NEW YORK: Princess Diana, the Kennedys, Che Guevara, black baseball player Jackie Robinson and kung fu whiz Bruce Lee are among the 20th century figures named to Time magazine's list of heroes and icons of the century. The list, to be published in the magazine's June 14 edition, is the fifth in a series of six special issues profiling the most influential people of the century.Other heroes and icons on the list are boxer Muhammad Ali, diarist Anne Frank, preacher Billy Graham, Everest climber Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tensing Norway, actress Marilyn Monroe, aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh and soccer phenomenon Pele. Also listed are US civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, Mother Teresa and Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill W. In December, Time will name its person of the century, asking readers to vote by e-mail. Slain Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is currently leading, followed by Adolf Hitler.

Japan principalstabbed for `publicity'

TOKYO: A principal was stabbed by a former pupil of his school attempting to gain publicity for Japan's national anthem and rising-sun flag, police said on Saturday. Shunichiro Iwamoto, 29, visited Naoyuki Tsuda, head of Dai-Hachi junior high school in the western Japan city of Toyonaka early on Saturday and plunged a knife into his chest and back three times, a police spokesman said. The 57-year-old principal was seriously injured but his wounds were not life-threatening. Iwamoto, who graduated from the school in 1985, told police he had stabbed the principal in order to gain media attention and raise awareness of Japan's national anthem and flag. ``I came here in order to spread the flag and anthem across the nation,'' Iwamoto was quoted as telling the principal before attacking him. Iwamoto said after the arrest: ``I stabbed him with the intention of killing. In doing so, I thought the media like newspapers would treat me big.'' Since Japan's surrender at the end ofWorld War II, no government has dared to legalise the national flag -- a crimson disc on a white background -- and the anthem `Thy Reign'. The anthem and flag are proudly touted by nationalists but are disliked by left-wingers and liberals because of their connection with Japan's militarist past.