Land Claims

THE BALKANS * Yugoslav soldiers fired on and seized a boatload of Croatian dignitaries near a disputed island, officials said. Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan expressed outrage despite an apology by telephone from Zoran Djindjic, prime minister of Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic. No one was hurt, and the Croats were released after being interrogated for several hours.

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara visited a remote Japanese islet, aiming to firm up Japan's claim to surrounding waters. The visit to Okinotorishima came ahead of a meeting in Tokyo next week between Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to improve relations. China does not challenge Japan's sovereignty over Okinotorishima but says it is a rock, not an island, and refuses to recognize Japan's claims to an exclusive fishing zone around it.

The government of Israel seems to be embracing the Christmas spirit. This week it is organizing carols and tree giveaways in Jerusalem, bus service to Bethlehem and even a fireworks show in Nazareth with an apparent eye on burnishing the nation's reputation for religious diversity. But Israel won't be giving the Christmas gift near the top of the Vatican's wish list this year: possession of a Mt. Zion holy site where Jesus is believed to have gathered his disciples for the Last Supper.

Israel has failed to keep its pledge to stop enlarging Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert acknowledged in an interview published Friday, addressing a criticism he expects to hear next week from President Bush. "Every year all the settlements in all the territories [of the West Bank] continue to grow," Olmert told the Jerusalem Post. "There is a certain contradiction in this between what we're actually seeing and what we ourselves promised. . . .

Russian authorities seized a Japanese fishing boat carrying a crew of six in disputed waters between the two nations, the Japan Coast Guard said today. The vessel was captured Sunday morning off Kunashir, one of several disputed islands in a group the Japanese call the Northern Territories and the Russians call the Kurils. Russia seized the chain in the closing days of World War II.

Japanese patrol vessels fired a water cannon at a boat carrying Chinese activists who were protesting Japanese claims to territory in the East China Sea, the activist group said. A boat carrying the protesters arrived Sunday evening near five disputed islets known as the Diaoyutai islands in China and Senkaku in Japan, according to the activists' group, the Hong Kong-registered China Federation of Defending Diaoyutai Islands.

Santa Ana Unified School District and the city of Tustin agreed Monday to postpone their latest court showdown over the closed Tustin Marine base to allow the district time to study a new compromise offered by the city, district attorneys said. Tustin agreed in May to pay Santa Ana Unified $60 million for the latter's claim to land at the base. At issue is how Tustin will guarantee payment. The school district wants a letter of credit; Tustin is seeking a less costly alternative.

Despite protesters and the objections of an international human rights panel, the U.S. government auctioned off cattle seized from two Western Shoshone sisters in Nevada who owe nearly $3 million in grazing fees. The federal Bureau of Land Management on Friday sold the 232 cattle for $59,262 to three unnamed out-of-state bidders.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in the territory of Nunavut, announced plans for an army training center and a port on the third day of an Arctic trip meant to assert sovereignty over a region with potentially vast energy resources. Denmark will stake a claim with a scientific expedition starting Sunday. The race to secure subsurface rights to the Arctic seabed heated up when Russia sent two mini-submarines to plant a flag on the North Pole seabed last week. The U.S.

Japan will send a high-ranking official to South Korea to defuse rising tension over a resource-rich cluster of islets claimed by both countries, a top government official said. The emergency visit to Seoul is intended to break a standoff triggered by Tokyo's plan to conduct a maritime survey around the uninhabited islands. The Japanese coast guard survey ships have lingered off the country's coast as tensions flared. South Korea has dispatched about 20 gunboats to the disputed waters.