Deutsche Welle English Service News June 12th, 2004, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Europe's Carnival of Soccer Gets Underway Euro 2004 finally gets underway in Portugal amid a sea of color and noise. The host nation open the competition with the first match against the Greeks in Porto. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,8053_A_1219964_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Attention: Due to e-mail manipulation, many e-mails are being sent from e-mail accounts that resemble Deutsche Welle mail accounts. Many of these mails contain viruses. We would like to inform you that Deutsche Welle (DW-WORLD) is not responsible for sending such mails. We are are doing our best to put an end to external e-mail manipulation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Senior Iraqi diplomat killed In Baghdad, gunmen have shot the country's most senior diplomat, Bassam Salih Kubba. The Shiite politician was shot in front of his home and later died in hospital. Kubba was one of four deputy foreign ministers and had previously served as head of Iraq's mission at the UN and as Iraqi ambassador to China. It was the second attack on a member of Iraq's interim government in recent times. In mid-May the head of the former Governing Council, Izzadine Saleem, was killed in a suicide car bombing. Kidnappers cut throat of 3 hostages in Iraq Iraqi insurgents have killed one Lebanese citizens and two Iraqis working for a telecommunications company. A Lebanese diplomat said the three, kidnapped on Thursday near the flashpoint town of Fallujah, were found lying on a roadside with their throats cut. He said another Lebanese national kidnapped late in May has been released. A third is still being held hostage. Meanwhile, seven Turkish construction workers kidnapped this week have been released and are on their way home. A cleric involved in securing the release of hostages in Iraq said around 17 hostages of different nationalities are still being held. He warned some may have been sold to Islamic militant groups. US troops kill 80 Taliban & Al-Qaeda rebels Pakistani troops have closed in on three suspected al-Qaeda mountain hideouts in the remote Waziristan region. The army said it is pursuing up to 600 foreign al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters believed to be hiding among local tribesmen. Residents in the town of Shakai said they hear gunfire overnight and saw warplanes for a fourth day in a row. Just across the border in Afghanistan, US troops working closely with their Pakistani counterparts, have killed 80 rebels in southeastern Afghanistan in the past three weeks. Over 2000 extra US marines were flown into the region in April to bolster forces there. European Parliament poll enters third day The European Parliament election has moved into its third day, with Italians, and new EU citizens in Latvia and Malta now voting. Czechs, whose ballot began on Friday, can also vote this Saturday. Final results, including those from ballots already completed in Britain, the Netherlands and Ireland are not due until Sunday. That is when 18 other EU nations participate, including Germany, France and Poland. At stake, just six weeks after the EU's enlargement, are 732 seats in Strasbourg. Surveys suggest that conservatives will remain the largest bloc, followed by the centre-left, liberals and Greens. Analysts say two factors to watch are eurosceptic parties and voter turnout. Last time, in 1999, it dropped to 49.8 percent. The parliament, established in 1979, has gradually secured decision- making powers, including a say in appointments of EU commissioners. Annan condemns Congo coup attempt United Nations chief Kofi Annan has condemned Friday's coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the UN has a large mission. The UN Secretary General said cohesion was essential to complete Congo's transition to democracy. On Friday forces loyal to President Joseph Kabila put down the attempt. Speaking on state television later, Kabila said a dozen dissident members of his own elite guard had been arrested, but their leader, Major Eric Lengue, was still on the run. The dissidents had briefly occupied the national radio station in Kinshasa and shut down the city's power. UN to prepare Sudanese mission The United Nations Security Council has decided to prepare a peacekeeping and monitoring mission for southern Sudan. The council asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send a planning team in the expectation that southern Sudanese rebels and Sudan's Khartoum-based government will complete peace arrangements in late June. They have negotiated since a cease-fire two years ago aimed at ending 21 years of warfare and famine. The UN council also called for a halt to fighting in Sudan's western region of Darfur, where a major refugee crisis is unfolding. Ethnic Africans communities have been displaced, allegedly by Arab militias backed by Sudanese troops. The UN says in excess of one million people need food and medical care. Bomb attack on Indian Kashmir hotel kills 4 In Indian Kashmir, the AP news agency reports that attackers threw a bomb in a hotel on Saturday, killing four people and injuring 28 others. Police say the bomb was thrown in the dining room of the hotel in Pahalgam, a popular holiday spot in restive Indian Kashmir. The little-known Islamic militant group Al Nasereen has claimed responsibility for the attack. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoy our "World News" newsletter? 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