Japanese robot dances to iPod music

A new Japanese robot twists and rolls to iPod tunes in an intricate dance based on complex mathematics, a technology developers said will one day enable robots to move about spontaneously instead of following preprogrammed motions.

Equipped with Kenwood Corp. speaker systems, Tokyo-based venture ZMP Inc.'s 14-inch long Miuro robot — which looks like a white ball wedged between two halves of an egg — wheels about in time with music from an iPod portable player, which locks into the machine.

At a demonstration in Tokyo on Thursday, the 11-pound Miuro pivoted about on a stage in time to beats of a pop music track. Its dance wasn't preprogrammed, but generated by the robot itself.

Scientists involved in the robot's development believe the technology could one day lead to robots capable of spontaneous motion. Miuro uses algorithms, or mathematical rules, to analyze music and translate the beats into dances, according to ZMP President Hisashi Taniguchi.

"We aim to create a new form of life that moves freely and spontaneously in ways human beings can't predict," Taniguchi said. "We're hoping to turn Miuro into the ultimate virtual pet," he said.

Unlike older Miuros, which hit stores last August, the new prototype is fitted with software based on what scientists call chaotic itinerancy, a mathematical pattern similar to the movements of a bee circling from flower to flower as it collects nectar.

That allows the new Miuro to act spontaneously and unpredictably — "just like a child playing," said Tokyo University researcher Takashi Ikegami, who developed the software.

Other improvements will let users set the Miuro like an alarm clock so it wheels into the bedroom and blasts music at a certain time, for example, according to Taniguchi. Future versions of the Miuro will also use inbuilt sensors to proactively seek out people to play tunes to, he said.

ZMP has already shipped 500 units of the original Miuro, which isn't equipped with the intelligent software but instead responds to a remote-control handheld manipulator.

The 108,800 yen ($895) original Miuro can also receive wireless signals from a personal computer to play iTunes and other stored digital files. Separately sold options add a camera that beams images to PCs or lets owners control their Miuros by mobile phones.

Miuro, short for "music innovation based on utility robot technology," is only on sale in Japan. ZMP did not give a date for the release of the new prototype.

Bush taps Zoellick to lead World Bank

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday tapped his former trade chief and No. 2 diplomat,Robert Zoellick, to run the World Bank, embarking on a healing process to mend wounds inflicted by outgoing president Paul Wolfowitz.

Zoellick, 53, would succeed Wolfowitz, who is stepping down June 30 after findings by a special bank panel that he broke bank rules when he arranged a hefty compensation package in 2005 for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee.

Bush's selection of Zoellick must be approved by the World Bank's 24-member board.

The controversy over Wolfowitz caused a staff revolt and strained U.S. relations with Europeans and other countries and led to calls for him to resign from the poverty-fighting institution.

"The World Bank has passed through a difficult time for all involved. There are frustrations, anxieties and tensions about the past that could inhibit the future," said Zoellick, standing beside Bush at the White House. "This is understandable, but not without remedy. We need to put yesterday's discord behind us and to focus on the future together.

"I believe that the World Bank's best days are still to come," he added.

In tapping Zoellick, Bush picked a seasoned veteran of politics both inside the Beltway and on the international stage. He is known for pulling facts and figures off the top of his head. He also has a reputation for being a demanding boss.

"Bob Zoellick has had a long and distinguished career in diplomacy and development economics. It has prepared him well for this new assignment," Bush said. "This man is eminently qualified."

Internationally, the reaction to Bush's choice was generally positive, although some public health groups and others expressed concern about his ability to carry out the institution's mission.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner welcomed Zoellick's appointment. Asked whether Zoellick was the right man for the job, Kouchner said "certainly."

"In between the partners and the World Bank, it is mainly a question of confidence, and I hope that Mr. Zoellick will re-establish — or establish — confidence in between all of them," Kouchner told reporters Wednesday on his arrival at a meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Potsdam, Germany. "This is absolutely crucial."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, "I certainly respect very much Mr. Zoellick," but declined further comment.

Zoellick announced last June that he was leaving his post as deputy secretary of state to join the Wall Street firm of Goldman Sachs and work to develop investment markets around the world.

If ultimately approved as World Bank chief, Zoellick will need to regain trust, rebuild credibility and mend frayed relations inside the institution as well as with its member countries around the world.

The bank's new leader will try to persuade countries to contribute nearly $30 billion over the next few years to fund a centerpiece bank program that provides interest-free loans to the world's poorest countries.

"We need to approach this task with humility and creative minds," Zoellick said. He said he planned to meet soon with the bank's contributors and borrowers and others, to listen to their perspectives on how the institution can best fulfill its purpose.

Zoellick could build upon strong relations he has developed worldwide as deputy secretary of state and U.S. Trade Representative. He was involved in peace talks in Sudan and he played a key role in negotiations to bring China into the World Trade Organization. He forged free trade deals between the United States and other countries, including Singapore, Chile, Australia and Morocco. And, he helped launch global trade talks in Doha, Qatar.

Under Bush's father's administration, Zoellick worked closely with then-Secretary of State James Baker on policies pertaining to the end of the Cold War. He also had worked on negotiations on German unification.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., also praised Zoellick.

"My experience working with him on the subject of Darfur tells me that I know that he cares about that issue, which is very important to the American people," she said. "He's sensitive to the need to alleviate poverty there, to resolve conflict in a peaceful way. ... I have been impressed by what he has done so far."

But Charad D. Wadhva, professor emeritus at the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi think tank, questions whether Zoellick is right for the World Bank job.

"Professionally, he's competent but I'm not so sure about his background in developing economies or in helping developing countries," Wadhva said. "He may have to learn a lot to understand the needs of the developing countries."

Before taking the helm in 2005, Wolfowitz was the No. 2 official at the Pentagon and played a key role in mapping out the war in Iraq. From the beginning, Europeans and others were upset that Bush would pick someone to run the bank who was so closely associated with the war.

Bush called Wolfowitz an "able public servant" and praised his leadership at the bank.

What A Beautiful Blue Planet!

TITANIC in real deal

Rust hangs like icicles from the bow of the Titanic, creating an eerie figurehead

The main bridge telegraph rests some 400 yards (366 meters) from the bridge,its original location. Like a mocking ghost it orders, “slow ahead.”

Once used to raise and lower one of Titanic’s anchors, an anchor windlassdrum gleams under the harsh lights of Mir 2.

Mir 2 photographs Mir 1 in the process of filming the main bridge telegraph,the officer’s tool for sending orders to the engine rooms.

Maneuvering through the treacherous wreckage, Mir 1 photographs the stern propeller. Mir 2 is at right

Bush Supports $120 Billion Iraq War Compromise

President Bush held a news conference in the Rose Garden today and predicted tough fighting ahead in Iraq.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said he supports a $120 billion Iraq war spending bill on track to to pass Congress Thursday, ending weeks of wrangling with congressional Democrats on how long U.S. troops should stay.

The bill funds the war through September as Bush wanted and does not set a date for troop withdrawals. In exchange for dropping restrictions on the military, Bush agreed to some $17 billion in spending added by Democrats to fund domestic and military-related projects.

''By voting for this bill, members of both parties can show our troops and the Iraqis and the enemy that our country will support our service men and women in harm's way,'' Bush said in a Rose Garden news conference.

Democrats said they were disappointed with the deal.

''I hate this agreement,'' said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Obey said the deal was the best that Democrats could do manage because ''the White House is in a cloud somewhere in terms of understanding the realities in Iraq.''

The bill includes the nearly $100 billion that President Bush requested for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as billions in domestic spending, including $6.4 billion in hurricane relief and $3 billion in agricultural assistance.

Republicans were unhappy about the added domestic spending, but said they were relieved the final measure did not attempt to set a timetable on the war.

''We cannot and will not abandon the Iraqis to be butchered by these terrorists in their midst,'' said Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif. ''And we cannot and will not abandon our mission just as real progress is starting to be made.''

While the measure does not include a timetable on the war, it does threaten to withhold U.S. aid dollars for Iraq if Baghdad fails to make progress on political and security reforms. The president, however, could waive that restriction.

Bush said Iraq's ability to meet the benchmarks outlined in the bill would be difficult.

''It's going to be hard work for this young government,'' he said. ''After all, the Iraqis are recovering from decades of brutal dictatorship.''

The hefty spending bill has become a lightning rod for political attacks on Bush and his handling of the deeply unpopular war, which has killed more than 3,400 U.S. troops and cost more than $300 billion. But it also has exposed a sharp divide among Democrats on how far Congress should go to end the war.

Democratic presidential contenders on Capitol Hill are vying for the anti-war vote, but at the same time do not want to appear as though they are turning their backs on the military.

''I believe as long as we have troops in the front line, we're going to have to protect them,'' said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. ''We're going to have to fund them.''

Biden was alone among the potential Democratic candidates in immediately pledging his support for the bill.

Two front-runners, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, declined to say how they intended to vote on the measure.

Challengers Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said they would oppose the measure because in their view it issued a blank check to President Bush on the Iraq war.

''Half-measures and equivocations are not going to change our course in Iraq,'' Dodd said in a statement. ''If we are serious about ending the war, Congress must stand up to this president's failed policy now -- with clarity and conviction.''

Democratic leaders planned multiple votes in the House on Thursday to ensure the measure would ultimately pass because of disagreements among members on elements of the bill. One vote was to be on war funding, while another would be to approve the extra money for domestic and military-related projects.

While liberal Democrats were expected to vote against the war funds measure, GOP members were expected to make up for the losses. On the added spending, Democrats likely were to be unified in their support for the measure, overcoming GOP objections.

US looking to ease China trade tensions

AP Photo: Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, right, is greeted by Treasury Department special envoy for China...

WASHINGTON - The United States and China opened a new round of high-level economic talks on Tuesday with the Bush administration pushing for concrete results and China saying efforts to politicize trade disagreements would be a mistake.

Breakthroughs were expected in the areas of boosting sales of American energy technology and banking services in China. Both sides were also scheduled to review the issue of food safety, highlighted by the deaths of pets after eating pet food made with tainted wheat gluten that had been imported from China.

Speaking in an ornate auditorium decked out with flags from both nations, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said it was important to resist "trade protectionism of all kinds." She said that attempts to "politicize" the economic relationship between the two nations would be "absolutely unacceptable."

"We should not easily blame the other side for our own domestic problems," she said, speaking through an interpreter. "Confrontation does no good at all to problem-solving."

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called the second round of meetings under the Strategic Economic Dialogue historic because of the number of Cabinet officials from both sides who are participating.

"Never before have so many ministers from China gathered in one place in the United States. ... We both realize how critical it is for our countries that we get our long-term economic relationship right," Paulson said.

He said it was important for the two countries to work toward "near-term agreements that build confidence on both sides."

American manufacturers contend that China is manipulating its currency to keep it undervalued against the dollar by as much as 40 percent, making Chinese goods cheaper in the U.S. market and American products more expensive in China.

The Chinese are expected to announce that they are cutting tariffs on the imports of energy services and technologies, which would boost the market for U.S. products. The Chinese are also expected to increase the stake U.S. and other foreign companies can own in Chinese banks. That ownership level is currently capped at 25 percent.

The administration also hopes to reach a deal expanding opportunities for U.S. airlines in China.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who conducted the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to President Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in February 1972, told the assembled diplomats that "our two countries can set a standard and a framework for the rest of the globalized community."

Paulson was leading a U.S. delegation that includes top officials from 11 Cabinet-level agencies and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Wu's team includes 14 Cabinet-level ministers.

Under an agreement announced last fall, the two countries plan to meet twice a year to discuss a wide range of economic issues.

The two sides were scheduled to dine Tuesday night at the State Department, and the Chinese delegation was scheduled to meet with President Bush during the visit and to have closed-door talks with key members of Congress.

Unhappiness about America's growing trade deficit with China is threatening to provoke a protectionist backlash in Congress. Lawmakers are expressing outrage over a trade gap that last year hit $232.5 billion, the largest deficit ever recorded with a single country and one-third of America's record overall deficit of $765.3 billion.

Members of Congress are promoting a number of bills that would slam penalty tariffs on Chinese products unless China does more to halt what U.S. critics see as unfair trade practices such as China's currency system and the rampant piracy of American products.

Last week, a bipartisan group of 42 House members petitioned the Bush administration to bring a trade case against China on the currency issue. Lawmakers said they were not impressed by China's announcement on Friday that it was slightly widening the daily trading range for the yuan, a move that could allow the currency to rise in value more quickly.

Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y. and a leading critic of China, called the currency action a "nice gesture, but in the past, most of their gestures have not produced any concrete change."

There were reports that China seriously considered calling off this round of talks after the Bush administration, in an effort to pre-empt tougher actions in Congress, imposed penalty tariffs on Chinese paper products in a fight over government subsidies, and filed two cases against China before the World Trade Organization.

But China in recent days has made a number of moves in an effort to defuse American unhappiness. In addition to announcing the slight change in its currency band, China earlier in the month said it would purchase $4.3 billion in American high-technology products and in recent days announced that it would invest $3 billion of its $1.2 trillion in foreign currency reserves in Blackstone Group LP, the second-largest U.S. private equity firm.

Fire damages British clipper Cutty Sark

GREENWICH, England - A spectacular fire early Monday heavily damaged the clipper ship Cutty Sark, one of London's proudest relics of the 19th century tea trade with China designed to be the fastest ship of its day.

The London Fire Brigade and the Forensic Science Service said they were investigating the cause of the blaze, and police said they had no immediate evidence of arson.

The fire, which broke out in a dry dock where the ship was undergoing restoration, will add millions to the cost of refurbishing it.

Within hours of the flames being doused, officials responsible for the graceful sailing ship said they were determined to carry on with a four-year restoration project.

"We're going to redouble our efforts to ensure that the ship is open, available, back and running in the future," said Chris Livett, the chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, responsible for restoring the world's only surviving tea clipper.

"I think when we finish with this project, she will be better than she was ... in a complete state a year ago," Livett told reporters.

Firefighters responded to an alarm at 4:45 a.m. at the ship's dry dock. About two hours later, the flames were out.

"At the moment we are treating the fire as suspicious, as we would do any fire of this scale and importance," police Inspector Bruce Middlemiss said. Surveillance cameras showed several people in the area at the time the fire started, but there was no indication that any had been involved in igniting the fire.

"There is no evidence or intelligence to lead us to think this was an arson," Middlemiss said.

The Cutty Sark, which inspired a popular brand of Scotch, was the world's only surviving example of an extreme clipper, regarded as the ultimate development of a merchant sailing vessel. Most of the original hull had survived since the ship was built for the 19th century tea trade.

The ship had been closed to visitors since last year for a $50 million renovation.

The leaders of the restoration project said the damage was not as bad as they feared.

"I'm relieved. I came here thinking the ship had gone on her last journey," said Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust.

However, "this will have resulted in millions and millions of pounds of damage. This is a ship that belongs to the world, and we're going to need financial help," said Doughty, who estimated that every day of additional work would cost some $20,000.

Ian Bell, manager of the restoration project, emerged from an inspection of the ship with soot on his cheeks but an optimistic message about the condition of its iron frame.

"Initial indications suggest we don't have any massive distortions of the ship," Bell said.

"I think the most disturbing thing for me is the smell in the air," Doughty said. "Anyone who has been on the Cutty Sark knows it has a very distinctive smell from the timber, from the rope. Tragically, that smell now pervades southeast London."

Cutty Sark left London on its first voyage on Feb. 16, 1870, proceeding around Cape Hope to Shanghai 3 1/2 months later. The ship made only eight voyages to China in the tea trade, as steam ships replaced sail on the high seas.

Measuring 280 feet in length, the ship weighed 979 tons and its main mast soared 152 feet above the main deck.

The ship was used for training naval cadets during World War II, and in 1951 it was moored in London for the Festival of Britain. Shortly afterward, the ship was acquired by the Cutty Sark Society.

7 U.S. soldiers die in Iraq attacks

AP Photo: Women mourn during funeral procession for Marwan Ja'afar, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, May 20, 2007....

BAGHDAD - Seven American soldiers and a translator were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad and a city south of the capital, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Six of the Americans and the translator died Saturday in a bombing in western Baghdad, the military said. The soldiers were from the Multinational Division-Baghdad.

A soldier from the 13th Sustainment Command was killed and two were wounded when a blast struck their vehicle Saturday near Diwaniyah, a mostly Shiite city 80 miles south of Baghdad, the command said.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber exploded a tanker truck near an Iraqi police checkpoint outside a market west of Baghdad, killing at least two officers and injuring nine people, police said.

Police said they suspected chlorine gas was used in the attack in a town just outside the turbulent city of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. But the U.S. military said it had no reports chlorine was used.

Police grew suspicious of the truck as it approached the checkpoint and opened fire when it was still yards away. But the bomber still managed to detonate the explosives, police said.

Later Sunday, a bomb planted under a parked car exploded in the central Baghdad neighborhood of Bab al-Sharji, near the Zahraa Shiite mosque, police said. The blast killed two civilians, wounded 10 and damaged nearby houses and the mosque, police said.

Several hours later, a mortar shell landed in a commercial area in central Baghdad, killing one person and wounding three, police said.

Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani left Iraq on Sunday for a trip to the United States that was expected to include a medical checkup. The trip came four months after Talabani was rushed to a Jordanian hospital where doctors said he was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration caused by lung and sinus infections.

"I will go to the U.S.A and stay nearly three weeks to lose weight and have some rest and relaxation ... away from meetings and work," Talabani, a 73-year-old Sunni Kurd, said before boarding a plane in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A senior Kurdish politician close to the Iraqi leader said Talabani was going for a checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., that had been scheduled for weeks. The politician spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the president's plans.

Azad Jindyani, spokesman of Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, denied the president had health problems.

"Talabani's health is very good, but he felt tired recently ... because of the work and meetings," he said.

Talabani was the second top Iraqi politician to fly to the United States for medical reasons in four days.

Senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim flew there aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday for further tests to determine if he is suffering from lung cancer, according to members of his staff.

South of Baghdad, thousands of U.S. soldiers kept up their search for three missing comrades, more than a week after they were abducted.

At least one U.S. soldier was killed Saturday and four were wounded as insurgents attacked the searchers with guns, mortars and bombs. The military reported a dozen other U.S. troop deaths in Iraq since Thursday.

The search for the missing soldiers involves some 4,000 troops who "will not stop searching until we find our soldiers," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "We're using all available assets and continuing to assault the al-Qaida in Iraq network," he said.

An al-Qaida front group has claimed responsibility for the May 12 attack in Quarghuli, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, that resulted in the kidnapping and the deaths of four American soldiers and an Iraqi aide.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the senior American commander in Iraq, told the Army Times newspaper in an interview Friday night that U.S. forces were focusing on an insurgent who is "sort of an affiliate of al-Qaida."

He said an informant provided U.S. forces with names of those who took part in the raid and kidnapping but they were still at large.

"We've had all kinds of tips down there. We just tragically haven't found the individuals," he said.

Petraeus said he did not know whether the three missing soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division were alive. But "as of this morning, we thought there were at least two that were probably still alive," he said.

"At one point in time there was a sense that one of them might have died, but again, we just don't know."

An Iraqi army intelligence officer, who said he helped interrogate two suspects detained in recent days in Mahmoudiya, said they confessed to participating in the raid. Mahmoudiya is the largest town in the search area.

They said 13 insurgents conducted the surprise attack and then escaped in two groups. The leader of the group, along with some gunmen, took the kidnapped soldiers to an unknown destination, he said.

He added that the two detainees gave interrogators the hiding place for weapons used in the ambush and U.S. troops confiscated them.

Isaiah Washington's staying `Grey'

Isaiah Washington's staying `Grey'

Isaiah Washington's Dr. Preston Burke packed his bags on the season finale of "Grey's Anatomy" but that doesn't mean the actor is being dumped by the show, his publicist said Friday.

"We fully expect to be back in the fall," spokesman Howard Bragman said. "The deal's not done but we have no reason to believe he won't be putting on the scrubs."

A furor over Washington's use of an anti-gay slur had provoked speculation that his job might be in jeopardy. He said the word backstage at the Golden Globe Awards in January while denying he'd used it previously against castmate T.R. Knight.

Thursday's finale seemed to open the door for the departure of Washington's character. Burke was on the verge of marrying Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), but her doubts at first delayed and then derailed their splashy wedding.

"I'm up there waiting for you to come down the aisle and I know you don't want to come," Burke told a shocked Cristina. "If I loved you, I wouldn't be up there waiting for you. I would be letting you go."

Then he did just that. Later, Cristina found that Burke had cleared his favorite possessions out of their apartment.

ABC declined comment Friday on Washington's status.

But a source close to the production, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to comment publicly, said the finale doesn't indicate that Washington is a goner from "Grey's."

"A lot of character story lines were left in question. It's a cliffhanger finale," the source said. "T.R's character looks like he could be going. ... It doesn't necessarily mean anything."

Knight's character, George O'Malley, was the only intern to fail the end-of-year exam and he was seen in the finale cleaning out his locker after deciding against repeating his intern stint.

Washington will spend the summer working, his publicist said, not worrying about the show. The actor leaves next week to continue his charity work in Sierra Leone, which a DNA test showed to be his ancestral home.

Washington, who started a nonprofit foundation last year to improve the lives of people in the West African nation, plans to deliver mosquito netting and check on a school he helped found.
He'll also spend part of his summer break working on an independent film, "The Least of These," Bragman said. Washington expects to be back at work on "Grey's Anatomy" when production resumes in August, he said.

Washington filmed a public service announcement on behalf of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network after the flap. The spot is in post-production, a GLAAD spokesman said Friday.

Mexicans fear U.S. immigration plan

AP Photo: Mexicans line up outside de U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, Mexico, as they wait for...

MONTERREY, Mexico - Congress' new immigration plan was bad news for tens of thousands of poor Mexicans who depend on a U.S. guestworker program for temporary jobs in agriculture and other seasonal work, such as landscaping and construction.

Millions of would-be migrants have been holding tight to President Bush's promise that they could one day apply for temporary visas to get a glimpse of the American dream.

At the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, which hands out more temporary visas than any other consulate or embassy in the world, Edmundo Bermudez, a 36-year-old from the northern city of Durango, said the plan rewards those who have already entered the United States illegally, while shutting out those who stayed home hoping to gain legal passage.

He was especially offended by the plan to give preference to migrants with degrees and skills.

"The United States already has enough people with college degrees. Who is going to cut their tobacco?" asked Bermudez, who has been working intermittently in the U.S. for the past eight years. In Mexico, he makes about $10 a day, while in the U.S. he earns almost that — $8 — in an hour.

The proposal, unveiled Thursday in Washington, is devoid of Bush's original plan to grant three-year visas to migrants living in their native countries. Instead, it focuses on securing the border and giving illegal residents a path toward legal residency, while gradually giving preference for new visas to those with advanced degrees and highly specialized skills.

Many in Mexico — and U.S. employers who say they need workers for low-skilled jobs — had hoped Congress would expand the guestworker program and allow more to cross legally, work a few months and then return home with their savings to build homes and businesses.

Gilberto Escalante, a 41-year-old fisherman from Topolobampo in Sinaloa state, said the current temporary visa program is better than the congressional plan because it gives Mexicans the option to freely enter and leave the U.S. while maintaining their lives in Mexico — instead of forcing them to choose between the two countries.

"We don't want the house or the latest car in the U.S. We want to go and work so that our families can have a good life in Mexico," said Escalante, who came to the industrial hub of Monterrey to apply for a visa to work on fish and shrimp boats off the coast of Mississippi.

Yet the congressional plan came as welcome news to the millions of Mexicans who depend on the $23 billion sent home each year by Mexicans living in the U.S., many illegally.

The proposal would allow illegal immigrants to obtain a "Z visa" and, after paying fees and a $5,000 fine, ultimately get on track for permanent residency, which could take between eight and 13 years. Heads of households would have to return to their home countries first.

It is also good news for the Mexican government, which has spent years lobbying the U.S. for a comprehensive immigration reform that allows more people to work legally in the U.S. Many had feared the U.S. would only approve more border security measures, such as adding to National Guard troops at the border and other high-tech security measures.

Victor Aviles, a spokesman for Mexico's Foreign Relations Department, cautiously welcomed the initiative.

"The Mexican government hopes that the different actors involved in the debate and eventual approval of this initiative take advantage of the opportunity it presents," he said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said debate would begin on Monday, but he cautioned, "I don't know if the immigration legislation is going to bear fruit and we're going to be able to pass it."

Miguel Garcia, 35, of Maravatio in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, said he was glad that the U.S. was giving illegal migrants a chance at fixing their status.

"They shouldn't punish people who are just trying to get ahead," he said.

In the small, northern desert town of Huachichil, migrant recruiter Rene Urbano encouraged Mexicans who work in potato fields and apple orchards to continue signing up for possible visas, arguing that he would work to find them jobs with U.S. employers.

"They are rewarding those who are doing things wrong and abandoning my boys who need work," he said, adding that there are millions of migrants waiting for U.S. jobs.

One of his clients, Gustavo Ruiz, a 31-year-old father of two small children, is normally working in U.S. fields by now. But today he is still waiting for an offer at the one-bedroom concrete home he built on the edge of the Mexican desert, with money he earned picking tobacco, cucumber and sweet potatoes.

He said he would not mind moving his family to the U.S. and trying to become legal residents, but his wife refuses.

"My roots are here," Elidia Moncada said. "My family is here. They say it's nice there, but I don't want to leave."

General: Prince Harry won't go to Iraq

AP Photo: Prince William and Prince Harry, right, parade in suits and bowler hats with the Combined...

LONDON - Britain's Prince Harry will not be sent with his unit to Iraq' Iraq, Britain's top general said Wednesday, citing specific threats to the third in line to the throne.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt said the changing situation on the ground exposed the prince to too much danger.

"There have been a number of specific threats, some reported and some not reported, that relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual," Dannatt said. "These threats exposed him and those around him to a degree of risk I considered unacceptable."
Clarence House, the office of Harry's father,
Prince Charles'

Prince Charles, issued a statement declaring Harry's disappointment that "he will not be able to go to Iraq with his troop deployment as he had hoped.""He fully understands Gen. Dannatt's difficult decision and remains committed to his army career," the statement said. "Prince Harry's thoughts are with the rest of the battle group in Iraq.

The Defense Ministry had long said the decision would be kept under review amid concerns for the security of Harry, a second lieutenant, and other soldiers serving with him. The 22-year-old prince is a tank commander trained to lead a 12-man team in four armored reconnaissance vehicles.
Harry would have been the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands conflict with Argentina in 1982.
There have been reported threats by Iraqi insurgents to kill or kidnap the prince, including claims his photograph had been widely circulated among militants.
The younger son of Charles and the late Princess Diana, Harry has been a frequent face on the front of Britain's tabloid newspapers, which have constantly covered his party-going lifestyle at glitzy London nightclubs.

Miss Universe 2007 - Contestant in SWIMSUITS

Symptoms of Pregnancy

Pregnancy

Symptoms of Pregnancy

For a woman having a regular monthly cycle, the earliest and most reliable sign of pregnancy is a missed period, or sometimes women who are pregnant have a very light period, losing only a little blood. Other signs are:

*Feeling sick, not necessarily in the morning, but at any time.
*The breasts may become larger and tender. Veins may become prominent and nipples may darken and stand out.
*Increased frequency in passing urine.
*Tendency for constipation.
*Tiredness.
*An increased vaginal discharge without any associated complaint.
*A metallic taste in the mouth.
*Dislike for certain things like tea or coffee or fatty foods.
*Increased liking for certain things like spicy foods.

Pregnancy test can be carried out on urine samples, as early as from the first day of a missed period-that is, about fourteen days after the conception.

A positive test result is almost definitive of pregnancy. If the test is negative, it is less reliable. It can be repeated after a week, or a doctor can be consulted.

What you should eat

Pregnancy puts additional nutritional demands on your body. You require to eat judiciously to meet the demands of the body. Make sure that you eat a mixture of different foods each day in order to get all the various nutrients that you and your baby need.

Your diet should have plenty of fruit and vegetables which provide vitamins, minerals and fibre. Eat them lightly cooked or raw. Let starchy foods like bread, potatoes, rice and breakfast cereals with vegetables form the main part of any meal.

Eat some good sources of nutrients like fish, eggs, cheese, beans, and lentils every day. Dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt are important as they contain calcium and other nutrients needed for your baby's development.

Avoid sugar and sugary foods like sweets, biscuits and cakes and sugary drinks like cola. Cut down on fat and fatty foods as well.

Mineral and vitamin supplements

A large number of pregnant women suffer from varying degrees of anemia so additional iron supplementation is provided by pills. Also tablets of Folic acid (a vitamin necessary to prevent certain spinal disorders in the growing baby) along with Calcium are generally prescribed by the health care providers.

Pregnancy and weight

Most women gain between 10 -12.5kgs (22 - 28lbs). Weight gain varies a great deal and depends on your weight before pregnancy. Weight gain significantly more or less than the average could be an indicator of a problem, so you must monitor your weight gain carefully. Also if you weigh more than 100kg or under 50kg your health care provider may have special advise for you.

Smoking during pregnancy

Try to stop. When you smoke, carbon monoxide and nicotine passes into your lungs and blood stream. This means that: a) your baby gets less oxygen and cannot grow as well as it should, and b) the nicotine makes your baby's heart beat faster. Constantly breathing in other people's smoke may also have a harmful effect.

Babies of mothers who smoke are, on average, 200g (about 8 oz) lighter than other babies. These babies may have problems during and after labour and are more prone to infection; it will be better for your baby later too if you stop smoking. Children whose parents smoke are more likely to suffer from illnesses such as asthma; and there is an increased risk of cot death.

Alcohol

It has now been shown that even small amounts of alcohol can be harmful to your baby. Alcohol has adverse effects on the baby's development and can produce a lot of anomalies generally termed as 'Fetal Alcohol Syndrome'. So to be safe avoid alcohol totally during your pregnancy.

Pills medicines and other drugs

You should be very careful while taking any kind of medication, specially in the earlier part of the pregnancy. Majority of drugs have some effects on the growing fetus and the first three months are crucial. You would be better off asking your doctor about any medications you want to take. Make sure your doctor or dentist knows you're pregnant before prescribing anything or giving you treatment.

At the same time it is important to remember that if you on treatment for some chronic conditions like epilepsy or diabetes you consult your doctor and continue your medications because control of such conditions is vitally important for you as well as the pregnancy.

South Pole Telescope

The largest telescope ever is up at the South Pole, funded by the National Science Foundation. The South Pole Telescope is designed to measure the properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) light that was originally created billions of years ago in the infant universe. It will search for galaxy clusters in order to try to confirm the existence of Dark Energy and find out something about its properties. Scientists hope this may lead to new understanding of the age, nature, and future of the universe.

Why put a telescope at the South Pole? Because 1. the dry conditions make the atmosphere extremely clear, 2. the altitude is two miles high, putting the South Pole above the sea’s vapor level, and 3. the lack of sunlight in the polar winter makes it easier to search the sky.

NASA Pondering Sex, Death in Space

NASA Pondering Sex,

Death in Space

MIKE SCHNEIDER

How do you get rid of the body of a dead astronaut on a three-year mission to Mars and back?
When should the plug be pulled on a critically ill astronaut who is using up precious oxygen and endangering the rest of the crew? Should NASA employ DNA testing to weed out astronauts who might get a disease on a long flight?
With NASA planning to land on Mars 30 years from now, and with the recent discovery of the most "Earth-like" planet ever seen outside the solar system, the space agency has begun to ponder some of the thorny practical and ethical questions posed by deep space exploration.
Some of these who-gets-thrown- from-the- lifeboat questions are outlined in a NASA document on crew health obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.
NASA doctors and scientists, with help from outside bioethicists and medical experts, hope to answer many of these questions over the next several years. "As you can imagine, it's a thing that people aren't really comfortable talking about," said Dr. Richard Williams, NASA's chief health and medical officer. "We're trying to develop the ethical framework to equip commanders and mission managers to make some of those difficult decisions should they arrive in the future."
One topic that is evidently too hot to handle: How do you cope with sexual desire among healthy young men and women during a mission years long?

Sex is not mentioned in the document and has long been almost a taboo topic at NASA. Williams said the question of sex in space is not a matter of crew health but a behavioral issue that will have to be taken up by others at NASA.
The agency will have to address the matter sooner or later, said Paul Root Wolpe, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who has advised NASA since 2001. "There is a decision that is going to have to be made about mixed-sex crews, and there is going to be a lot of debate about it," he said.
The document does spell out some health policies in detail, such as how much radiation astronauts can be exposed to from space travel (No more radiation than the amount that would increase the risk of cancer by 3 percent over the astronaut's career) and the number of hours crew members should work each week (No more than 48 hours).
But on other topics — such as steps for disposing of the dead and cutting off an astronaut's medical care if he or she cannot survive — the document merely says these are issues for which NASA needs a policy.

"There may come a time in which a significant risk of death has to be weighed against mission success," Wolpe said. "The idea that we will always choose a person's well-being over mission success, it sounds good, but it doesn't really turn out to be necessarily the way decisions always will be made."

Possibilities of sex in Space