Japan

Chess great to be deported

The Japanese government is preparing to deport American chess legend Bobby Fischer for staying in this country on an invalid passport, immigration officials said Tuesday.

Fischer was detained July 13 at the international airport in Narita after trying to board a flight for Manila, Philippines.

Immigration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Fischer, 61, has been held in their custody since, and said he was being processed for deportation. They refused to give further details, but said he could appeal their decision.

United Nations

Israel told to tear down wall

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Tuesday demanding that Israel comply with a world court decision and tear down the barrier it is building to seal off the West Bank. A defiant Israel vowed to continue construction.

The 150-6 vote was opposed by Israel and the United States, which argued that the resolution was unbalanced. Ten countries abstained. The four other countries that opposed the resolution were Australia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.

The assembly’s vote, like the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, is not legally binding. But both have symbolic value as international statements of condemnation of the barrier.

Only the Security Council can order the barrier to be torn down or impose sanctions, and the United States — Israel’s closest ally — would almost certainly use its veto power to block any such resolution.

West Bank

Government unrest continues

Gunmen shot and wounded a strong critic of Yasser Arafat on Tuesday, the latest example of the chaos that has divided the Palestinian leader’s Cabinet and sparked violent protests against his administration.

Nabil Amr, a Palestinian lawmaker and former Cabinet minister, was shot in the leg by unidentified attackers while on his way home in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinians said. Doctors said he was not seriously wounded.

Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, meanwhile, told Arafat he’s determined to quit unless Arafat yields more power to the Cabinet. Arafat has refused to accept Qureia’s resignation.

“The crisis goes on,” said Saeb Erekat, a senior Cabinet minister.

Washington, D.C.

International community pledges aid to Haiti

Wealthy nations and international financial institutions Tuesday gave Haiti’s interim government a strong vote of confidence by pledging more than $1 billion in grants and loans for the grindingly poor nation’s development.

The amount exceeded the Haitian government’s request from the international community of $924 million to put the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere on a path to economic recovery, democracy, stability and security.

The pledges of assistance came at the end of a two-day donors’ conference co-sponsored by the United Nations, the World Bank, European Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank.