beat and kicked the 76-year-old man, who had reprimanded them for smoking on the Munich underground. They shouted abuse at him before kicking him in the head. The pensioner was beaten unconscious, suffering a fractured skull and cerebral hemorrhaging. The attack last December, caught on a surveillance camera and shown repeatedly on German television, led to calls for tougher sentences, boot camps and even deportation for criminals of foreign origin.

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias yesterday told islanders battered by price hikes to stick to the bare necessities – but admitted he did not always follow his own advice. But in order to ride the wave of price increases they should give up a few of their habits, like driving everywhere and a tendency to go overboard on food, Christofias said. “I’m not going to tell Cypriots to stop using vehicles but I think we should each consider whether a family needs three or four cars,” Christofias told a news conference in Nicosia. Christofias, a blunt-speaking communist elected in February, counted himself in on the equation. “I went to a taverna with friends last night... at the end of it there were four or five platters of meat left uneaten. I think each one of us has the ability to save more.”

VIENNA (Reuters) – Europe’s leading human rights watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), urged Romania’s president yesterday to veto draft legislation that would require radio and television stations to air more “happy” news. Under a bill which still needs the approval of President Traian Basescu, broadcasters will have to give equal time to “positive” and “negative” issues in their newscasts. The bill’s sponsors say too much gloomy news is making people ill. “Prescribing, or even defining good versus bad news, is a severe political intrusion into editorial freedom,” said Miklos Haraszti, media freedoms monitor for the 56-nation OSCE.

Bulgaria will shut 12 arms disposal depots after a series of explosions in an arms dump outside Sofia last week, the defense minister said yesterday. State news agency BTA quoted Nikolai Tsonev as saying the NATO member country would keep only four depots to store obsolete munitions. Bulgaria is due to destroy up to 100,000 tons of Soviet-era munitions, officials say. (AP)

Turkey’s parliament has decided to extend the mission of the country’s troops in Lebanon for another year. Turkey has around 1,000 troops, most of them sailors, in the force. (AP)

Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty will not slow down Croatia’s accession talks during France’s European Union presidency, the French ambassador in Zagreb said yesterday. “The French presidency has no intentions of slowing down membership talks because of the failure in Ireland,” Ambassador Francois Saint-Paul told journalists. The French diplomat said that Paris hoped that most of the remaining 15 of 35 chapters in talks with Croatia would be opened during its presidency. “The pace of talks will principally depend on your efforts. It is our wish to open all or most of the remaining chapters,” he said. (AFP)

Slovenian police confirmed yesterday that a total of 13 people were killed in an horrific canoeing accident on the Sava River in the east of the country last week, following DNA results. Twelve bodies were recovered from the water following Thursday’s accident, while a 13th was found Sunday 40 kilometers downstream on the Croatian side of the border. (AFP)