Overseas news in brief

Ten years for priest
FR SIGITAS Tamkevicius has been sentenced by a Lithuanian court to six years in prison followed by four years' internal exile for "anti-state" activities. He was arrested in May at the trial of Fr Alfonsas Svarinskas, co-member of the Catholic Committee for the Defence of Believers' Rights which he founded.
Korea visit
THE VATICAN have confirmed that Pope John Paul plans to visit South Korea from May 3-7 to help celebrate the bicentennial of the arrival of Catholicism in the country. Vatican press spokesman Fr Romeo Panciroli said other countries may be added to the trip, but that "the only sure thing at this point is South Korea." The dates of the South Korean visit could still be changed, he added.
Slander charge
AN ITALIAN judge has
formerly charged Mehmet Aii Agca with slandering a Bulgarian, Sergei lvanov Antonov. Agca, a Turk, is serving a life term in an Italian prison for the attempted murder of Pope John Paul in St Peter's Square in May of 1981. Agca has accused Antonov, former head of the Rome office of Balkan Airlines, of complicity in the papal attack.
Fight back
POPE JOHN Paul urged Puerto Rico's bishops to fight a systematic campaign against family life on their island that he said includes sterilization, legal abortion and a "divorce mentality." The Pope spoke to Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez of San Juan and two other bishops making a regular visit. "The private and public forces that militate against the family in Puerto Rico are powerful and highly destructive," the Pope said.
Open again
ISRAELI MILITARY officials have agreed to reopen the Vatican-affilkated Bethlehem University a month early after ordering it closed following student disturbances, according to a message released by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in New York.
Spanish vote
THE FINAL stage in the Spanish parliament were completed this week to make abortion legal in Spain.