Greece Two gunmen, thought to be Albanians, commandeered a bus with some 25 passengers on board in an Athens suburb, later releasing a total of 12 while reportedly demanding one million euros in ransom and a plane to be flown out of country. Iraq At least seven people were killed when a bomb exploded in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala, raising the death toll from a string of deadly attacks ahead of January's general elections. Iraq Iraq announced that a feared aide to Saddam Hussein nicknamed "Chemical Ali" will be the first of the toppled dictator's henchmen to be tried as Prime Minister Iyad Allawi joined the race for next month's landmark polls. Afghanistan A Turkish engineer taken hostage with a driver and interpreter in Afghanistan was killed by kidnappers who had been cornered by police, officials said. EU Raising its tone on the eve of a critical summit, Turkey said it would freeze its 40-year dream of joining the European Union if it is presented with unacceptable conditions and pursue its path of reform and modernization alone. Mideast Palestinian hardliners rejected a call by new PLO chief Mahmud Abbas to lay down their weapons as a spiralling death toll in Gaza threatened to undermine his efforts to bring calm to the region. Australia The Australian government warned that it had received specific intelligence suggesting an imminent attack by extremists in Indonesia, possibly targeting a Hilton hotel. Congo A UN team found a ghost town and "very worrying humanitarian situation" in Kanyabayonga in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where dozens have been killed in four days of fighting. Mozambique Mozambique's ruling party and its presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, have secured a landslide victory in polls to choose a successor to veteran leader Joaquim Chissano amid opposition outrage and demands for new elections. Pakistan India and Pakistan held the first talks on conventional weapons during their current peace dialogue, a day after the rivals discussed reducing the risk of nuclear war.