World Report

LONDON (JTA) -- British rabbis of all movements are supporting a court decision ordering the separation of conjoined twins, though the operation will mean the death of the weaker twin.

In a case that has sharply divided the nation, Britain's Court of Appeals on Friday upheld an earlier decision to separate the twins, who share vital organs. The devout Catholic parents of "Jodie" and "Mary" are opposed to the operation, although doctors believe that if the girls are not separated, both will die within months.

British Jewish ethicists are meanwhile siding with the court order, and the rabbinic consensus is relying on the analogy that Mary is a rodef -- Hebrew for "pursuer" -- of Jodie, threatening her life.

Hate-spewing official nailed by Swiss media and minister

ZURICH (JTA) -- Switzerland's finance minister fired an official from his ministry because of anti-Semitic articles he wrote for an Internet site.

Last week, Swiss media joined the nation's Jewish leaders in calling for the dismissal of Hanspeter Sutter, who wrote that if Hitler had "killed all the Jews, Switzerland would not have to pay billions to Holocaust survivors." Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger initially said he was shocked by the articles, but he refused to dismiss Sutter.

The president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Switzerland, Alfred Donath, is meanwhile claiming that the government only acts when it comes under pressure from the media, which he attributes to Villiger's change of heart.

Lithuania head denounces anti-Semitic party stances

VILNIUS (JTA) -- Lithuania's prime minister called on the country's mainstream political parties to fight anti-Semitism in the nation's political campaign.

Andrius Kubilius' comments came at a ceremony marking the 57th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto. The elections are scheduled for Oct. 8.

Meanwhile, 39 nations have been invited to attend a meeting next week here in the Baltic country's capital. It will focus on Nazi-looted intellectual and cultural property, including patents and religious objects.

The meeting on Tuesday through Thursday is the latest in a series of international gatherings focusing on Holocaust-era restitution. In 1997, a conference was held in London about Nazi-looted gold. In 1998, a meeting was held in Washington on looted assets. In January of this year, Stockholm hosted a meeting on Holocaust education.