PEPENG (Parma)

Typhoon Pepeng are now currently experience in northern Luzon, Pepeng now bore down in Cagayan mid-afternoon Saturday.

In La Union early afternoon Saturday the storm currently feel in most areas with strong winds and rains, Internet connection is disconnected for a while and return and then disconnected again and again and again.

 Parma packing winds of 175 kph and gusts of 210 kph, made land fall Saturday in Cagayan province of Luzon and making its way towards Taiwan.

At least three people were reported killed and one was missing in Luzon, with one man washed away in a swollen river, and a two year old boy drowning.

Philippines under state of calamity

The Philippines are now under a state of calamity on Friday by the President Gloria Arroyo, people are terrified fled their homes as a powerful typhoon threatened to unleash more carnage following a deadly floods.

The government warned that Parma would tear down houses in and around Aurora, bringing more heavy rains to the nation. Manila still recovering from Saturday's Ondoy floods. The rains from Parma threatened to worsen the already squalid conditions and further hamper relief  operations to those survivor in the recent flood.

Other parts of Manila and nearby regions still remain under water with mud, debris and trash blocking drains, while other parts still in chest-deep water on the outskirt of Manila.

Weather forecaster said that Parma will hit Aurora on Saturday morning with wind gust of 230 kph and could even strengthen with the more time, these gust is strong enough to destroy houses, the people in nearby Provinces are preparing the coming of Parma as what they already experience in the past like typhoon harurot.

The PAGASA said that pepeng (parma) had a strength and with a maximum winds of 195 kph and gustiness of 230 kph. is a disastrous winds, was spotted 440 kilometers east of Catarman, Northern Samar and moving west northwest at 24 kph.


The water level at Laguna de Bay  is set to break its 90 year record, threatening to submerge more areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces in flood waters. As of Thursday the lake is 14 meters deep half a meter away from the bay's highest recorded level of 14.5 meters in 1919.

A five crocodiles escaped from Coral Agri Venture Crocodile Farm holding pens in Teresa, Rizal province at the height of the storm on the evening of September 25, but were immediately recaptured along the farm's perimeter fences.

The farm has 9,000 crocodiles at 3-hectare farm, the farm harvested crocodile meat, an exotic food, and skin for belts, hand bag and other accessories.

ONDOY death toll hits 246

Officials unable to cope the enormous number of flood victims still pouring into schools, gymnasiums, churches and other makeshift shelters as the death toll from weekend disaster soared to 246.

After words of help spread, hundreds of people converged on the place and received plastic bags filled with noodles and canned sardines.

The death toll jumped after authorities finally recording those killed in Manila, and not just the neighboring regions. The latest toll was 246 over 100 more than Monday's assesment.

 The Department of Health (DOH) is concerned that overcrowding will hasten the spread of water-borne diseases. Monday the DOH has already conducted assessments of some 207 evacuation centers set up in flood-hit areas that showed marked water and hygiene problems.

PREVENT WATER-BORNE DISEASES.
>Wash hands before preparing food and after using the toilet.
>Boiling drinking water for 2 or more minutes or do water chlorination.
>Avoid wading in flood water. If you must, wear a rubber boots.
>Avoid wading and taking baths in flood waters.
>Clean up all possible mosquito breeding sites, such as vases, empty coconut shells, old tires, or tin cans.
>Stay inside a house or building during heavy rains.
>When a flood advisory is issued, residents in low-lying areas should seek higher ground.
>Avoid crossing low-lying areas and bridges during evacuation.

The Comission on Higher Education (CHED) said Wednesday that classes at the tertiary level in Metro Manila and other places under a state of calamity will remain suspended until Saturday.

Colleges and Universities are being encouraged to become centers that will receive aid and donations to help the typhoon victim. The CHED also announced that nursing students and Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) cadets would be asked to report to help in government's clean up drive and relief operations in devastated areas.

By Tuesday tonnes of food aid as well as foreign experts were on their way to the Philippines.

After admitting it could not cope on its own, the government on Monday appealed to the international community for help.
Among the first nations to respond, Australia, the United States, France and Japan said they had sent pledged support for relief efforts.

Vietnam also suffering the strength of ONDOY (ketsana) from the Philippines now at least 22 people killed after it slammed into central Vietnam on Tuesday, and caused almost 170,000 people flee their homes.

HELP FOR ONDOY

Even Hollywood stars called their fellow Americans to help the victims of tropical storm ONDOY (Ketsana) in the Philippines as they expressed their sympathies to the ondoy victim.

Eva Fonda sexy actress Cristine Reyes cried for help when she trapped at their rooftop in their residence in Provident Village, Marikina City, as tropical storm roared and flooded rose menacingly. The actor emerged from nowhere on a speedboat and help her to safety. WOW how sweet?

Rescuers from different areas pulled the dead from swollen rivers and thousands thirst from without water, hungry for food and power as the death toll from the worst flooding in the Philippines in more than 4 decades climbed to 100.

While tens of thousands of affected residents began to cleanup and storm ondoy left the Philippines, the extent of devastation became clear, mud covered communities, houses covered with landslide, car choked the streets and huge number of residents without water to drink, foods to eat and no power.

The government has declared a state of calamity in metropolitan Manila and other provinces affected. More than 450,000+- people were affected by the storm, including some 115,000+- brought to about 200 schools, and Churches and other evacuation centers. Government welfare officials have begun focusing on providing food, medicine and other necessities to those in emergency shelters.

The United States has donated $100,000 and deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers from the countries south. The United Nations Children's Fund has also provided food and other aid.

However PAGASA said ondoy will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring occasional rains in the western section of Central and southern Luzon. Luzon will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Another two weather disturbances are likely to enter the Philippine area and expected to enter the Philippine boundary by late Wednesday or Thursday.

Storm ONDOY

At least 46 people Dead including 40 in Rizal Province due to flooding cause by storm ONDOY official said saturday.

Last night I saw Cristine Reyes, sister of actress Ara Mina, in Television on top of their roof in their house in Marikina asking for help. I saw also people on top of the roof that carried away by flood floating on Pasig river.

The PAGASA said the storm generated non-stop rains over most of Luzon and Islands to the south such as Mindoro causing the floods.

ONDOY, the 15th tropical cyclone to enter the Philippines this year, center winds of 85 kph which condidered by the Weather officials to be not strong. As of 8p.m. , the storm was about to exit into the south China sea, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

About 13.4 inches (34.1 centimeters) of rain fell on metropolitan Manila in just six hours, close to the 15.4 inches (39.2 centimeters) average for the entire month of September. The previous record was 13.2 inches (33.4 centimeters) record during the 24-hour period in June 1967, chief government weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said.

In La Union which also affected by the storm also flooding in different areas but not as other not so damage by the Storm.

Freddie Roach's brother dies

The coach of the pambansang kamao Manny Paquiao, Freddie Roach's brother dies.

Freddie Roach expressed gratitude to those who condoled with him and his family about the death of his younger brother Joseph Glenn "Joey" Roach was 47.
Joey passed away in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. Joey,  is also a former boxer like Freddie and their other brothers. Freddie expresses appreciate all the calls, e-mails, and letters of condolence over the loss of his brother Joey, told DoghouseBoxing.com.

Joey had a “relatively short” professional boxing career, the LasVegasSun.com reported. His career with a record of 8-3-3. His 14 bouts were fought in the bantamweight division. Freddie say that Joey was a great boxer in the Roach family.

Bataan excursion

After we visit Tagaytay we proceed to Bataan the next day.

  

 
 

The Landmark of the Dambana ng Kagitingan Cross in Mt. Samat Bataan.

 

The statue of soldiers who fought the Japanese Emperial Army.

 

 Dambana ng kagitingan was constructed during the Administration of the late strong man, the President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

 

 The clouds in the Mt. Samat.

 

 The view of the Cross from the foot to top clouds.

 

Binocular

 

Bataan Nuclear Plant can be seen here but the smokey air blocking the view.

 

At the other side of the Cross.

 

Inside the cross one the the wing.

 

The view of our van from the top of the cross, the black one.

 

 The museum at the back of the cross.

 

The museum.

 

The buses from the Ilocos Sur parking at the intrance gate, view from the top of the cross.

 

The view from the top of the cross at the other side wing.

 

 
 

Repair during the time of President Fidel Ramos.

 

  

The road going down, the kid with disabilities are walking uphill.

 

While we are going to Bataan Nuclear  Power Plant we drop by at the store along the road and we saw this People burning the seed of the Cashew nuts so that it will brittle and easy to break.

 

They burn the nuts for about a minute so that the acid will burn and easy to break the nut.

 

See the nuts in the basin after removing the outer layer.

 

Breaking the nuts.

 

Burning cashew nuts.

 

Burning nuts.

 

Kill the fire.

 

 At the Bataan Nuclear Plant.

 

The entrance of Bataan Nuclear Plant .

Re United After 18 years of Kidnapping

After 18 years an 11 year old girl during the time she was kidnap by a registered sex offender re-united with his family.
Jaycee Lee Dugard, a charm blond little girl was kidnap in 1991 and His stepfather was the suspect, after 18 years in a false prison, and was rape by Her kidnapper and had two children who's Father was Her abductors was rescued.
Phillip Garrido, the kidnapper was a registered sex offender, and a parole after serving 10 years in prison of His 50 year sentence and know to his neighbor as "Creepy Phil"  was Fathered two children 15 and 11 year old to Jaycee Lee Dugard after nearly two dicade.
How can Garrido out of suspicion after His neighbor repeating calling 911 eluded detection? Garrido manage to be unnoticed by authorities after several times of being visited by authorities of suspicion of having tent in His backyard.

Carl Probyn Dugard stepfather was overwhelm upon knowing of his stepdaughter rescued, Probyn was a primary suspect of the kidnapping and the one who last seen Dugard and reported to authorities about the kidnapping.

How can this happen in this High tech country didn't notice of the suspect behavior knowing that he is a registered sex offender? A big question.

TAGAYTAY CITY

 

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 we've been in Tagaytay in 2001 and its still cool.

Now 2009 its already hot there, the only cool in Tagaytay is the Palace in the Sky.

NICOLE Vs. DANIEL SMITH

NICOLE SWORN STATEMENT

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
Annex A
CITY OF MAKATI

I, SUZETTE S. NICOLAS, OF LEGAL AGE, FILIPINO, a resident of Zamboanga City, after bein duly sworn in accordance with law, hereby depose and state:

1. I am a Bachelor of Science graduate, major in Management Accounting, of the Teneo de Davao University. Soon after my graduation, I took up nursing in 2004 at the Ateneo de Zamboanga City and at the same time assisted in managing our family owned canteen located inside the military base of the Southern Command. My mother was a civilian supervisor of the Philippine Navy for 25 years while my deceased father was a Philippine Navy Officer.

2. Since our canteen also catered to American servicemen who stayed at the military base every time their vessels docked in Zamboanga City, my family came to know many American servicemen who would go to our canteen to eat and buy souvenir items. We treated them as a family and we would go out of our way to talk to them, play cards and on many occasions, my mother would even cook special meals for them. They would even entrust their ATM cards to us to withdraw money for them from the bank. My former boyfriend, Brian Goodrich, is also an American servicemen.

3. After working in Swift Foods Inc. Since January 22,2007, I decided to quit my job as a credit Accounting to pursue my studies in the United States through the help of my family, relatives and closed friends. I know that they supported me so that i could finally move on after my tragic experience in 2005 in Subic, Zambales which led to the trial and convection for rape of Daniel J. Smith.

4. Deep inside, however, I know that I may never be able to move on for as long as I continue to search for answer to so many questions that have lingered in my mind regarding the incident in Subic more than Three years ago. Daniel Smith was convicted of rape because the court accepted my version that he took advantage of my intoxication in raping me inside a van that took us to the seawall located at the SBMA Alaba Pier at around 11:30 in the evening of November 1, 2005.

5. Daniel Smith's witnesses said that while we were at the Neptune Club, I sat on Daniel Smith's lap and that we kissed each other passionately. I remember the before I met Daniel Smith at the Neptune Club, all I ate was a slice of pizza at the Grand Leisure Hotel. After the pizza, everything else was alcoholic drinks from vodka sprite, B52, Singaporean sling, B53, long island ice tea to bullfrog all of which I drank bottoms up. I do not recall Daniel Smith having ordered any alcoholic drinks for me. My drinks were all paid for by Chris Mills who invited me to go the Neptune Club.

6. I had no opportunity to deny in court that I kissed Daniel Smith with the amount of alcoholic mixed drinks I took, my low tolerance level of alcohol and with only a slice of pizza all night, it dawned upon me that I may have possibly lost my inhibitions, became so intimate with Daniel Smith and did more than just dancing and talking with him like everyone else on the dance floor. Looking back, I would not have agreed to talk with Daniel Smith and dance with him no less than three times if I did not enjoy his company or was at least attracted to him since I met him for the very first time on the dance floor of Neptune Club.

7. When I dance with Daniel Smith for the third time, my companion, Chris mills has already left Neptune Club since he had to catch their curfew time at the military base. The lighting was sufficient for people to recognize each other and other marines were with their Filipino partners drinking, dancing and enjoying each other's company and kissing and hugging among partners was a common scene.

8. With the event at the Neptune Club in mind, I keep on asking myself, if Daniel Smith wanted to rape me, why would he carry me out of the Neptune Club using the main entrance in full view of the security guard and the other sources? Why would the van park right in front of Neptune Club? Why would Daniel Smith and his companions bring me to the seawall of Alaba Pier and casually leave this area well lighted and with many people roaming around? If they believed that I was rape, would they have not dumped me instead in a dimly lit area along the highway going to Alaba Pier to avoid detection?

9. I told the court that Daniel Smith kissed my lips and neck and held my breast inside the van. Recalling my testimony, I ask myself now how could I have remembered this if witnesses told the court that I passed out and looked unconscious when I was brought to the van by Daniel Smith. How could I have resisted his advancement given this condition? Daniel Smith and I were alone on the third row of the van which had limited space and I do not recall anyone inside the van who held my hand or any part of my body . What I can recall is that there was very loud music and shouting inside the van.

10. If the travel from Neptune Club took only several minutes and with the driver of the van trying to beat the curfew time of his passenger, how could I have instantly regained my consciousness and talked to the people upon reaching the seawall of Alaba Pier? When people gathered around me at the seawall, everyone seemed to have drawn the conclusion that I was raped except for one who called me bitch.

11. Based on the account of SBMA police, I was very hesitant to board the mobile police car that brought me to the headquarters for investigation. I was so confused and the first thing that entered my mind was how would my mother and boyfriend react if they learn that I was last seen with Daniel Smith and that a condom was seen on my pants after Daniel Smith left the van? I was scared of losing not only my American boyfriend but the chance of living in the United States. In fact, I did not immediately tell my boyfriend that I was raped by Daniel Smith. All I said was that something bad happened to me.

12. I expect many sectors to question my motives in executing this statement more than three years after the incident. However, as I practically grew up interacting with American servicemen in Zamboanga City who treated me and my family very well, and thinking over and over again how I may have conducted myself but entertain doubts on whether the sequence of events in Subic last November of 2005 really occured the way the court found them to have happened.

13. My conscience continues to bother me realizing that I may have in fact been so friendly and intimate with Daniel Smith at the Neptune Club that he was led to believe that I was amenable to having sex or that we simply just got carried away. I would rather risk public outrage than do nothing to help the court in ensuring that justice is served.
AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.

SUZETTE S. NICOLAS
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME this 12 day of march 2009, affiant exhibiting to me her Philippine Passport No. PP0845449 bearing her photograph and signature, issued on 18 Feb. 2010.
Doc. No. 37
Page No. 9
Book No. 1
Series of 2009 M. ACOSTA
ABRAHAM REY Notary Public for Makati City

Pinoy Billionaires

Mall mogul Henry Sy and Tobacco king Lucio Tan move up in their rankings in Forbes Magazine's 2009 billionaires list.

Last year world's billionaires was 1,125 now down to 793, from their net worth of $4.4 trillion to $2.4 trillion.

Sy leapt from 843rd spot last year to 234th in this years list while Tan from 785th jumped to 522nd.
The Family Sy net worth increased from last year's $1.4 billion to $2.7 billion this year while Tan's net worth decreased from last year's $1.5 billion to $1.4 billion.

Sy and Tan were the only pinoy who made it to the Forbes Magazine 2009 list of billionaires. Sy the founder and chairman of the SM group of companies. The 84 year old mall magnate and his family control SM investments, While the 74 year old Tan and his family have holdings that include the hation's biggest cigarette maker, Fortune Tobacco, Philippine Airlines, Asia brewery, mining operations and Hong Kong properties, both were also ranked in Forbes Billionaires list in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Bill Gates of Microsoft is the richest man again, overtaking Warren Buffet, as the global financial meltdown wiped out $2 trillion from the net worth of the world's billionaires.

The number of billionaires in the world fell by nearly a third to 793 in the last year , with the large numbers dropping off the list in Russia, India and Turkey. Gate regained his title as the richest man in the world with $40 billion, after slippin to third last year when he was worth $58 billion. Buffet last year richest man fell to second when he $37 billion, down from $62 billion. Mexican Carlos Slim a telecommunications tycoon in the third place with $35 billion, down from $60 billion.

New York City replaced Moscow as home to the most billionaires, with 55. Russia, which saw the number of super rich soar in recent years, suffered among the biggest shocks, with the number of billionaires down to 32 from 87.

The only person in the top 20 who did not lose money was New York Mayor Bloomberg, whose net worth was revised up to $16 billion from $11.5 billion last year because os a revaluation of his media company, Bloomberg LP, He is now the New York richest man, jumping from 65 in the world to 17.

Others who manage to get richer were investors George Soros and Ronald Perelman, as well as short-seller John Paulson, who has profited from the fall in financial stocks, and entertainer Oprah Winfrey who jumped to 234 from 462.

Another discount retailer riding out the storm was Japan's Tadashi Yanai. His firm Fast Retailing, known for its uniqlo stores, helped pushed him from 296th to 76th and raise his wealth to $6 billion from $3.6 billion last year.

Among those conspicuous by their absence from the list was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, one of last year's stars when he became the youngest self-made billionaire to make the list.

Also dropping were big name casualties, former American International Group chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and former Citigroup chief executive Sanford Weill.

Allen Stanford, the Texan accused of an $8 billion fraud by US regulators, was also booted off the list.

Crime, however did not disqualify one notable new entry to the list - mexican drug lord Joaquin :Shortly" Guzman, who is among the world's most wanted men and now worth $1 billion.

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao steps up training

Manny always step up more rounds when Freddie Roach is not around to assist His training. At the Wild Cards Gym Manny mitts Buboy Fernandez turned out an almost 10-rounds non-stop session instead of four rounds.

With Roach out, Pacquiao called the shots.
That is the problem with the Pinoy Icon. The supposed to be only four rounds, Manny wanted more rounds, that's Manny's reputation of always asking for more during His training, He just won't stop.

China Dialogue on Spratlys

China is pushing Dialogue on the South China Sea as well as greater cooperation in its disputed areas.

Ambassador Liu Jianchao made a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, His country filing a protest on against Presedent Arroyo's signing into law of Republic Act 9522 or the Philippine Baseline Act.

RA 9522 excludes Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan group of islands from the country's teritory but classified as a "regime of Islands" under the Republic of the Philippines.

Under the UN convention on the Law of the Seas, archipelago nations like the Philippines must have definitive baseline laws by May 13.

Liu said His country is always ready to enhance trade relations with the Philippines, particularly in mining and infastructure. Liu added that China also wants more cultural and educational exchanges.

In 2010, China and Philippines will celebrate 35 years of bilateral relations.

Liu thanked the Philippines for hosting the visit of 100 school children from the earthquake ravage Sichuan province. The children and their families deeply appreciated the warmth display by their Filipino hosts.

In protest of the Baseline Act, Chinese Embassy said the inclusion of the disputed Kalayaan Islands and the Scarboruogh Shoal in the Philppine territory is "illegal" and "invalid."

Under the baseline Act the Philippine territory become smaller than the original Philippine territory.

The Philippine government lawmakers continue to defend the Baseline Bill amid China's protest.

Friday the 13th

5 Facts About Friday the 13th

If Friday the 13th is unlucky, then 2009 is an unusually unlucky year. This week's Friday the 13th is one of three to endure this year.

The first came last month. The next is in November. Such a rare triple-threat occurs only once every 11 years.

The origin of the link between bad luck and Friday the 13th is murky. The whole thing might date to Biblical times (the 13th guest at the Last Supper betrayed Jesus). By the Middle Ages, both Friday and 13 were considered bearers of bad fortune. In modern times, the superstition permeates society.

1. Fear of Friday the 13th - one of the most popular myths in science - is called paraskavedekatriaphobia as well as friggatriskaidekaphobia. Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13.

2. Many hospitals have no room 13, while some tall buildings skip the 13th floor and some airline terminals omit Gate 13.

3. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal. Napoleon and President Herbert Hoover were also triskaidekaphobic, with an abnormal fear of the number 13.

4. Mark Twain once was the 13th guest at a dinner party. A friend warned him not to go. "It was bad luck," Twain later told the friend. "They only had food for 12." Superstitious diners in Paris can hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest.

5. The number 13 suffers from its position after 12, according to numerologists who consider the latter to be a complete number - 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 days of Christmas and 12 eggs in a dozen.

Pythagorean legacy

Meanwhile the belief that numbers are connected to life and physical things - called numerology - has a long history.

"You can trace it all the way from the followers of Pythagoras, whose maxim to describe the universe was 'all is number,'" says Mario Livio, an astrophysicist and author of "The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved" (Simon & Schuster, 2005). Thinkers who studied under the famous Greek mathematician combined numbers in different ways to explain everything around them, Livio said.

In modern times, numerology has become a type of para-science, much like the meaningless predictions of astrology, scientists say.

However, mathematicians dismiss numerology, saying it lacks any scientific merit.

"I don't endorse this at all," Livio said, when asked to comment on the popularity of commercial numerology. Seemingly coincidental connections between numbers will always appear if you look hard enough, he said.

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Bangladesh border guards mutiny

Hundreds of Bangladeshi border guards started reporting back to their headquarters after a bloody mutiny left at least 76 people dead and 72 others missing.

The Home Ministry gave guards across the country a 24-hour ultimatum Saturday to return to their posts or report to a local police station or face disciplinary action.

The insurrection — in which mostly army officers were killed — apparently erupted over the guards' long-standing complaints that their pay hasn't kept pace with soldiers in the army.

A few hundred guards, some out of uniform and accompanied by family members, waited outside their headquarters in the capital Sunday as officials checked their credentials.

Some of the returning guards said they were on leave or off duty during the two-day mutiny that ended Thursday, while others claimed they had fled the compound after the violence started.

Leaving Iraq

The U.S. military map in Iraq in early 2010: Marines are leaving the western desert, Army units are in the former British zone in the south and the overall mission is coalescing around air and logistics hubs in central and northern Iraq.

Meanwhile, commanders will be shifting their attention to helping Iraqi forces take full control of their own security.

The Pentagon has not released the full details of President Barack Obama's plan to end America's combat role in Iraq by Aug. 31 of next year, but the broad contours are taking shape.

Statements from military officials, U.S. government reports and interviews by The Associated Press with Iraqi and U.S. planners offer a wide-angle view of the expected American formation in Iraq when the pullout quickens early next year.

Between 35,000 and 50,000 soldiers are expected to remain in a transition period before all troops must leave by the end of 2011 under a joint pact. In his speech Friday, Obama outlined the roles ahead.

The bulk of the current 138,000 U.S. troops are expected to remain until Iraq's national elections scheduled for late this year. Maintaining security for the balloting is considered a top priority by the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, and other high-ranking Pentagon officials.

Then the pullout will accelerate.

The first significant shift could be with the 22,000 Marines in Anbar province, a broad wedge of western desert where insurgents once held sway over key cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi.

The Marines could possibly leave a small contingent, but expect to turn over military duties to the Army.

The early exit from Anbar carries two important messages.

It's part of Washington's shift of military focus to Afghanistan. Obama plans to send 17,000 more soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan, to join 38,000 already fighting a strengthening Taliban-led insurgency.

Anbar also represents a critical turning point of the nearly six-year-old Iraq war. A U.S.-directed effort in late 2006 began to recruit and fund tribal leaders to join the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgent groups — which were eventually uprooted in Anbar and began to lose their hold in and around Baghdad.

In the south, the U.S. Army is making plans to fill the void left by the departure this spring of 4,000 British troops based outside Basra, the second-largest city in Iraq and a hub of the nation's southern oil fields.

Odierno has said a division headquarters — about 1,000 personnel — plus an undetermined number of troops would be sent to Basra. The transition is expected to begin in late March, and it's likely a U.S. force will remain around Basra until the final pullout in 2011.

Basra is a proving ground for Iraq's ability to handle security on its own. Iraq launched an offensive last year that — with U.S. help — crippled Shiite militia control in parts of the city. But the small British contingent has largely stayed out of direct security operations, leaving it mostly to Iraqi commanders.

During a tour of Basra on Friday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said some military personnel will remain to train Iraq's navy, but the primary British goal is humanitarian aid and development.

Northern Iraq, meanwhile, poses the greatest uncertainties for the Pentagon.

Mosul — Iraq's third-biggest city — remains one of the last havens for al-Qaida in Iraq and its streets are among the most dangerous in the country.

On Tuesday, two Iraqi police opened fire during a U.S. military inspection of an Iraqi security unit in Mosul, killing one American soldier and an interpreter. The attack deepened worries of possible infiltration of security forces in the Mosul area.

U.S. combat support for Iraqis is likely to continue — and perhaps expand — in the coming 18 months. It then could become high on the agenda for the counterterrorism missions, which could include ground forces and aerial surveillance.

U.S. troop strength in the Mosul area is relatively light, but there is a U.S. base on the city's edge.

Obama left open the option for more extensive U.S. military backup if needed.

The northern city of Kirkuk is another potential trouble spot. Tensions between Kurds and Sunni Arabs over control of the city — and center of the northern oil fields — show no signs of easing.

Two bases north of Baghdad will likely take more prominent roles next year.

Balad Air Base, home to more than 20,000 U.S. forces, provides air power, logistics and counterterrorism support, as well as training for Iraqi security forces. Its location — 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad — offers a rich vantage point for intelligence gathering and analysis across the entire north and specific areas such as the Iranian border.

Another major U.S. air and logistics base in Taji, 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Baghdad, sits next to Iraq's new supply and logistics hub.

The two sites would be a natural centerpiece for U.S. training and advising of the Iraqi military, Army Brig. Gen. Steven Salazar, the deputy commanding general at Multi-National Security Transition Command, told the AP recently.

Salazar said the Taji National Supply Depot was designed by the Iraqis to be the "top end" of the supply and logistics chain for its security forces.

In Baghdad, the U.S. military is already making changes in anticipation of the first step of the withdrawal timetable: U.S. forces out of major cities by June.

The United States has handed over the Green Zone to the Iraqi government, closed forward operating bases and combat outposts in the city or turned them into smaller stations where U.S. troops work alongside Iraqi security forces.

But Camp Victory, a huge base on the outskirts of Baghdad in a former Saddam palace complex, will continue to serve as the U.S. nerve center in the capital.

A military official with knowledge of the military planning process told the AP that Camp Victory's proximity to many Iraqi government ministries and the Baghdad International Airport make it a prime location for the U.S. military, and one they are not likely to give up anytime soon.

The base also is expected to expand as it absorbs troops pulling out of Baghdad before the June 30 deadline, said another military official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Experts trying to decipher ancient language

When archaeologists on a dig in southern Portugal last year flipped over a heavy chunk of slate and saw writing not used for more than 2,500 years, they were elated.

The enigmatic pattern of inscribed symbols curled symmetrically around the upper part of the rough-edged, yellowish stone tablet and coiled into the middle in a decorative style typical of an extinct Iberian language called Southwest Script.

For more than two centuries, scientists have tried to decipher Southwest Script, believed to be the peninsula's oldest written tongue and, along with Etruscan from modern-day Italy, one of Europe's first. The stone tablet features 86 characters and provides the longest-running text of the Iron Age language ever found.

About 90 slate tablets bearing the ancient inscriptions have been recovered, most of them incomplete. Almost all were scattered across southern Portugal, though a handful turned up in the neighboring Spanish region of Andalucia.

Some of the letters look like squiggles. Others are like crossed sticks. One resembles the number four and another recalls a bow-tie. They were carefully scored into the slate. The text is always a running script, with unseparated words which usually read from right to left.

The first attempts to interpret this writing date from the 18th century. It aroused the curiosity of a bishop whose diocese encompassed this region where the earth keeps coughing up new fragments.

Almodovar, a rural town of some 3,500 people amid a gentle landscape of meadows punctuated by whitewashed towns, sits at the heart of the Southwest Script region. It created a museum two years ago where 20 of the engraved tablets are on show.

Though the evidence is gradually building as new tablets are found, researchers are handicapped because they are peering deep into a period of history about which they know little, says professor Pierre Swiggers, a Southwest Script specialist at the University of Leuven, Belgium. Scientists have few original documents and hardly any parallel texts from the same time and place in readable languages.

Southwest Script is one of just a handful of ancient languages about which little is known, according to Swiggers. The obscurity has provided fertile ground for competing theories about who wrote these words.

It is generally agreed the texts date from between 2,500 and 2,800 years ago. Most experts have concluded they were authored by a people called Tartessians, a tribe of Mediterranean traders who mined for metal in these parts — one of Europe's largest copper mines is nearby — but disappeared after a few centuries. Some scientists have proposed that the composers were other pre-Roman tribes, such as the Conii or Cynetes, or maybe even Celts who roamed this far south.

Another translation difficulty is that the writing is not standardized. It seems certain that it was adapted from the Phoenician and Greek alphabets because it copied some of their written conventions. However, it also tweaked some of those rules and invented new ones.

Experts have identified characters that represent 15 syllables, seven consonants and five vowels. But eight characters, including a kind of vertical three-pronged fork, have confounded attempts at comprehension.

There's also the problem of figuring out what messages the slate tablets are intended to convey. Even when they can read portions of text, scientists don't really understand what it is saying — like a child mouthing the words of a Shakespeare play.

There are clues, however.

The symmetrical, twisting text gives the impression of a decorative flourish. Some stones also feature crudely rendered figures, such as a warrior carrying what appear to be spears. The lower part of the rectangular stones is left blank as if intended to be stuck in the ground.

That has led experts to a supposition: The tablets were gravestones for elite members of local Iron Age society. Repeated sequences of words perhaps mean "Here lies..." or "Son of...," Guerra explains. Since most people probably couldn't read, the ornamental elements lent distinction.

These are educated guesses, says Guerra, as he surveys the hilltop dig by a small river where the big stone was found last year. His team here has excavated through centuries of occupation: Islamic (Almodovar is a corruption of the Arabic word al-mudura, meaning encirclement or enclosure), Roman and pre-Roman. Nowadays, it is within view of a wind farm's turbines.

Last year's find has helped, but it wasn't the breakthrough scientists had hoped for, Guerra says. If all the Southwest Script found so far were transcribed onto paper, it would still barely fill a single sheet. Without an equivalent of the Rosetta stone, which helped unlock the secrets of hieroglyphic writing, efforts to reconstruct the ancient language are doomed to slow progress.

Japan marijuana offences hit new high

Japan saw a record number of marijuana offences last year, according to police, amid a crackdown on pop stars, sumo wrestlers and other celebrities who have been caught with the drug.

Police arrested 2,778 people for marijuana-related crimes in 2008, 22.3 percent more than the previous year, even though other drug-related crimes dropped off slightly, the National Police Agency said.

Around nine out of 10 of those arrested were first-time offenders, and 60 percent were under 30.

Japan strictly prohibits both hard and soft drugs, and police have in recent months arrested sumo wrestlers, popular musicians and actors, as well as college students for posessing, growing or selling marijuana.

Police blamed easy access to marijuana on the Internet, an increase in home-grown cannabis and higher sales by organised crime groups, as well as a widespread attitude that marijuana is a soft drug.

Overall, police arrested 14,326 people for drug offences, down 3.1 percent.

39,455 pass nursing board exam

Some 39,455 nursing examinees passed the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam in 2008, with a nursing hopeful from Baguio City topping the highly anticipated list.

A report quoted the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) as saying the latest results showed that the passing rate was 44.51 percent of the 88,649 examinees.

The PRC said the exam's topnotcher is Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the Baguio Central University, who got a score of 89 percent.

In June 2008's nursing exam, 27,765 out of 64,459 passed, or 43.1 percent of the more than who took the test. At that time, a University of Santo Tomas graduate topped the list of passers with an 86-percent score.

Friday's results has just elevated almost 40,000 students into being a registered nurse, the government is still concerned they would be an addition to the current pool of nurses that might find difficulty securing jobs abroad.

The Nursing Board Exam, like a few other licensure exams in the country, has had its own share of controversies, the most-talked about being the one conducted in 2006. The alleged leakage incident that year prompted the PRC to form an independent fact-finding committee that recommended a retake of the exam.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) last Wednesday urged nursing schools to device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates.

US drivers continue 14-month trend by driving less

Slammed by a tumbling economic outlook, Americans are driving much less, continuing a 14-month trend.

In December 2008, US drivers traveled 3.8 billion fewer vehicle-miles (6.1 billion kilometers), or a 1.6 percent decrease compared to the same month a year earlier, according to latest figures.

In all, since the trend began in November 2007, motorists have traveled 115 billion fewer miles (185 billion kilometers).

"This nation's driving decline is another indication of just how important the president's economic recovery plan is," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, referring to the stimulus package signed this week by President Barack Obama.

The decline in rural driving has outpaced the decline in urban driving since the trend began, according to the department's figures.

However, 17 US states posted increased numbers of driver miles (kilometers).

The western state of Colorado led the pack in December with a 5.4 percent increase, or a 200 million-vehicle-mile (321 million kilometer) rise compared to December 2007.

Seductive chemicals hidden in sloppy kisses

Seductive chemicals are hidden in sloppy kisses, scientists say, but even the most chaste caress can spark an intense hormonal response.

Men like sloppier kisses with more open mouth and that suggests to me that they are unconsciously trying to transfer testosterone to trigger the sex drive in women. Kissing can certainly open the door to sex. Men's preference for sloppy kisses with lots of tongue may help them over come their poor sense of smell and taste.

What they might be doing is trying to pick up the estrogen cycle in a woman to figure out the degree of her fertility. Kissing also stimulates an enormous part of the brain, but love can do even more, according to an experiment with MRI brain scans.

But it can also close it: a recent study found that the first kiss was the "kiss of death" for budding relationships.

Should you drool more? You don't want to turn off your partner. Kissing is a natural instinct that likely serves a number of evolutionary purposes.

People who had recently fallen in love had high levels of activity in the reward system in the brain that produces dopamine and is linked to craving, motivation, focused attention and goal-oriented behavior.

Long term lovers showed activity in the same "reward" area as new lovers but also showed activity in a region associated with the feeling of calm that produces the chemical serotonin and in the area that produces oxytocin, which is associated with pair-bonding.

Kissing raises oxytocin levels among men and also lowers stress hormones in both men and women, according to a study that will be presented at the conference Saturday.

Wendy Hill, a neuroscience professor at Lafayette College, tested the saliva and blood of 15 couples who spend 15 minutes either kissing or holding hands and talking.

She found that the women had significantly higher levels of the pair-bonding hormone than the men before the experiment started, but those levels dropped when they were tested after the experiment was completed.

It was a surprising result, which Hill said could be attributed to the fact that the test was run in the college's health center and that a bit of soft music and some flowers were not enough to get the women in the mood.

"We're running the setting again in a more romantic setting," Hill said. "It's a secluded room in an academic building. It has a couch, it has flowers, it has candles - electric because of fire hazard issues - and we have light jazz playing."

Aptera 2e

An exclusive drive of an aerodynamically slick electric vehicle that looks to change the world, three wheels at a time.

Aptera 2e, a soon-to-be-produced electric vehicle whose shape is slipperier than a Teflon-coated salmon on glare ice, and whose composite construction offers both light weight and impressive structural integrity. Better yet, the 2e is scheduled to begin rolling off the Vista, California, assembly line this October for an as-yet-to-be-determined price between $25,000 and $40,000. Charge it overnight from your 110-volt home outlet, and it's claimed to have a range of 100 miles...in the carpool lane, if you wish.

But flinging it around the streets near Aptera's headquarters, it seems quicker still, partly due to a go-kart-like agility that's carried off with a surprisingly civil ride. Adding to the feel is a view of the road rushing up at you (the base of the aircraft-evocative windshield plunges toward the pavement) and those wheel pants articulating with the inboard rocker-type front suspension, visible out of the dramatically forward-raked side windows. Steering and brakes are unassisted, but efforts are reasonable as the curb weight is only 1700 lb., about half the weight of a base Honda Accord.

Earlier, in another near-production prototype whose interior and exterior detailing is nearing final spec. Entering gracefully through the quasi-gullwing doors takes a few tries, but the door openings are large and once seated, the cabin width seems to split the difference between a Lotus Elise and a Toyota Corolla. There's a large hooded digital speedometer and bar-graph battery state-of-charge indicator, along with a central infotainment screen that offers mind- boggling possibilities. Leg- and head room were surprisingly generous for even my 6- foot-3 frame. And safety is preeminent in the Aptera's design — the final version will have both frontal and side airbags. And if there was any doubt about the strength of the composite construction, it was quelled as eight Aptera employees stood on the roof of a development shell. And that was after the shell had gone through government roof -crush testing!

It seems as if the future is here today...or at least come this October.

Microsoft to open own stores

Microsoft Corp announced plans Thursday to open its own chain of branded stores as it looks to catch up with rival Apple Inc's successful move into retailing.

The world's largest software company, which also makes the Xbox video game console and the Zune digital music player, did not say how many stores it was looking to open, or when, or which of its products would be on sale.

That is to be decided by David Porter, a former DreamWorks Animation executive, which Microsoft named as its new vice president of retail stores.

Turner, a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc manager, will report to Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner.

The long-rumored move to open stores comes as consumer spending is under severe pressure due to the recession, which has already pushed electronics chain Circuit City into bankruptcy. A similar attempt by computer maker Gateway to open its own stores some years ago was not successful.

Microsoft, bruised by the poor reception of its latest Vista operating system, is facing increased competition from Apple, which is eating into the personal computer market and dominates the personal digital music player market with its iPod line.

Apple's stylish stores, now numbering more than 200 worldwide, have been crucial in attracting customers in recent years.

Kisses ease stress levels

Just in time for Valentine's Day, a panel of scientists examined the mystery of what happens when hearts throb and lips lock. Kissing, it turns out, unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes and encourage bonding in men, though not so much in women.

Chemicals in the saliva may be a way to assess a mate, Wendy Hill, dean of the faculty and a professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.

In an experiment, Hill explained, pairs of heterosexual college students who kissed for 15 minutes while listening to music experienced significant changes in their levels of the chemicals oxytocin, which affects pair bonding, and cortisol, which is associated with stress. Their blood and saliva levels of the chemicals were compared before and after the kiss.

Both men and women had a decline in cortisol after smooching, an indication their stress levels declined.

For men, oxytocin levels increased, indicating more interest in bonding, while oxytocin levels went down in women. "This was a surprise," Hill said.

In a test group that merely held hands, chemical changes were similar, but much less pronounced, she said.

The experiment was conducted in a student health center, Hill noted. She plans a repeat "in a more romantic setting."

Hill spoke at the session on the Science of Kissing, along with Helen Fisher of Rutgers University and Donald Lateiner of Ohio Wesleyan University.

Fisher noted that more than 90 percent of human societies practice kissing, which she believes has three components — the sex drive, romantic love and attachment.

The sex drive pushes individuals to assess a variety of partners, then romantic love causes them to focus on an individual, she said. Attachment then allows them to tolerate this person long enough to raise a child.

Men tend to think of kissing as a prelude to copulation, Fisher said. She noted that men prefer "sloppy" kisses, in which chemicals including testosterone can be passed on to the women in saliva. Testosterone increases the sex drive in both males and females.

"When you kiss an enormous part of your brain becomes active," she added. Romantic love can last a long time, "if you kiss the right person."

Lateiner, a classical scholar, observed that kissing appears infrequently in Greek and Roman art, but was widely practiced, despite the spread of skin disease at that time by facial kissing. And there was a potential for social faux pas by kissing the wrong person at the wrong time.

Overall, the science of kissing — philematology — is under-researcherd, Hill concluded.

FAA says Hackers broke into agency computers

WASHINGTON – Hackers broke into the Federal Aviation Administration's computer system last week, accessing the names and Social Security numbers of 45,000 employees and retirees.

The agency said in a statement Monday that two of the 48 files on the breached computer server contained personal information about employees and retires who were on the FAA's rolls as of the first week of February 2006.

The server that was accessed was not connected to the operation of the air traffic control system and there is no indication those systems have been compromised, the statement said.

"The FAA is moving quickly to prevent any similar incidents and has identified immediate steps as well as longer-term measures to further protect personal information," the statement said. The agency said it is providing a toll-free number for employees "who believe they may be affected by the breach."

Tom Waters, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3290, said FAA officials told unions representing agency employees at a briefing Monday that the second breached file with personal information contained encrypted medical information.

"These government systems should be the best in the world and apparently they are able to be compromised," said Waters, an FAA contracts attorney. "Our information technology systems people need to take a long hard look at themselves and their capabilities. This is malpractice in their world."

The FAA statement said the data theft has been reported to "law enforcement authorities," who are investigating.

All affected employees will receive letters notifying them of the breach, the statement said.

Waters said FAA officials told union leaders the incident was the first of its kind at the agency. But he said his union complained about three or four years ago about an incident in which employees received anti-union mail that used names and addresses that appeared to be generated from FAA computer files.

He said the union complained to the FAA and the Transportation Department's inspector general but no action was taken.

Dozens missing as Australian bushfires kill 135

Weary firefighters and rescuers pulled the remains of dozens of people from charred buildings on Monday as the toll from Australia's deadliest bushfires rose to 135.

"Everybody's gone. Everybody's gone. Everybody. Their houses are gone. They're all dead in the houses there. Everybody's dead," cried survivor Christopher Harvey as he walked through the town of Kinglake, where most people were killed.

Police believe some of the fires, which razed rural towns near the country's second biggest city, Melbourne, were deliberately lit and declared one devastated town a crime scene.

The bushfires are the country's worst natural disaster in more than a century, and will put pressure on Rudd to deliver a broad new climate policy.

One massive bushfire tore through several towns in the southern state of Victoria on Saturday night, destroying everything in its path. Many people died in cars trying to flee and others were killed huddled in their homes, yet some escaped by jumping into swimming pools or farm reservoirs.

The inferno was as tall as a four-storey building at one stage and was sparking spot fires 40 km ahead of itself as the strong winds blew hot embers in its path.

Wildfires are a natural annual event in Australia, but this year a combination of scorching weather, drought and tinder-dry bush has created prime conditions.

The fires, and major floods in Queensland state in the north, will put pressure on Rudd, who is due to deliver a new climate policy in May. Green politicians are citing the extreme weather to back a tougher climate policy.

Adding to the nation's grief, authorities in northern Queensland searched unsuccessfully for a five-year-old boy who they believe was killed by a crocodile when he chased his pet dog into the flooded Daintree River.

Scientists say Australia, with its harsh environment, is set to be one of the nations most affected by climate change.

The Victorian bushfire tragedy is the worst natural disaster in Australia in 110 years. In 1899, Cyclone Mahina struck Australia's northern Cape York, killing more than 400.

Thousands of firefighters continued to battle the main fires and scores of other blazes across Victoria on Monday, as well as fires in neighbouring New South Wales state.

While cooler, calmer conditions helped firefighters, 10 major fires remained out of control in Victoria. But the week-long heatwave that triggered the inferno was over.

The fires burnt out more than 330,000 ha of mostly bushland in Victoria, but a number of vineyards in the Yarra Valley were also destroyed. The Insurance Council of Australia said it was too early to estimate the bill.

The small town of Marysville was sealed off by police as forensic scientists searched through the rubble for evidence.

As dawn broke in the town of Whittlesea, near Kinglake, shocked residents wandered the streets, some crying, searching for loved ones still missing.

The previous worst bushfire tragedy in Australia was in 1983, when 75 people were killed.

216 cops failed nationwide random drug testing in 2008 - PNP

MANILA, Philippines - Even the police ranks are apparently not safe from illegal drug syndicates.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday admitted that 216 policemen tested positive in a nationwide random drug testing conducted last year, only 80 of whom were dismissed from service. 25 percent of the police force will be subjected to random drug testing this year as part of the ant-illegal drugs campaign within the ranks. The Philippine National Police will not accept any usual excuses from their cops that they are positive because they belongs to an undercover operations.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said 79 policemen are currently undergoing summary dismissal proceedings while 26 others have been pre-charged administratively and are facing dismissal.

Aside from them, 24 policemen were suspended, two were dropped from the rolls while five others voluntarily resigned as a result of last year's drug testing, Bartolome said.

Bartolome noted that most of those who tested positive either for shabu or marijuana are newly recruited non-commissioned officers with a rank of either Police Officer 1 or Police Officer 2.

Bartolome noted that 25,134 police personnel were subjected to surprise drug testing from January to December last year. This number comprises 25 percent of the 125,000-strong National Police force.

Getting a Chinese driver's licence

If someone's intestines are protruding from an open abdominal wound, should you: A. Put them back in place; B. Do nothing; or, C. Cover them with some kind of container and fasten it around the body?

The above is not from a first-year medical school exam, but is one of the 100 questions that locals and foreigners alike could find on China's written driver's licence exam. (The answer, by the way, is C.)

Test candidates are given a booklet of 800 test questions, 100 of which appear on the actual exam. While the questions dealing with traffic signs are universally understood, others have singularly Chinese characteristics.

Sometimes two of the three answers could be equally right, or the answer that is considered right is obviously false.

Take the following example.

"What should a driver do when he needs to spit while driving? A. Spit through the window. B. Spit into a piece of waste paper, then put it into a garbage can. C. Spit on the floor of the vehicle."

Answer? B.

On one recent morning, a group of Americans, Russians, South Koreans and French nationals waited for the test at the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, in a room reserved for foreigners behind the toilets.

A series of gory images flashed across a flat-screen television: a badly injured person lying in a car's back seat, covered in blood; a dazed driver sitting on the ground after an accident; mourning relatives in tears.

Nikita, a Russian who works for an aviation company in the Chinese capital, was the most confident person in the group, after spending four days revising the multiple-choice questionnaire. Nothing could go wrong -- so he thought.

The 20 or so examinees took their seats, each facing a computer screen. The test began.

They had to write their ID numbers, pick a language, and click their way through the computerised test: A, B, or C. True or False. Yes or No.

All 100 questions had be completed in 45 minutes, with a candidate needing 90 or more correct to pass. Results were given immediately.

A group of US embassy staffers left the room, mostly in a jubilant mood -- all had passed except for one man, who only got 82 percent correct.

"We spent the entire weekend cramming," one of them said.

A woman tried to console the candidate who had failed. "It would've been an even bigger pity if you had scored 89," she said.

Nikita, for his part, was utterly devastated. Despite all of his hard work, he only answered 45 questions correctly.

"I couldn't understand a word of the Russian used on the test," he said.

Once the written test is over, foreigners who have a driver's license in their home country are not required to take a practical test, unlike the Chinese.

But they do have to have their eyesight checked, and this seemingly simple exercise also holds its fair share of surprises.

At a nearby hospital, a nurse asked the latest candidates to read letters from a lighted panel, covering the left and the right eye in turn.

But they have to read the panel in a mirror. And the letters listed do not exist in any known alphabet.

A backwards E? One that is upside down? How do you pronounce that?

Somehow, the candidates passed the sight test, and most left the traffic management office a short time later with licences in hand.

But reality will soon set in.

At the entrance to the parking lot were two cars crumpled like accordions, and on the streets of Beijing, no one seems to pay attention to the rules of the road.

Drivers routinely overtake on the right, taxis breeze through red lights, cyclists ride against the traffic and pedestrians jaywalk.

Last year alone, 73,500 people were killed and 304,000 injured in traffic accidents in China.

Welcome to China's roads, among the most dangerous in the world.

SKoria Nkoria talk but remains hard line

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that he is ready for dialogue with North Korea, though he vowed not to veer from the hard-line principles that have angered the communist state and strained ties over the past year.

Tension between the divided Koreas has intensified in recent weeks, with Pyongyang announcing it would scrap peace agreements with Seoul, warning of a war on the peninsula and reportedly preparing to test a missile capable of reaching the western United States. North Korea accused the United States of plotting an attack, citing a recent air drill north of Seoul.

Fears of political instability in the North deepened last year when its reclusive leader Kim reportedly suffered a stroke and had brain surgery. The North, however, has called such speculation a smear campaign on its leader, churning out media reports and photos depicting him as healthy and active.

"I am well aware of the fact there are some people who are uneasy about North Korea's recent series of threats," Lee said in a regular radio speech. "However, my fellow citizens, we don't have to worry about that too much."

Lee reiterated that his government is ready to sit down "anytime" with North Korea for talks to reduce tension, though added he will stick to his basic policy and not be too hasty to achieve results.

"I believe what is particularly important in South-North ties is unwavering, unequivocal principles," said Lee, who has periodically called for dialogue, including in his inauguration speech last year when he said he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong II.

However, Lee has said Seoul should not offer unconditional aid to its impoverished, nuclear-armed neighbor as his liberal predecessors did. In response, Pyongyang cut off all ties last year, halted cooperation on key joint projects and verified Lee as "human scum."

Last week, South Korean and Japanese media reports said the North was moving a suspected long-range missile to its launch site, saying a test would follow in one to two months. Analysts said the North was trying to attract President Barack Obama's attention as he formulates his North Korea policy.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to visit South Korea next week as part of her Asian trip. North Korea's nuclear threat is expected to be a key topic during her visits to the South, Japan, and China _ the three nations that, along with the U.S. and Russia, are pressing the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The nuclear talks have been stalled for months over how to verify the country's past nuclear activities.

The U.S., which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, has consistently said it has no intention of attacking the North. Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman at the U.S. command in Seoul, said Monday that the training North Korea referred to was a routine exercise.

The North's state media reported that Kim, who turns 67 on Feb. 16, met a visiting senior Chinese envoy last month in what appeared to be his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign dignitary since his reported stroke in August.