BELGRADE (AP) - A defendant in the trial of five Serb militiamen, charged with the 1995 videotaped execution of six Bosnian Muslims, acknowledged yesterday that he took part in the shooting, saying he only followed orders. Defendant Pero Petrasevic told the judges, “In front of God, I’m certainly guilty.” “But, you will now have to determine if I am guilty for following orders,” Petrasevic, 36, told a three-judge panel presiding over the landmark case. He was the first of the five former members of the dreaded Serb “Scorpions” paramilitary unit to acknowledge shooting the Bosnian men.

STRASBOURG (AP) - Europe’s top human rights watchdog said yesterday that Gypsies continue to face discrimination in Romania and called on the two countries to implement anti-discrimination laws and punish offenders. The Council of Europe said Gypsies, or Roma, face discrimination in Romania in such areas as jobs and access to education, public places and decent housing, which makes it hard for them to integrate into mainstream society. Prejudice against Gypsies is common in Romania where, officially, 500,000 Gypsies live.

Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu shepherded health reforms through Parliament yesterday, defying a no-confidence motion for new taxes and measures to make health service managers more accountable. Tariceanu’s centrist coalition survived an opposition motion of no-confidence and the government-proposed health reforms were passed. He said the reforms were necessary to improve patient care, and accused the opposition Social Democrats of ruining the system when they were in office during 2000-2004. (AP)

A non-governmental organization for children’s welfare yesterday launched a legal appeal to stop screenings of a Turkish blockbuster movie that depicts US soldiers in Iraq as villains. “The movie commits the crime of separatism by trying to instill in the masses xenophobia, racism and the sick idea that the entire world is against Turkey,” Nil Demirkazik, the head of NGO Cocuk-Der, told reporters outside the courthouse in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey. The film, “Valley of the Wolves - Iraq,” is based on a true event in July 2003 when US soldiers arrested and hooded 11 Turkish special forces officers operating in northern Iraq. (AFP)

Bulgaria’s unemployment rate stood at 11.67 percent in January, the lowest January figure since 1992, the Labor Ministry said yesterday. (AFP)