TOYAKO, Japan -- Dmitry Medvedev called the American president "George" and offered him birthday congratulations. He gave a heartfelt thanks to French leader Nicolas Sarkozy for phoning just hours after he won Russia's presidential vote.

But four face-to-face meetings in a fog-shrouded hilltop hotel brought no discernible changes in Russia's stance on a slew of issues that strained ties with the West under Medvedev's predecessor, Vladimir Putin.

The mix of cordiality and apparent entrenchment on key positions suggested that for Russia's global partners, the change in the Kremlin may not run so deep. While both Russia and the West might like to turn a page in their relations, progress probably won't come easy.

The opening day of the summit of the G-8 nations brought Medvedev's first meetings with Sarkozy, Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown since he took over from Putin. He met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the second time, after making Germany his first Western destination as president.

JERUSALEM -- Israel's military said it began digging up the bodies of Lebanese fighters Monday after the government struck a deal with Hezbollah guerrillas to swap five living prisoners and dozens of bodies for two Israeli soldiers captured in 2006.

Israel said in a statement that the swap agreement was signed "in the presence of a U.N. representative." Implementation of the deal depends on carrying out further steps, the statement said without providing specifics.

Hezbollah officials refused to comment.

Israel approved the swap June 29. It will hand over Samir Kantar, serving multiple life terms for a 1979 attack in Israel's north, as well as four Hezbollah prisoners and dozens of bodies of fighters. In return, Israel is to receive two soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a 2006 cross-border raid that set off a fierce 34-day war.

RUSUTSU, Japan -- An aid group founded by U2 frontman Bono calculates that the Group of Eight top industrialized nations has delivered only $3 billion of the additional $25 billion promised for Africa for everything from AIDS drugs to training peacekeepers.

Now the Africans and their allies want a new system to make sure rich nations come through.

The G-8 opened their summit in northern Japan on Monday with a discussion with eight African leaders over the progress in aid increases to the continent -- and how the wealthy countries have fallen short.

Along with Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and the head of the Africa Union Commission, the G-8 discussed setting up a mechanism to measure their progress in fulfilling pledges and to hold them to their word, said leaders and aid groups.

"When the G-8 leaders make various commitments, it's important to have a monitoring system," said World Bank President Robert Zoellick, who joined the talks. "I think countries need to deliver on their promises, and that was the tone that was generally set in the discussion."

CAIRO, Egypt -- Under pressure from fundamentalist forms of Islam and bursts of sectarian violence, the most populous Christian community in the Middle East is seeking safety by turning inward, cutting day-to-day social ties that have bound Muslim to Christian in Egypt for centuries, members of both communities say.

Attacks this summer on monks and shopkeepers belonging to Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, and scattered clashes between Muslims and Christians, have compelled many of Egypt's 6 million to 8 million Copts to isolate themselves in a nation of more than 70 million Muslims.

To a degree, the separation will stand as the legacy of one of the longest-serving leaders in the church's history, Pope Shenouda III, some Copts say. Shenouda has strengthened the church as the center of daily Coptic life, making it a bulwark for Christians, during a papacy that has spanned 36 years. Now 85, Shenouda is facing health problems, including a broken leg last month that was repaired in the United States.

Across much of Egypt, Muslims and Christians note a drawing apart of their communities, especially in the working class.

Many say they mourn the loss.

Others say the separation is for the best.

"It's natural," Ayad Labid Faleh, a Coptic Christian, said in his auto parts store in the Shobra neighborhood of Cairo. In the dim, oil-slicked shop front, Faleh waited for customers, surrounded by boxed hoses and florid icons.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A bomb ripped through the gates of the Indian Embassy on Monday, killing 41 people and scattering bodies and pools of blood across some of Kabul's most protected Streets. Afghanistan quickly blamed Pakistan, India's archrival.

The suicide car bomber followed a diplomat's vehicle and detonated the explosives at the building's main entrance, only 30 yards from where dozens of Afghans had lined up to apply for visas.

The blast was the deadliest in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Nearly 150 other people were wounded.

Women and children browsing nearby shops were among the victims who lay on the ground, bloodied and in agony, crying for help. Debris covered the pavement, including sandals, a wrecked bicycle and heaps of twisted metal.

The embassy is on a busy, tree-lined street near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry that is protected on both ends by police, though the checkpoints are easily driven past. The 8:30 a.m. explosion rattled much of Kabul and kicked up gray dust that shrouded the bodies of the dead and enveloped the survivors -- a monochromatic coating broken only by the crimson blood of the wounded. The blast blew clothing off many victims.

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia's parliament approved a new government Monday that includes a pro-Western group and the political party of the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Leaders of the coalition have pledged to speed up the Balkan country's integration into the European Union but also to continue fighting Kosovo's statehood. Kosovo was a cherished Serbian province before declaring independence in February with the support of Western powers.

The Cabinet was approved in a 127-27 vote, with the remaining lawmakers in the 250-seat Parliament refusing to vote.

The new government includes the Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic and the Socialist Party of Serbia, which was formed by Milosevic in the 1990s. Under Milosevic the Socialists were accused of inciting the Balkan wars and ruining Serbia's economy, but the party has sought to shake off that image by embracing pro-Western reforms.

New Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, 57, pledged to take the country toward EU membership.