World Digest: June 5, 2013 Gunmen ambushed a group of travelers at a fake checkpoint at a remote desert site in western Iraq on Wednesday and killed at least 14 of them, according to Iraqi officials, in what appeared to be the latest manifestation of the sectarian violence gripping the country. The gunmen, apparently seeking Shiites, struck near the town of Nukhaib, which sits west of the Shiite holy city of Karbala but is in mainly Sunni Anbar province. The assailants at the bogus highway post checked the identities of travelers, presumably to identify their sect based on their names, according to officials, who said the victims had been shot in the head. The dead included police officers and soldiers, as well as civilian residents of Karbala. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Officials believe Sunni insurgents are responsible for much of the violence against Shiites and government forces, which are dominated by the sect. Prominent activists charged over protest Twelve of Egypt's best-known bloggers and activists are headed for trial on charges of instigating violence during a March protest against the Muslim Brotherhood, which is aligned with President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's state prosecutor said Wednesday. The move coincided with a protest by writers and artists who stormed the office of the new culture minister, Alaa Abdel-Aziz, chanting, "I am not an infidel, I am an artist. I reject the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. Critics say Abdel-Aziz, who has fired several officials, is trying to cement Brotherhood control of the ministry. The referral to trial of the 12 activists and bloggers is seen as part of government efforts to stifle dissent ahead of planned mass anti-Morsi protests on June 30, the anniversary of his taking office. MENA, the state news agency, quoted Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah as saying the 12 included Alaa Abdel Fattah, Nawara Negm, Ahmed Douma, Karim el-Shaer and other well-known youth leaders who helped spearhead the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak. Latvia to become 18th euro member Some still doubt its future and many investors have shunned it, but the euro remained on track Wednesday to add a member to the list of countries that use it as legal tender: Latvia. European officials announced that the small Baltic nation had satisfied requirements for adoption of the single currency, clearing the way for it to start issuing euro notes and coins on Jan. 1. It will be the 18th member of the euro zone; the last to join was its neighbor, Estonia, in 2011. Officials hailed Latvia's readiness as proof that, despite the currency's many woes, the euro remains an object of aspiration for some countries. A persistent debt crisis has forced five members to seek international aid to prop up their governments or banks. Los Angeles Times Yemen targets al-Qaeda in south: More than 10,000 Yemeni troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an offensive in the southern province of Hadramawt to drive al-Qaeda militants from the area, killing at least seven suspected fighters, the Defense Ministry said. The huge operation followed efforts by Yemen's new government to force remaining al-Qaeda militants out of their former strongholds captured during a year of political turmoil that ended with the ouster of Yemen's longtime president early last year. German families plucked from flood: Families in southern Germany scrambled to their rooftops and were airlifted to safety by helicopter after two levees broke and raging floodwaters swept through their village. The drama in the town of Deggendorf was being echoed across vast tracts of central Europe, where officials say least 16 people have died and at least four are missing in the water overflowing river banks. Ex-Murdoch executive denies phone hacking:Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, pleaded not guilty in a London court to charges of phone hacking, bribing public officials and trying to thwart a police probe into tabloid wrongdoing.