Czech President Vaclav Havel (61) should be well enough to return home next week, his doctors said yesterday. The former dissident playwright had been rushed from his holiday home in the Austrian Tyrol for surgery on April 14th. Ha4vel, who has undergone a series of other minor operations since the emergency surgery, has begun eating solids, can get out of bed and has daily physiotherapy sessions.
The speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, Gennady Seleznev, has warned that Gen Alexander Lebed, if elected president, would rule Russia along the lines of a Chilean dictator. Lebed is favourite to win in a second round of elections on May 17th for the governorship of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, which he is expected to use to launch his attempt to succeed President Boris Yeltsin. Seleznev, a member of the Communist party, said on the private NTV channel:
"If it's Lebed [who becomes president], that would signal a state of emergency in Russia, a variation on Pinochet."
The burial place of Princess Diana must not become Britain's answer to Elvis Presley's mansion Graceland, Earl Spencer said yesterday. Graceland, Elvis's former home in Memphis, which is decorated in 1970s style, including a room with carpet on the walls, has become a money-making tourist attraction. Spencer made the reference in a speech to a lunch in Brisbane, Australia. He said his family's Althorp estate had been opened to the public to provide access to those who wished to pay their respects to his sister, not to make money.