News In Brief

Undeterred by thousands of protesters outside, members of Indonesia's parliament scheduled a vote on whether to convene a special session to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid. The move had the support of both of the nation's major political parties. Wahid repeated a vow not to resign, although he did an about-face and sent a formal response on his second censure by lawmakers. Above, some of his angry supporters boost a protester to the top of a heavily reinforced gate to the parliament house. Police quickly responded with tear gas and warning shots.

Six people were hurt when a car bomb exploded in the coastal Israeli city of Netanya within hours after security discussions with Palestinian representatives ended inconclusively. The blast was the second in Netanya and the fourth inside Israel generally in less than two weeks. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said more security meetings were scheduled, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told parliament that although such attacks made Israeli "blood boil," his troops would continue to observe a unilateral truce.

Buses were standing by to evacuate thousands of noncombatants from villages in northern Macedonia, although many of them refused to leave out of fear that they'd be beaten by government security forces, one mayor said. Complicating the situation, ethnic-Albanian insurgents in the area said abandoning their positions was "out of the question" and that they would strike again "anywhere we think necessary."

Another inspection of Irish Republican Army weapons caches - the first in seven months - found them still "secure," the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning in Northern Ireland reported. The IRA allows the periodic checks of some of its secret bunkers in the Republic of Ireland as a confidence-building measure but refuses to surrender any weapons.

The first compensation checks were expected to reach surviving Nazi-era slave laborers in about two weeks as Germany's parliament prepared to OK the unlocking of a $4.6 billion fund built from government and private business contributions. More than 1 million people, most of them living in eastern Europe, are expected to benefit from the fund via one-time-only payments of up to $6,700 each.

For the third straight day, gunfire was heard in the capital of the Central African Republic as dissident troops regained control of the largest army barracks. The facility was surrounded by soldiers loyal to the government. Meanwhile, ex-military ruler Andre Kolingba confirmed that he was involved in what appeared to be a coup attempt against President Ange-Felix Patasse early Monday. But Kolingba denied it was an effort to overthrow the government.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor