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South Korean researchers said that they have developed a robot that can dance to music and learn to mimic human motion.The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) team led by You Bum-jae said the “Mahru” robot can move both upper and lower body parts freely, and automatically stabilize itself while walking on its legs.

The robot is the first South Korean-developed machine that can walk on its legs. The chief researcher said that the robot is programed to follow various human movements through an advanced motion capture system, and designed to cope with any interference or obstacles while moving its hands. The robot can also dance to two pop tunes, requiring the movement of arms and legs.

“Because the robot can be operated via a real-time control network, simultaneous movement control of these robots can be carried out,” You said.

Thailand’s Queen Sirikit attended the funeral on Monday of a protester killed in clashes with police last week, giving explicit royal backing to a five-month street campaign to oust the elected government.

After chants of “Long Live Her Majesty” from thousands of members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the queen told Jinda Radappanyawuthi, father of 28-year-old victim Angkana, that his daughter had died in a noble cause.

“Her Majesty said my daughter was a good woman since she had helped the nation and preserved the monarchy,” Jinda told reporters after a brief audience at the end of the Buddhist cremation. Tears streaked down his face as he spoke.

Angkana died from chest injuries after police fired teargas into a crowd of PAD protesters blockading parliament on Tuesday. Another man died in a car bomb and nearly 500 were hurt in the worst street violence in Bangkok in 16 years.

Jinda’s emotional account of his conversation with the queen is likely to damage the government, especially his revelation that King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whom many Thais regard as semi-divine, was behind the donation of 1 million baht ($29,150) to treat those injured in the unrest.

Some of the money officially donated last week by the queen went to treat the dozens of injured police officers, although the PAD trumpeted the cash as a gesture of support from the palace, a very powerful moral and social force in Thailand.

Jinda later told the crowd the queen was concerned for the welfare of the protesters who have occupied the prime minister’s official compound since August in a push to oust a government they see as a puppet of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

“She said she would soon send us flowers,” he told the crowd after the funeral, to huge applause.

GENERALS BOOED

Several of the king’s advisers also attended the funeral at a Buddhist temple in a quiet Bangkok suburb.

Thailand’s top military brass, who have been criticised by the PAD for not launching a coup to prevent further bloodshed, were also there, but were booed after the ceremony. None of the senior policeman involved a week ago attended.

The high-profile funeral and the queen’s stunning decision to show up forced the PAD to postpone a protest march to police headquarters on Monday, easing immediate fears of a repeat of the violence. The march will take place on Wednesday.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat expressed sorrow for the deaths, and urged the PAD to leave the Government House compound.

However, Somchai, a brother-in-law of Thaksin, said he would not resign or call a snap election, saying neither would resolve the fundamental rift between the largely rural electorate who support Thaksin and the Bangkok-based elite who despise him.

The government’s chief spokesman told reporters Somchai was due to brief the king at his seaside palace on the current political situation later on Monday.

“He is not going to tender his resignation, but to show his determination to continue to work for the country,” spokesman Nattawut Saikuar said.

The political crisis dates back to late 2005, when the PAD first started its street protests against Thaksin. It has meandered through a military coup to elections and back to street protests, and shows no signs of resolution.

Sept. 28, 2008, at least 4,174 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,379 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

The AP count is the same as the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.

Almost up until the time it was taken over by the government in the nation’s financial crisis, one of two housing giants paid $15,000 a month to the lobbying firm of John McCain’s campaign manager, a person familiar with the financial arrangement says.

The money from Freddie Mac to the firm of Rick Davis is on top of more than $30,000 a month that went directly to Davis for five years starting in 2000.

The $30,000 a month came from both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the other housing entity now under the government’s control because of the nation’s financial crisis.

All the payments were first reported by The New York Times, which posted an article Tuesday night revealing the $15,000 a month to the firm of Davis Manafort. The newspaper quoted two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

In response to the latest disclosure, the McCain campaign issued a statement saying that Davis left the firm and stopped taking salary from the firm in 2006.

A person familiar with the contract says the $15,000 a month in payments to Davis’ firm started around the end of 2005 and continued until the past month or so. The person spoke on condition of anonymity.

The connection between Davis and the housing giants that figure centrally in the global financial crunch emerged after the McCain campaign unleashed a sharp attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama.

McCain has tied Obama to Fannie and Freddie’s troubles and has called on Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines — both Obama supporters and former Fannie Mae executives — to return large golden parachute payments they received from the corporations after leaving.

McCain’s campaign released a new television ad that says Raines is among those advising Obama on housing policy.

Obama’s campaign released a statement from Raines, who says he is not an Obama adviser.

Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae, criticized the McCain campaign’s attack on Obama, given the five years of payments to Davis.

“It’s either idiocy or hubris” on the McCain campaign’s part, McCarson, a Democrat, said in an interview.

The prices of the lustrous strings of pearls that line display cases in Shanghai jewelry stores are more eye-catching than the glossy gems: some pearl sets cost under 10 yuan ($1.50) even before bargaining.”All kinds of people come to buy pearls, Chinese and foreigners,” said Wang Caijiao, who has been selling pearls in a two-storey shop on Shanghai’s bustling Nanjing Road for seven years.

The massive volume of freshwater pearls on the market have made the gem affordable to the masses.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement with opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday, relinquishing some of his powers for the first time in nearly three decades of iron rule.The deal followed weeks of tense negotiations to end a deep political crisis compounded by the veteran leader’s disputed and unopposed re-election in a widely condemned vote in June. Under the agreement, Tsvangirai will become prime minister.

“This agreement sees the return of hope to all our lives. It is this hope that provides the foundation of this agreement that we sign today, that will provide us with the belief that we can achieve a new Zimbabwe,” Tsvangirai said after the signing ceremony.

Zimbabweans hope the agreement will be a first step in helping to rescue the once prosperous nation from economic collapse. Inflation has rocketed to over 11 million percent and millions have fled to neighbouring southern African countries.

Cheers greeted the signing of the deal at a Harare hotel by Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, who leads a breakaway faction of the MDC, the main opposition party.

But the ceremony was marred by supporters of the MDC and ruling ZANU-PF taunting each other and throwing rocks at opponents outside the venue where the signing took place.

Part of the fence around the hotel was trampled flat and police brought in two water cannons and a truckload of riot police. Police did not take any action.

The three smiling Zimbabwean leaders exchanged copies of the agreement and shook hands in front of South African President Thabo Mbeki, who brokered the deal, and other African leaders.

Mugabe, 84, made clear he would not tone down his attacks on Western countries such as former colonial power Britain. He accuses them of backing the opposition to drive him from power.

“African problems must be solved by Africans … The problem we have had is a problem that has been created by former colonial powers,” Mugabe said after the signing ceremony, as Tsvangirai looked uncomfortable.

But Mugabe added: “We are committed to the deal. We will do our best.”

WESTERN COUNTRIES WATCHFUL

Western countries are still keen to see how the deal works in practice, but the European Union said on Monday it stood ready to bring aid to Zimbabwe if the new government took measures to restore democracy and the rule of law.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband welcomed the agreement but said its details would be studied carefully.

“The new government needs to start to rebuild the country. If it does so, Britain and the rest of the international community will be quick to support them,” he said in a statement.

Under the deal agreed last week, Tsvangirai will become prime minister and chair a council of ministers supervising the cabinet. Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, will remain president and head the cabinet.

The deal is expected to split control of the powerful security forces that have been key backers of Mugabe.

The president, a former guerrilla commander, is likely to keep command of Zimbabwe’s strong army, but the MDC wants to run the police force. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF will have 15 cabinet seats, Tsvangirai’s MDC 13 and Mutambara’s splinter MDC faction three seats.

Analysts say the power-sharing deal is fragile and will require former enemies to put aside their differences and work closely to overcome scepticism, especially from Western powers whose financial support will be vital for recovery.

To gain the confidence of Zimbabweans, the new leadership must present a formula for knocking down prices and easing severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages.

“While it might be too early to predict the first policy steps of the new government, we think tackling inflationary pressures by reducing the money supply should be one of the top priorities in addressing the country’s worsening structural economic imbalances,” said Samir Gadio of investment bank Renaissance Capital.

“We expect changes at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which was the chief architect of hyper-inflation through its persistent money printing.”

ZANU-PF and MDC negotiators met early on Monday to allocate the 31 ministries. Names of the ministers are likely to be announced later in the week, a government official said.

There would also be a national security council, replacing a joint operations command of security service chiefs. The opposition says the security forces were instrumental in organising a campaign that intimidated the opposition into standing down for the presidential run-off, allowing Mugabe to retain power.

US Republican presidential nominee John McCain has praised the Indian American community for its ‘excellent work’ in the progress of the India-US nuclear deal through ‘overwhelming bipartisan support’ in the US Congress.The Arizona Senator also hailed the community, ‘an integral part of the modern American tapestry’, for contributing greatly to strengthening bilateral relationship between the US and India.

‘The most recent example of your excellent work was the advancement of US-India civil nuclear cooperation through overwhelming bipartisan support in our Congress,’ McCain said in a letter on the occasion of establishment of Indo-Americans for McCain Coalition.

The letter has been released by the convener/coordinator of the new organisation, Deven Verma. While the organisation in support of McCain’s bid for presidency has been floated recently, the outfit called South Asians for Obama has been active for almost a year.

In the letter, Senator McCain expressed his support for the nuclear deal, which has entered the final phase with President George W. Bush sending his package to the Congress.

Earlier in the month, McCain welcomed the decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to give the historic waiver to India on nuclear trade and criticised his Democratic opponent Barack Obama for supporting ‘poison pill’ amendments during consideration in the Senate that would have had the effect of killing this important agreement..

In the letter, the Senator said the Indian American community’s ‘efforts and commitment will help our campaign uphold the principles of smaller government, a strong national defence and lower taxes for working Americans’.

The presidential hopeful also appreciated the new Coalition for showing a strong commitment to building a grassroots network of supporters to ensure his victory in the November election.

‘I intend to work closely with you to ensure that the concerns of Indian Americans and the Indo-American community as a whole are reflected in my campaign,’ McCain promised.

Hurricane Ike swirled over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, targetting Texas near the US offshore oil patch after toppling decrepit buildings in Cuba’s capital and ripping the Communist-run island from end to end.

Ike, a Category 1 storm with 80 mile-per-hour (130 kph) winds, left a long trail of destruction across the Caribbean and had energy companies fearful it could do the same to their Gulf oil rigs as they scurried to evacuate workers and shut down production.

Forecasters said Ike would likely regain power in the Gulf’s warm waters and become a major storm again, revving up to a Category 3 on the five-step hurricane intensity scale with a minimum of 115 mph (178 kph) winds.

But latest projections pointed Ike toward the middle of the Texas coast, skirting to the west of the main region for offshore production in the Gulf, which provides a quarter of US oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

New Orleans, still scarred by Katrina, which killed 1,500 people and caused USD 80 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, appeared to be out of danger.

At 2 am EDT, the hurricane center said in its latest advisory Ike was 100 miles north-northeast of Cabo San Antonio on the western tip of Cuba. It had slowed slightly as it churned west-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph), a course it was expected to follow for the next day or two.

Rainfall of up to three inches was possible in the lower Florida keys, which could also face storm surges, large waves and isolated tornadoes and waterspouts on Wednesday, the center said. Large swells would affect the east coast of Florida for the next day or so and could produce dangerous rip currents.

In Cuba, big waves and storm surges were expected to subside on Wednesday, but heavy rains on the western end of the island could produce flash floods, the center said.

Ike has already wreaked widespread damage in Cuba.

Few official figures have emerged, but state-run media showed a panorama of destruction across the island, still reeling from the more powerful Hurricane Gustav 10 days ago.

Ike struck eastern Cuba on Sunday with 120 mph (195 kph) winds and torrential rains that destroyed buildings, wiped out the electricity grid, toppled trees, levelled crops including sugar cane fields, and turned rivers into roaring torrents

Israeli police recommended on Sunday that criminal charges be filed against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has vowed to resign this month amid a series of scandals.Israel’s attorney-general has the final word on whether to indict Olmert, a process that could be protracted.

Following are three scenarios for what might happen next in Israel’s shaken political system:

* Israeli opinion polls show Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defence chief, are favourites to win a Sept. 17 election to succeed Olmert as Kadima party leader. Either could forge a coalition similar to the current one. It would take office once sworn in by parliament in late October. Olmert would remain caretaker prime minister until then.

* Some of Olmert’s bickering coalition partners might balk at joining a coalition with the more politically moderate Livni if she becomes Kadima leader. These parties could swing behind rightist parliamentary opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and force President Shimon Peres to ask Netanyahu to try to form a coalition. Such a government might be reluctant to pursue U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians or indirect negotiations with Syria.

* Olmert’s resignation could prompt a majority in parliament to opt for an early election. Parliament could dissolve itself and set an election date before the scheduled date of 2010.

An election must be held within five months of the Knesset voting to dissolve itself, but the gap is usually shorter. Recent opinion polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party would emerge strongest if a vote were held now. Such a scenario could leave Olmert as caretaker prime minister until a government is formed after the election.

Japan, under fire overseas for whaling it justifies as research, has released its findings — whales are losing blubber because ocean resources are growing scarce.

But critics said the recent study, which involved the slaughter of thousands of whales, is little more than window-dressing for Japan’s pursuit of commercial whaling.

Japan is frequently criticised by the West for conducting annual whaling missions under the pretext of “lethal research” when most of the meat ends up in supermarkets, restaurants or school lunches.

Japan says that whaling is part of its culture but contends that it does not violate a 1986 international moratorium on hunting as it is conducting research. Only Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium outright.

The study used research on 6,779 whales, of which more than 4,500 were killed including some which were pregnant.

It found that the oceans are facing a shortfall of krill, a vital component of the food chain, due to climate change and the recovery of species such as humpback whales.

According to the study, Antarctic minke whales shed nine percent of the blubber over 18 years, corresponding to an annual weight loss of 17 kilograms (38 pounds).

Blubber is vital for whales because it helps to retain heat in cold waters and store energy and nutrition. Minke whales swim to the Antarctic every summer to feed and to warm waters during the winter to breed.

The study, led by Kenji Konishi of Japan’s government-backed Institute of Cetacean Research, called for further study on krill, saying that the very future of the eco-system was at stake.

Investigating “the dynamics of the widely distributed krill population is quite difficult, so that monitoring energy storage by a krill consumer, such as the minke whale, can be most useful,” it said.

The study was published in Polar Biology, a journal with editorial offices in Germany and Alaska, after several other journals rejected it, a researcher said.

Conservationists dismissed the study and said that researchers could also use non-lethal methods such as sonar to gauge krill populations or ultrasound to monitor whales.

“There is no need to kill whales to study them. ‘Research’ whaling is just commercial whaling under another name,” said John Hocevar, oceans specialist at environmental group Greenpeace.

In any case, blubber thickness is “not a very good indicator” of health in whales, he said, recommending instead measuring the ratio of girth or length compared with the ocean giants’ weight.

Conservationists also worried about the study’s suggestion that the lower availability of krill was due to recovering populations of humpbacks and other big whales.

Last year, Japan planned to kill humpback whales for the first time in decades. It dropped the idea due to international pressure, including protests in Australia, where humpback watching is a popular pastime.

Greenpeace blamed global warming and the subsequent melting of sea ice for the shortage of krill as ice provides sanctuary for the tiny animals.

“If we want to solve this problem, humans need to deal with global warming,” said another Greenpeace marine specialist, Wakao Hanaoka.

Hocevar said: “While some species have started to recover, no whale population has reached the level it had before industrial whaling began.”