THE HAGUE (AP) - The UN war crimes tribunal said yesterday it will not force Slobodan Milosevic to accept a defense attorney against his will in the trial against him. Prosecutors had asked the court to impose a defense lawyer on the ailing former Yugoslav president to ease the strain he routinely undergoes in preparing his own defense. The court also rejected suggestions of further slowing the trial to give Milosevic more time to rest between trial sessions.

ANKARA (AP) - Turkey’s new government said yesterday it is forecasting 5-percent growth and 20-percent inflation for 2003, signs it plans to stick to targets in Turkey’s International Monetary Fund-backed economic recovery program. The IMF has given Turkey $16 billion in loans to help it recover from recession. Turkey is widely expected to surpass the austerity program’s 3-percent growth and 35-percent inflation targets this year.

Killing pigs by slashing their throats and letting them bleed to death will be decreed unlawful by Christmas and replaced by more humane methods, a Romanian government official said yesterday. As of December 24, pigs, chickens and other livestock must be slaughtered in specially designated abattoirs, where they will receive anesthetics and drinking water, said Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Daniela Popa. Romania hopes to join the European Union by 2007 and Popa said the move was meant “to harmonize our laws with European standards.” (AP)

Two Turkish oil tankers collided yesterday in the Sea of Marmara near an oil refinery in northwest Turkey, but the accident posed no environmental threat. Both vessels were empty when they collided as one was leaving a jetty at the Tupras Refinery in Kocaeli province, a company statement said. (AFP)

Prime Minister Ivica Racan urged Parliament yesterday to support a resolution spelling out Croatia’s wish to join the EU as early as 2007. Although Croatia is not yet a formal EU candidate, Racan said the move could help bring the country under consideration if it was followed up by faster democratic and economic reforms. “If we reach consensus all around, I’m sure we can work to meet democratic and legal requirements for entry in the next wave of expansion,” Racan said. (AP)