81.   Secretary of State Warren Christopher will travel to Vietnam in August to discuss ties between the two countries, Clinton said.

82.   Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu heads to Sweden Thursday for a two-day visit to discuss bilateral ties, his office announced Wednesday.

83.   Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder discussed bilateral ties in a telephone conversation late Thursday, the Kremlin press service said.

84.   Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar will meet his Austrian counterpart Franz Vranitzky Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties, the Slovak government announced.

85.   The club of democratic market-economy countries also discussed expanded ties with nations such as China.

86.   The British foreign secretary will meet his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, to discuss boosting ties, the British diplomat added.

87.   The Fatah central committee would also discuss renewed ties between the Palestinian Authority and Arab states, he added.