A roundup of today's other world news in brief:
Kevorkian to run for US Congress
MICHIGAN- Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian (79), known as "Doctor Death" for helping more than 100 people end their lives, said yesterday he will run for the US Congress.
Dr Kevorkian, a pathologist, announced his bid to run as an independent less than a year after being released from prison where he served eight years for second- degree murder.
- (AP)
Minister predicts Eta violence
SPAIN- Spain's acting interior minister says the country is headed for a long period of violence from the Basque separatist group Eta.
Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said in a radio interview that Eta had been dramatically weakened by years of arrests and a lack of support both in the Basque region and internationally and it would seek to give an appearance of strength by staging attacks.
- (AP)
China jails critic for five years
BEIJING- Chinese dissident Yang Chunlin, who called for human rights to take precedence over the Olympic Games, has been sentenced to five years in jail on charges of inciting subversion, his family and lawyer said yesterday.
The unemployed factory worker, from the northeastern city of Jiamusi in Heilongjiang province, went on trial in February after he helped nearby villagers to issue a petition about disputed land last year that declared, "We don't want the Olympics, we want human rights."
- (Reuters)
Surprise painting may fetch €10m
A painting by French master Jean-Antoine Watteau, missing for 160 years, has been found in a private house in England and will go on sale in July priced at £3 million to £5 million (€10.3 million) - a record for the artist's work. It was found during a routine valuation in the corner of a small sitting room in a country house.
La Surprise, painted about 1718 and described as one of Watteau's most beautiful works, was last recorded in a probate valuation in 1848 when it was bequeathed to the family of the current owners, who had no idea what they had.
- (Reuters)
Support slips for Japan's leader
TOKYO- Public support for Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda slid to just below 25 per cent in a media poll published yesterday, the latest sign of voter doubts about his leadership in the face of a deepening political deadlock.
Mr Fukuda's falling popularity - he boasted support rates of about 60 per cent when he took office six months ago - has sparked speculation that his ruling party may try to replace him before an election that could come this year.
- (AP)
Anger at breast surgery in game
LONDON- Parents groups in the UK have condemned a new internet game in which girls as young as nine are encouraged to "buy" their virtual dolls breast operations and facelifts.
The aim of the Miss Bimbo beauty contest game, which was launched in Britain last month, is to become the "hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the whole world" and contestants who compete against each other are told to "stop at nothing", even "meds or plastic surgery", to ensure their dolls win.
- (Guardian service)
Bomb attack in Russian region
NAZRAN- A car bomb exploded outside a bank in southern Russia's violence- plagued Ingushetia region yesterday, injuring at least five people, authorities said.
A device exploded beneath a Mercedes which was parked on a central street in the regional capital, Nazran, the Ingush interior ministry said.
- (Reuters)