Shorts: World

China hosts Hamas official

beijing (ap/jta) | China hosted a Hamas official this week, while insisting that it did not want to not jeopardize ties with Israel.

The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, a senior member of the radical Islamic group, flew Tuesday, May 23 to Beijing, where he attended a Sino-Arab forum.

Israel had voiced umbrage over the invitation to China, with which it has good trade relations.

On the fund-raising trip, Zahar also will visit Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.




Britain seeks compensation for IDF shootings

london (jta) | Britain asked Israel to compensate the families of two British activists killed in the Gaza Strip.

British Attorney General Peter Goldsmith, in Israel this week for a Bar Association event, held meetings in the foreign and justice ministries about the 2003 deaths of Tom Hurndall and James Miller. Both were shot by Israeli forces in the flashpoint town of Rafah.

Israel has jailed the soldier who killed Hurndall but dropped charges against an officer blamed in the Miller case.




Bombing suspects still free in Argentina

buenos aires (jta) | A court in Argentina this week upheld an earlier decision that released 20 suspects in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

In September 2004, a federal panel freed the 20 defendants of all charges in the July 18, 1994, bombing at the AMIA Jewish center.

Earlier this year, AMIA and the Jewish umbrella organization DAIA, appealed the case along with families of some of the bombing victims, insisting on the direct responsibility of five of the accused.

The May 19 ruling leaves the Argentine Supreme Court as the only remaining avenue for appeal.

The attack against the central building of the Argentine Jewish community caused 85 deaths and wounded hundreds.




Anti-Semitic crimes up in Germany

berlin (jta) | Anti-Semitic crimes in Germany rose by 25 percent in 2005 over the previous year, according to government statistics.

The total number of crimes was reported at 1,682, translating into five reported incidents per day, the Federal Ministry of the Interior reported this month.