Israel to Block Settlements

Israel says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will block, at least temporarily, the building of a new Jewish settler enclave in East Jerusalem. A Netanyahu spokesman says the prime minister believes the time is not right to build at Ras al-Amoud because the project is in the midst of a densely-populated Arab neighborhood and given the state of peace negotiations. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been deadlocked over the building of new Jewish housing in the eastern sector of Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, and any further construction could have led to more violence.

Israel to Publish Account List

Israel says it will publish lists of unclaimed properties and accounts in the face of charges that it, like Switzerland, held assets of Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust. Swiss banks Tuesday unveiled a list of pre-1945 account holders who may have been among the six million Jews perished during the Holocaust. Friday, a professor from Bar Ilan University told Israel Radio the Jewish state's Custodian General presided over a number of such accounts, which could total as much as $70 million in today's dollars. A spokeswoman for the custodian's office said the lists would contain absentee owners of accounts and land under its supervision.

US Soldier's Car Firebombed

A U.S. soldier's car was damaged in a fire bombing outside his apartment in the Bosnian Serb-controlled town of Vlasenica early Friday morning, the NATO-led peace force said. No one was injured in the incident, the latest in a series of Serb retaliatory attacks over a NATO crackdown on indicted war criminals. A "Molotov cocktail type" fire bomb hit the civilian vehicle used by an American military observer... setting the car ablaze, NATO said in a statement. The fire was eventually extinguished.

Fair Elections Promised in Serbia

New Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has promised to ease a press crackdown and ensure fair treatment for rivals in Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections, but several opposition parties said Friday they would boycott the vote. And despite the assurance, the official Tanjug news agency reported the closure of three more radio and television stations in southern Serbia. The office of Serbian president has been vacant since Wednesday when Milosevic became president of Yugoslavia, which is made up of Serbia and Montenegro. The Serbian elections have been scheduled for Sept. 21 by the acting Serbian president and speaker of parliament, Dragan Tomic.

Ahern, Adams Restart Talks

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern met the head of the IRA's Sinn Fein political wing Friday, marking the restart of direct contacts after a new guerrilla cease-fire in British-ruled Northern Ireland. Ahern, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and moderate nationalist leader John Hume jointly urged Northern Ireland's pro-British unionists to back a struggling talks initiative. Friday's meeting was a major step out of the political wilderness for Sinn Fein, ending a freeze on direct ministerial contacts since the IRA broke a previous cease-fire in 1996. Political sources in Belfast said Sinn Fein leaders might meet British ministers next week.

US Tries to Work with Cambodia

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made clear Friday Washington disapproved of Cambodian strongman Hun Sen's grab for power, but sought to work with him rather than try to isolate or oust him. After Hun Sen's July 6 coup against royalist co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the United States suspended all aid to Cambodia for 30 days until the beginning of August while it examined the situation in the country. On Friday, Albright she stressed the goal of returning Cambodia to "normalcy" and a democratic path by preparations for new internationally monitored elections next spring, allowing opposition parties to function and permitting Ranariddh and other members of his royalist party to return from exile.

New Albanian Gov't. Takes Office

Albania's new Socialist government took office Friday, vowing to restore security after five months of chaos sparked by pyramid schemes that ate up the savings of tens of thousands of people in Europe's poorest country. "We shall restore order very soon, within weeks we shall restore security on the national roads and within a few months all around the country, in the towns, everywhere," new Interior Minister Neritan Ceka said. Albania has been ruled by a Socialist-led national unity government since March, when former president Sali Berisha's Democratic Party government stepped down at the height of unrest sparked by the collapse of pyramid investment schemes.

Ukraine Shuffles Cabinet

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, trying to speed up sluggish economic reforms, reshuffled his government Friday following the appointment of a pragmatic new prime minister earlier this month. Issuing a string of decrees, Kuchma replaced ministers in charge of key areas of reform including the economy, industry and energy. It was the biggest shake-up since the president came to power three years ago. But some analysts expressed doubts that the personnel changes would really give a push to free-market reforms. Many ministers were re-appointed and at least three former ministers returned to the cabinet after periods out of office.

Kenya Urged to Talk with Rivals

Kenya's donors, including the United States and Canada, have urged President Daniel arap Moi to pursue dialogue with the opposition to avoid further political violence in the east African country. Diplomats in a letter praised Moi for "demonstrating leadership" by meeting opposition and church leaders last week and said they supported his directive that requests for political meetings be granted automatically. Diplomats have stepped up pressure on Moi, aged 73 and in power since 1978, since at least nine people were killed when police moved in July 7 to crush rallies in support of constitutional reform that would reduce the president's power.

Prominent Chinese Lose Elections

Children of three of China's most renowned communist statesmen, including a daughter of the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, have failed to win election as delegates to a crucial party congress, sources said Friday. Deng Nan, one of Deng Xiaoping's three daughters, failed to win election as a delegate to represent the State Science and Technology Commission at the 15th Communist Party Congress, a source in the party said. Her failure to win a place at the congress reflected unhappiness among party members at the rise to prominence of many "princelings" -- a nickname given to the offspring of China's most senior, veteran elders, party sources said.

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