ANKARA (AP) - A bomb attack yesterday by suspected Kurdish rebels in a shopping arcade in southeastern Turkey killed at least one person and injured six, officials said. One other person died later of injuries after police fired in the air to disperse a mob that tried to attack a suspected Kurdish militant, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. Anatolia said angry residents tried to lynch a suspected militant accused of placing the bomb, but that police managed to disperse the crowd by firing warning shots. The blast occurred at a bookshop in the town of Semdinli in Hakkari province. Also yesterday, a group of Kurdish activists formed a new party to advance Kurdish rights. The new party, the Democratic Society Movement, or DTH, includes several activists and members of the dissolved pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party, or DEHAP.

BRUSSELS (AP) - Serbia-Montenegro must accelerate judicial reforms, tackle widespread corruption and avoid creating new barriers between the two republics if it wants to move closer to European Union membership, the European Commission said yesterday. In a report on the country’s progress in preparations for signing the Stabilization and Association agreement — an initial step toward eventual membership — the Commission also said the country has made significant headway in its cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, but urged it to continue “to achieve full cooperation.” In a report on Kosovo, the Commission said minority rights — particularly those of Serbs and Gypsies, or Roma — must be improved. It also said a lack of respect for the rule of law and problems of organized crime and widespread corruption are of great concern.

Five people were killed and more than 70 others were injured yesterday in two major highway pile-ups in Serbia involving a total of about 100 vehicles, local media reported. The accidents happened within an hour of each other during heavy fog on Serbia’s main highway linking the capital Belgrade with Nis, the third-largest city in the south of the country, said state television station RTS. (AFP)

A two-day international conference against organized crime and terrorism in Southeastern European countries started yesterday. Besides police and other officials from Southeastern European countries, officials from the European Union and the United States took part in the conference on “Trans-border challenges for Southeastern Europe: fighting organized crime and terrorism.” “The fight against organized crime and terrorism requires a concerted, patient, and courageous effort on all our parts. The United States remains ready to help,” said US Ambassador to Tirana Marcie B. Ries. (AP)

Romanian authorities have canceled a fishing ban in the Danube Delta after recent tests revealed no further cases of bird flu in the region, the Agriculture Minister said yesterday. The ban was meant to reduce the number of people coming into the delta region and was imposed last month after several birds tested positive for the H5N1 subtype of avian flu. A hunting ban remains in effect for the Danube Delta region, a large wetland reservation in eastern Romania. (AP)