South Korea honors sailors killed in ship sinking-South Korea's Lee talks security risks with Chinese leader

Choi Won-il, 2nd left, captain of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan, and the survivors holding portraits of the victims pass by family members during a funeral ceremony at a navy base at Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul Thursday, April 29, 2010. South Korea honored 46 sailors Thursday with a tearful military funeral a month after a blast sank their warship, and officials vowed retaliation for those responsible as speculation mounted that North Korea may have torpedoed the vessel.


South Korean President Lee Myung-bak salutes in front of portraits of the deceased sailors from the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan during a funeral ceremony at a navy base at Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul Thursday, April 29, 2010. South Korea honored 46 sailors Thursday with a tearful military funeral a month after a blast sank their warship, and officials vowed retaliation for those responsible as speculation mounted that North Korea may have torpedoed the vessel.


South Korean mourners leave after the memorial ceremony for the deceased sailors from the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan during a memorial service at Seoul City Hall Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 29, 2010. South Korea honored 46 sailors Thursday with a solemn military funeral a month after their warship sank near waters disputed with rival North Korea.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak held talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Shanghai on Friday that touched on security risks caused by the North's suspected attack on a warship from the South.

China, the reclusive and impoverished North's biggest benefactor with the most influence in Pyongyang, wants to prevent further tensions that increase the chances of war but is not about to punish its neighbor, analysts said.

"The bottom line is that Pyongyang knows that Beijing will not forsake them even if they behave in this provocative manner," said Peter Beck, a specialist in Korean affairs at Stanford University.

Lee, who met Hu on the sidelines of the World Expo in Shanghai, has signaled Seoul will not retaliate with force, calming investor concerns in Asia's fourth largest economy.

"I want to address the tragic loss of your country's warship," Hu told Lee. "To those who died and to their families, please let them know we grieve with them."

South Korea lost 46 sailors when their ship was struck last month by what is believed to be a North Korean torpedo. If confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest strikes by Pyongyang since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Thai PM vows not to allow protesters to intimidate public again-Thai hospital near protest evacuates some patients

Political unrest: Bangkok police officers assemble outside Chulalongkorn Hospital which was stormed by anti-government protesters

Anxious: A mother waits with her child at Chulalongkorn Hospital before being evacuated to a different facility

A hospital in Bangkok next to an anti-government protest camp evacuated some of its patients on Friday after protesters forced their way into the grounds to look for soldiers they thought were there preparing an attack.

More than 200 "red shirt" protesters had barged into the grounds of Chulalongkorn University Hospital late on Thursday to look for troops.

They found none and left after roaming through the grounds, the lobby and car parks, some carrying wooden staves, for an hour. Some said they wanted to return on Friday to make sure there were no troops there but "red shirt" leaders ruled it out.

"We have told them it was an inappropriate move. We truly apologise for any inconvenience caused. Some were very concerned the hospital was harbouring troops," Weng Tojirakarn told Reuters.

Lawsuits target AZ law amid calls for boycotts

While the new Arizona immigration law drew protests, news conferences and court lawsuits, a drop house was raided by the Arizona Department of Public Safety along with other law enforcement jurisdictions including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, yielding nine suspected illegal immigrants, shown here, and three suspected human smugglers Thursday, April 29, 2010, in Phoenix


Suspected illegal immigrants are detained by law enforcement officials in Phoenix after a drop house was raided Thursday, April 29, 2010. Police said there were nine illegal immigrants and three suspected human smugglers in this raid.


Suspected human smugglers are detained by law enforcement officials in Phoenix after a drop house was raided Thursday, April 29, 2010. Police said there were nine illegal immigrants and three suspected human smugglers in this raid.

Backlash against a new Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigration is broadening from the political arena as opponents file lawsuits, entertainers and other countries denounce the measure and protesters chant for a boycott of the state at an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game in Chicago.

A lawsuit from 15-year Tucson police veteran Martin Escobar was one of three filed Thursday, less than a week after Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill that critics claim is unconstitutional and fear will lead to racial profiling.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said the federal government may challenge the law, which requires local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally, and makes it a state crime to be in the United States illegally.

Brewer and other backers say the state law is necessary because of the federal government's failure to secure the border and growing anxiety over crime related to illegal immigration.

Belgium bans burkas: Women who refuse to show faces to be jailed for a week under draft law

Banned: A woman wears a burka in Brussels, but she could be jailed if a new law is brought in later this year

Belgium became the first European country to impose a full ban on wearing a burka last night.

Its parliament approved a draft law which states women can be jailed for hiding their faces in public.

The bill - which must be rubber-stamped by the Belgian senate - is set to become law by July.

Centre-Right MP Daniel Bacquelaine said last night: 'The notion of recognising people in the street is essential to maintain public order.

'It's also a question of human dignity. The full face veil turns a woman into a walking prison.'

East meets west as World Expo lands in Shanghai

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) and International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) President Jean-Pierre Lafon attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo in Shanghai, east China, on April 30, 2010.

Fireworks forming smiling faces explode over the World Expo Park during the opening ceremony for the 2010 World Expo held in Shanghai, east China, April 30, 2010

Spectacular fireworks explode over China Pavilion at the World Expo Park during the opening ceremony for the 2010 World Expo held in Shanghai, east China, April 30, 2010. 

Flags-bearers enter the venue carrying the flags of participants during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo at the Expo Cultural Center in Shanghai, east China, April 30, 2010

The Yangtze joins the Blue Danube. Traditional Chinese-style Tang blouses are refitted into ballet dresses. Artists of different colors sing and dance on the same stage.

The Shanghai World Expo opened Friday night with artistic performances, fireworks and high technologies that epitomized 159 years of Expo history.

Thousands of people watched the gala live at the futuristic, UFO-shaped Shanghai Expo Cultural Center, a centerpiece facility at the Expo Park, while thousands more enjoyed fireworks, lights and fountains on the waterfront promenade, the Bund.

Across China, millions shared Shanghai's celebration in front of their TVs.

The indoor performances starred China's piano prodigy Lang Lang, famous for his dramatic countenance and gestures, who played the New Shanghai Concerto, the event's theme music.

The presence of international stars, including Andrea Bocelli, Shinji Tanimura and Maori dancers, turned the stage truly international.

Goldman set to settle SEC fraud case soon: report

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, delivers testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee hearing on ''Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Investment Banks'' on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2010.

Goldman Sachs may soon settle its fraud case with the U.S. regulator, the New York Post reported on Thursday, opting to end a legal fight rather than endure a repeat of the public flogging it received this week.

The Post report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Wall Street's top investment bank was mulling closing the fraud case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to limit damage to its reputation.

"It's almost a certainty that there will be a settlement," the paper quoted a source as saying.

Obama breaks down in tears at funeral of 'Godmother' of American civil rights movement Dorothy Height

Overcome: U.S. President Barack Obama wipes away tears during the funeral for the 'Godmother' of the civil rights movement Dorothy Height in Washington today

Respect: Mr Obama watches as Dr Height's coffin is carried into the cathedral

Changing the course of history: Dr Dorothy Height, left, in one of her characteristically colourful outfits, with her comrade-at-arms Rosa Parks

Tears streaming down his cheeks, grief overcame Barack Obama today as he attended the funeral of the woman he called the 'Godmother' of the American civil rights movement.

The U.S. president was weeping openly as he watched the service for Dorothy Height in Washington today.

He delivered the eulogy for Dr Height, whose activisim stretched from the New Deal right up until Mr Obama's election as the first African American president of the United States.
Dr Height died last week at 98 after a long illness. She was a pioneering voice of the civil rights movement who remained active and outspoken well into her 90s.

She often received rousing ovations at events around Washington, where she was easily recognisable in the bright, colourful hats she almost always wore.

Dr Height led the National Council of Negro Women for decades and marched with the Rev Martin Luther King Jr.

Gulf spill spells uncertainty for new drilling-Obama says oil drilling must be done responsibly

In the conservative Florida Pandhandle, where Sarah Palin's battle cry "Drill, Baby, Drill" is still visible on car bumpers, some are reconsidering their support of offshore drilling as a growing spill in the Gulf of Mexico drifts closer to shore.

Charter captain Jim McMahon, who spent Thursday catching cobia and King Mackerel, said the spill changed his mind.

"I am pessimistic about this," he said. "It could be devastating to the fishing and tourism industry. People aren't going to come to a beach if they have to step through tar balls."

McMahon isn't alone. A top adviser to President Barack Obama says no new oil drilling will be authorized until authorities learn what caused the explosion of the rig Deepwater Horizon. And Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who surveyed the massive oil slick this week and called it "frightening," backed off his support for offshore oil extraction.

Fresh horror as Chinese farmer attacks schoolchildren with hammer in THIRD copycat rampage in three days

The latest attack comes after a knife-wielding man attacked chiildren in Leizhou No.1 Primary School on Wednesday in Leizhou, Guangdong province of China. Here, an injured student is taken to hospital after the attack

Experts say Wednesday's attack was a copycat rampage of two other episodes at Chinese schools in the past month

The latest attack comes after a knife-wielding man attacked chiildren in Leizhou No.1 Primary School on Wednesday in Leizhou, Guangdong province of China. Here, an injured student is taken to hospital after the attack

After the spate of copycat rampages, many schools are said to be concerned they will be targeted next

Following the attack yesterday, Chinese policemen have travelled to schools to show teachers and school workers how to defend themselves if they are targeted

Concern: Worried parents gather outside the gate of the kindergarten where a class of 4-year-olds were attacked

A farmer attacked and injured five primary school children with a hammer in eastern China today before burning himself to death.

The sickening attack is the latest in a string of horrific assaults on young students over the last month, state media reported.

The attacker used a motorcycle to break down a gate of the school in Shandong province's Weifang city, struck a teacher who tried to block him and then used the hammer to attack the children, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The assailant then grabbed two children before pouring petrol over his body and setting himself on fire.
Xinhua said teachers at the Shangzhuang primary school were able to pull the children away to safety, and none of the injured children had life-threatening injuries.

Xinhua identified the attacker as Wang Yonglai, a local farmer, but had no further details.

Labour fights on after debate blow

David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown shake hands after the TV debate

Labour has vowed to carry on fighting to polling day after Gordon Brown failed to make the party's hoped-for breakthrough in the final leaders' debate.

A clutch of instant polls following the last of three televised head-to-heads made David Cameron clear winner, with the Prime Minister again trailing in third place.

With just a week to go and Labour still behind in the overall opinion polls, the party had been hoping desperately that Mr Brown would put in a performance that would change the dynamics of the campaign.

Mr Cameron cautioned that the election was "far from won" for the Conservatives and said that he would spend the next six days concentrating on winning every vote.

Labour election co-ordinator Douglas Alexander also insisted that the result of the election remained "wide open", and said that Mr Brown would carry on fighting until the end.

Man burns himself in latest China school attack-Deadly school attacks in China

A student is seen recovering at a hospital following an attack the day before by a knifeman at his primary school


The primary school in Leizhou, Guangdong province, where a man stabbed several young students


A security guard stands at the entrance to a Beijing school

A farmer attacked children with a hammer at a primary school in eastern China on Friday before setting himself on fire in the latest in a series of apparently copy-cat attacks, state media said.

The rampage in Shandong province left five children and a teacher hurt but in stable condition, Xinhua news agency said, and came as schools across China stepped up security over fears of further attacks.

Before the incident, China had seen three stabbing frenzies at schools in the past month, including two this week alone, by mentally disturbed adults that left eight children dead and nearly 50 injured.

The attacks underscore how China -- which has enjoyed lower violent crime rates than the West -- faces a growing public safety threat from disgruntled individuals amid rising mental illness rates and looser social controls.

£17billion wiped off BP shares as oil slick reaches U.S. coast in 'worst spill in history'... and Obama says they will pay

Ablaze: A fleet of tugs attempt to extinguish the fire on the sinking oil rig Deepwater Horizon, off Louisiana

No way to stop it: Rough winds and waves push against an oil boom set up in a flimsy effort to protect the Louisiana coast yesterday

Snapshot of disaster: Four hundred miles out in space, Nasa's Aqua satellite has taken pictures of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico

Nearly £17 billion pounds have been wiped off BP shares as an oil spill that is threatening to eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control and started washing ashore along America's Gulf Coast early today.

Fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes in a desperate attempt to stave off an environmental disaster.

BP was also facing financial disaster as the company lost £16.9billion in market value and U.S. President Barack Obama announced they will foot the bill for the clean-up.

The company is currently bleeding £4million a day as the crisis spreads out of control. In the end, the disaster could cost billions.

But the threat to life along the Louisiana coast - and the devastating repercussions for the local economy - threatened to be even greater.

The spill was bigger than imagined - and closer. Five times more oil than BP estimated is gushing into the ocean each day – about 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons.

Fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines. The slick is estimated to be 600 miles in circumference and is set to devastate hundreds of miles of coastline.

Indian diplomat accused of spying for Pakistan

An Indian diplomat was arrested by her government on charges of spying for Pakistan, officials said Tuesday, a development that could hurt relations between the wary nuclear neighbors and almost certainly leave New Delhi red-faced.

Madhuri Gupta, 53, a second secretary at the Indian Embassy in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, was reportedly lured back to India on the pretext that her help was needed to prepare for an upcoming regional meeting in Bhutan.


She was detained as soon as she landed at the airport several days ago and was found to be in possession of seven sensitive documents, according to Indian news reports.

"We have reason to believe that an official in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had been passing information to Pakistani intelligence agencies," said Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson for the Indian Foreign Ministry. "The official is cooperating with our investigation and inquiries."

Gupta has worked in the embassy's press and information department for 2 1/2 years as an Urdu translator, Indian news reports said, citing police sources. She had been under suspicion for a few months.

As a second secretary, Gupta probably would not have had much access to sensitive information, said B. Raman, a security analyst and former Pakistan desk head with the Research and Analysis Wing, India's equivalent of the CIA. But she still could have caused significant damage if she planted electronic listening devices, he said.

Mayor pledges more Jewish homes in east Jerusalem

Barkat said there was "no freeze" on construction

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat pledged that more Jewish homes will be built in east Jerusalem, despite US calls for a freeze there in a bid to boost prospects for Middle East peace.

Barkat showed no sign of constraints on construction in Jerusalem despite a Haaretz newspaper report saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to refrain from "significant" actions in the disputed holy city.

"The answer is no, a clear no," he told reporters Tuesday when asked if Israel would heed calls by President Barak Obama's administration to stop building in east Jerusalem until at least Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are launched.

The mayor said there had only been a temporary halt to construction as Israel reeled from the shock of having its US ally publicly reprimand it for announcing last month 1,600 new homes in east Jerusalem.

"When you get two slaps in your face, first of all, you stop and you think: 'Did you do anything wrong?'" he said.

"It takes some time to recover from such an attack by such a friend like the US administration. Now I think we're past that phase right now," Barkat told reporters over dinner.

"There is no freeze," he confirmed, adding there will be more announcements of further construction.

"There will be buildings going on. You cannot stop a vibrant living city, especially not Jerusalem. And by the way, if you stop it, Jews will leave and Arabs will build illegally," he added.

"You must build for both Jews and Arabs," he said.

"Giving Palestinians any grip of east Jerusalem is putting a Trojan horse for Jews in Jerusalem," the mayor said.

Saying he was simply following a masterplan for Jerusalem, Barkat said he aimed to keep the holy city's Jewish population at 65 percent and the Palestinian population at 35 percent.

Barkat said he showed the masterplan -- which also calls for designs that help increase tourists from two million a year to 10 million a year in a decade -- to US lawmakers and government officials during his visit to Washington.

He said he planned to meet with State Department officials on Wednesday.

His visit coincides with that of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, but is independent of it.

The United States has been pressing the two sides to return to negotiations for months, but the Palestinians have refused to do so without a complete freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem.

French president arrives in Xi'an for China visit-Sarkozy: France willing to deepen ties with China

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (R) arrive at Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on April 28, 2010, kicking off a three-day state visit to China. (Xinhua/Yang Yimiao)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Xi’an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, Wednesday morning, starting his three-day state visit to China.

Sarkozy will leave Xi'an for Beijing Wednesday afternoon. He will also visit Shanghai and attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo scheduled for April 30.

During his stay in China, Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao will meet or hold talks with Sarkozy. Leaders of the two countries will exchange views on further improving China-France all-round strategic partnership as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern, according to Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to enhance Franco-Sino relations at all levels because China has an indispensable role to play on the global stage.

Thai troops, protesters clash in Bangkok suburb-Thai king speaks for first time in political crisis ask new appointed judge to act honestly according to oaths to stabilize country.

Thai army soldiers fire at anti-government ''red-shirt'' protesters on a highway near the old airport in the northern suburbs of Bangkok April 28, 2010.

Thai troops fired live rounds in the air and shot rubber bullets in a chaotic clash with anti-government protesters on a highway in Bangkok's suburbs on Wednesday that wounded 10 people and possibly killed one.

Soldiers used rubber bullets or fired into the air with automatic weapons in an attempt to stop a convoy of up to 2,000 "red shirt" protesters on pickup trucks and on motorcycles who had left central Bangkok in defiance of a state of emergency .

About 100 protesters had moved ahead of the main convoy, charging the troops and riot police, who used batons and shields to push them back. Some protesters fought back by hurling stones and shooting metal balls from sling-shots, witnesses said.

The fighting stopped as a powerful tropical rainstorm moved over the traffic-choked area about 40 km (25 miles) from central Bangkok on Vipawadee-Rangsit road.

Meanwhile , Thai king speaks for first time in political crisis ask new appointed judge to act honestly according to oaths to stabilize country.

Arizona's immigration law has ripple effect

Opponents of Arizona's new immigration enforcement law protest outside the state capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday. Critics of the law say that it will encourage racial profiling by law enforcement and endanger civil rights in the state.


Immigration activists express opposition to new Arizona law in New York City on Tuesday.

Andrea Mercado makes a sign in Oakland, in preparation for a planned May 1 immigration rally.

Arizona's tough new immigration law has spawned calls for boycotts, a travel warning from Mexico to its citizens and a possible federal lawsuit, but a key Republican senator said Tuesday that it is not likely to result in comprehensive immigration reform this year.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had been the lone GOP senator supporting reform, but he said it appears a reform bill must wait until 2012 to gain enough public and political support to pass. A reform bill could not pass without bipartisan support.


"Good people in Arizona are so afraid of an uncontrolled border that they passed a law that I think is unconstitutional," Graham said at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "We've got a long way to go to prove we can secure the border."

Arizona's law is under review by the U.S. Justice Department to determine whether it violates the Constitution, and Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that he may challenge the law in court.

'Gay dog' and his blind owner refused service in Australian restaurant

Gay or guide? A seeing-eye dog and its trainer (file photo). An Australian man was barred from a restaurant after staff thought his 'guide' dog was a 'gay' dog

An Australian restaurant has been fined after turning a blind customer away because they thought his guide dog was gay.

Ian Jolly, 57, was trying to enter the Thai Spice restaurant in Adelaide in May, 2009 when he was refused entry.

Staff had misheard the woman with Mr Jolly, and believed that his 'guide dog' Nudge was in fact a 'gay dog'.
The restaurant's owners said a waiter had understood the woman 'to be saying she wanted to bring a gay dog into the restaurant'.

'The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,' the owners said in a statement to South Australia's Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

The restaurant, which displays a 'guide dogs welcome' sign and whose ambience is described in reviews as 'relaxed', has refused to comment on the ruling to the Australian press.

Mr Jolly is set to receive a written apology and US$1,400 compensation - but the situation left a lasting mark.

'I always have that fear now, when I go out,' he said.

'I just want to be like everyone else and be able to go out for dinner,' he told Australian press.

Goldman Sachs heads deny wrongdoing-Selling securities and then betting on their demise at the same time.

Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein gestures during his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee hearing on ''Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Investment Banks'' on Capitol Hill in Washington April 27, 2010.

Senator Carl Levin sparred with Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein over whether the investment bank was conflicted when it sold securities to clients and then shorted them.

Blankfein seemed puzzled by the line of questioning at a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing. Levin seemed frustrated that Blankfein did not acknowledge that a firm may be conflicted if it is selling securities and betting on their demise at the same time.

Below is an abridged transcript of part of their sparring at the hearing:

Japanese PM to meet Okinawa Governor as U.S. base relocation deadline draws close

People take part in a rally as a part of a mass rally in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2010. People take part in a rally as a part of a mass rally in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2010. People staged a mass rally Sunday in the village of Yomitan on the western coast of the Okinawa Island, demanding the central government relocate a U.S. marine base outside of the southernmost prefecture.

People take part in a rally as a part of a mass rally in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2010. 

Okinawa citizens opposed to relocating U.S. marine facility within Japan's southernmost prefecture staged a sit-in protest in front of the Diet members' buildings on April 27, 2010.

Okinawa citizens opposed to relocating U.S. marine facility within Japan's southernmost prefecture staged a sit-in protest in front of the Diet members' buildings on April 27, 2010. 

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will meet Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima on May 4 to discuss the thorny issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Japan's southernmost prefecture, political sources close to the matter said Wednesday.

Hatoyama's visit comes on the back of a mass protest rally held Sunday in which 90,000 local residents and politicians, including the governor, gathered in the village of Yomitan in Okinawa to call for the relocation of the Futemma base outside the island.

Sources also revealed Wednesday that Japan's Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa submitted to Hatoyama a set of proposals for modifying an existing bilateral accord reached in 2006 between the U.S. and Japan to relocate the Futemma base from the crowded residential area of Ginowan to a less densely populated coastal area of the U.S. Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa Prefecture.

eBay pulls listing for van used by 'Dr Death' Kevorkian to perform assisted suicides -Ebay does not sell murder items memoriable less than 100years.

Removed: The 1968 Volkswagon van once owned by Dr Kevorkian was put up for sale on eBay, but removed by the online auction site yesterday

Dr Jack Kevorkian (pictured in 2007)

Online auction site eBay has removed a listing for a van used by Dr Jack Kevorkian to perform several assisted suicides.

The company said the sale of the van would violate the company's policy against the sale of murder-related collectables.

Jack Finn, a retired used auto parts dealer, put the 1968 Volkswagon van once owned by Kevorkian up for auction on eBay last week.

With three days left in the auction, the top bid placed for it was $3,400 at 12:30 pm EDT Monday, but the ad had been pulled an hour later.

In an e-mail message, eBay told The Associated Press it 'does not allow the sale of items closely associated with notorious murderers within the last 100 years.'

'We carefully consider all the details before deciding to remove such listings when they're brought to our attention, looking at the entire posting to determine if eBay policy has been violated,' eBay said.

In an e-mail to Finn, eBay said: 'The listing was removed because it violated the eBay Murderabilia policy.'

Woman whose face was shot off to get new magnetic prosthetic ... so she can raise her son without wearing a mask

New beginning: Left, Chrissy Steltz, her face covered by a sleep mask, laughs during an interview. Right, Chrissy as a teenager shortly before the horrific accident that tore away her face

Recovery: Left, a computer graphic shows how Chrissy's face will look after the surgery. Right, an X-ray of Chrissy's skull shows the missing eye socket and nasal cavity - as well as shotgun pellets that remain embedded in her head

An American woman is set to have a total mid-face reconstruction after losing her eyes and nose in a horrific shooting accident.

Chrissy Steltz, 27, was just 16 when her friend accidentally blasted a shotgun in her face at point blank range.

Eleven years later, doctors are set to reconstruct her face with a silicone mask with a nose and glass eyes, magnetically attached to dental implants drilled into her remaining bones.The never-before-attempted surgery will, she hopes, allow her to raise her young son without wearing a mask.

Because she has no eye sockets or sinus cavity, doctors are unable to perform a face transplant.

Instead they are to mask her injuries with artificial eyes and a nose of silicone.

The mask will be held in place by magnets attached to eight implants embedded in the remaining bones of her face.

The $20,000 (£13,000) three-hour surgery is not covered by health insurance as it is considered cosmetic - so doctors have donated their time and skill.

And if all goes well, by this summer, Chrissy will once again have a face.

Umbrellas at dawn as politicians hurl eggs and smoke bombs in Ukraine parliament over Russia navy deal

Brolly good: Security personnel protect with umbrellas Speaker of Ukraine's parliament Volodymyr Liytvyn during a fight at a parliament sitting in Kiev this morning


Target: One of Mr Lytvyn security men is struck on the head by an egg as the row escalates


Ukrainian opposition and pro-presidential lawmakers fight against each other during ratification.Opposition lawmakers hurled eggs and smoke bombs inside Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday as the chamber approved an agreement allowing the Russian Navy to extend its stay in a Ukrainian port until 2042


Take that: A politician flings raw egg at fellow parlimentarians after the vote

Eggs and smoke bombs were thrown inside Ukraine's parliament today as the chamber approved an agreement allowing the Russian Navy to extend its stay in a Ukrainian port until 2042.

Thousands of opposition demonstrators rallied outside the parliament building as deputies from newly elected President Viktor Yanukovich's coalition approved a 25-year extension to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's base in Crimea.

The chamber of the parliament filled with smoke as smoke bombs were released and Speaker Volodymyr Litvyn took shelter under several umbrella as eggs rained down on him.

Ukrainian nationalists, led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko, regard the base as a betrayal of Ukraine's national interests.

They wanted to remove it when the existing lease runs out in 2017.

But parliament ratified the lease extension by 236 votes - 10 more than the minimum required for it to pass.

Yanukovich agreed the navy base deal with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev on April 21 in exchange for a 30 per cent cut in the price of Russian gas to Ukraine - a boon to Kiev's struggling economy.

In a parallel discussion on Tuesday morning, the Russian Duma was expected to rubber-stamp the deal, which is being touted by the Kremlin as a diplomatic coup.

The Russian fleet has been based in Sevastopol since the reign of Catherine the Great in the 18th century.

But under an accord after Ukraine gained independence following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the fleet would have had to leave in 2017.