WORLD REPORT Norway dropping charges against Israeli

The case was dismissed Sunday, when prosecutors said it would probably be impossible to convict former Mossad agent Mike Harari due to lack of evidence and the amount of time that has passed since the 1973 killing.

Norwegian officials have long suspected that Harari planned the assassination of Moroccan waiter Ahmed Bouchikhi, who was apparently mistaken for Hassan Salameh, a PLO official suspected in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

3,000 commemorate Argentine blast

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) -- Argentina's Jews this week marked the fifth anniversary of the deadly bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

An estimated 3,000 people attended the ceremony Sunday commemorating the AMIA bombing, which killed 86 people and wounded 300 others.

The commemorations came after an Argentine prosecutor said he is seeking to charge 19 people, 10 of them former police officials, in connection with the bombing.

Russia recognizes Reform synagogue

MOSCOW (JTA) -- Local officials in the central Russian city of Bryansk registered a Reform synagogue there, ending a 20-month controversy over the congregation's official status.

In1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a controversial law that placed restrictions on religions that cannot prove they have existed officially in Russia for at least 15 years. Two months later, provincial officials cited the legislation when denying registration to the liberal Jewish congregation in Bryansk.