Robo-chefs and fashion-bots on show in Tokyo

Forget the Transformers and Astroboy: Japan's latest robots don't save the world -- they cook snacks, play with your kids, model clothes, and search for disaster victims.

In a nation that takes its humanoids seriously, the International Robot Exhibition kicked off this week, showing off the latest whirring and buzzing inventions from 192 companies and 64 organisations from at home and abroad.

Many of the cutting-edge machines on show are eye-popping, but industrial robot "Motoman" also put on a mouth-watering performance, deftly flipping a Japanese savoury pancake called okonomiyaki on a sizzling hotplate.

"It is delicious. Please enjoy," said the human-size creation of Yaskawa Electric Corp. in a robotic voice.

For pure dexterity, an artificial hand called the "H-type" was hard to beat -- a robotic hand with a sufficiently deft touch to handle a piece of pound cake without dropping a single crumb.

"This robot hand can pick up food without crushing it, which has been a hurdle for metal arms," said Jun Honda of robot developer Denso Wave.

Denso used small air pumps and a smooth silicon skin for the artificial limb, co-developed with software maker Squse, and says the device may one day be used to help the sick and elderly.

"It could be used to serve food for people who need care," Honda said.

Also aimed at helping people is the snake-shaped "Active Scope Camera", which uses robotic technology to slither serpent-style through the rubble of a disaster zone to take and transmit live video images.

Tohoku University and the International Rescue System Institute jointly developed the instrument, which propels itself forward with thousands of tiny devices called cilia that resemble the legs on a centipede.

Elsewhere, Eager Co. showed off a curvaceous female-shaped humanoid made of layers of cardboard, billed as the first eco-friendly robot.

The maker hopes the figure, with its soundless, smooth and almost seductive movements could find a job as a display window mannequin -- or even on a theatre stage.

"We want to apply this very light-weight robot as a new advertising medium," said Eager's Tsuyoshi Yamashita. "The smooth movements of the robot would help female customers feel safe and have an affinity with the machine."

A robot of the cuter variety is Ropid, 38 centimetres (15 inches) tall, with huge round eyes and boxy arms and legs -- more at home in a toy department than on a factory floor.

Unlike the super-advanced industrial robots elsewhere in the exhibition, this one keeps things simple. It can stand up, walk, run and jump -- but in a loveable way, its creator hopes.

"The challenge is to design a robot in a way to make you believe that you can communicate with it," said its creator, Tomotaka Takahashi. "With his quick actions, he looks like he's really alive." (AFP)

Nepal tucks into first international fast-food chain

Nepal's first international fast-food restaurants opened in the capital Kathmandu on Wednesday, reflecting the country's cautious attempts to attract more investment from Western companies.

Long queues formed outside Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Pizza Hut, with KFC serving more than 500 people in the first two hours of business.

"It has been an exciting day after a long period of planning and preparation," Vishnu Reddy, country manager for the two brands said. "We are happy and satisfied with the overwhelming response from customers."

KFC and Pizza Hut arrived in Nepal as the country recovers from a decade-long civil war that claimed more than 16,000 lives before a peace deal was reached between rebel Maoists and the government in 2006.

During the violence, rebels targeted foreign ventures including Coke, Pepsi and Unilever but more recently Kathmandu has seen rapid growth in restaurants, malls and supermarkets.

Many of the ingredients for KFC and Pizza Hut are imported from abroad, including the chicken from Brazil and potatoes from Australia.

"We have to maintain our products and original taste," Reddy told AFP.

The Nagarik newspaper welcomed the restaurants, saying they gave "an opportunity for Nepalese customers for cheaper and better food and an alternative." (AFP)

'Delighted' couple holds Australia's first gay union

Two "delighted" men became Australia's first same-sex couple to hold a legally recognised civil partnership ceremony Wednesday, under new laws which look set to be quickly overturned.

Warren McGaw and Chris Rumble said they were honoured to celebrate their union in the Rose Garden of Old Parliament House in Canberra, 20 years after beginning their relationship.

"We thought we'd take this opportunity not only for gay couples Australia wide ... but just for human rights," McGaw said.

"I think the majority of Australians are behind us."

The national government, however, is seeking legal advice on whether to quash the laws, passed this month in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) parliament, allowing same-sex couples a legally recognised union.

"The reality is there are a number of people in the community who feel strongly about this issue both ways," said Attorney-General Robert McClelland.

McClelland, of the ruling centre-left Labor party, overturned a similar bid in February 2008 on the grounds it broke national laws on marriage, which is defined as between a man and woman.

It was the second time the national government had overturned gay marriage legislation in the ACT, after an earlier attempt was halted in 2006.

"I would like to resolve the matter with the minimum amount of angst, a minimum amount of trauma, and the minimum amount of time," said McClelland.

McGaw and Rumble said they would be "devastated" if the law was thrown out, despite assurances that any unions already celebrated would stand.

"We'll be really disappointed and devastated if (the legislation) does get overturned," said McGaw.

"But we took the opportunity today to have the legal ceremony as the law stands today."

"We couldn't be happier, couldn't be more delighted."

The ruling party voted in August to uphold Australia's gay marriage ban, but the government has also passed legislation to remove same-sex discrimination from almost 100 national laws including areas such as tax and employment. (AFP)

Gypsies seen as outcasts in new, ultra-conservative Iraq

Squeezed between a rubbish dump and a dry riverbed, Al-Zuhoor has no clean water or electricity and the gypsies who live here are at the margins of the new, ultra-conservative Iraq.

In smelly alleys bordered by brick hovels, without glass windows or doors, men wander without work, a young girl plays on a squeaky swing and women return from a day's begging in Diwaniyah, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

In the distance, smoke from burning rubbish blackens the sky and, when the wind turns, the nauseous odour is overwhelming.

Before 2003, under the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein, the situation was much better. The dictator's iron fist did not weigh on the gypsies or Roma.

The men were professional singers or musicians and the women were invited to dance at feasts, weddings and parties in Iraq, having migrated to the Middle East from India centuries ago.

With the rise of radical Islamists in 2004 however, they were marginalised, attacked and robbed by the Mahdi army, a Shiite militia loyal to the radical, anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who regarded the gypsies as morally repugnant.

Today, with the war-torn country primarily run by religious leaders, as opposed to the mostly secular society that existed under Saddam, the Roma community feels ostracised.

Despite being Muslims, the "Kawliya" -- as the community is known in Iraq -- are seen as outcasts.

"We live worse than dogs," says Ragnab Hannumi Allawi, a villager, wearing a sombre, piercing black look, surrounded by a group of women and sitting on a dusty carpet.

She now refuses to go to Diwaniyah, capital of the eponymous province, to seek help. "The authorities say 'you are entitled to nothing' and throw us out. When we go into the city to buy food, they refuse us."

The only thing these women can do to beg a few dinars is to cover their face entirely to avoid being recognised.

"We leave at 5:00 am and we return around 3:00 pm, for two years they have been shutting all the doors on us and they kept us agonising," says Lamia Hallub, her face broken.

The men, meanwhile, remember with nostalgia the weddings and events where they played and sang at night for rich families.

Before 2003 "we could work in music and folk festivals," says Khalid Jassim, his head dressed in a red and white checked Keffiyeh.

"But since we have had nothing. Why? Because our traditions do not accord with Islamic values," the old man complains.

"They say to us that the artists have no place in Iraq. The art is finished, but what country is there without artists?" he says, his voice rising and mood becoming more animated.

"Give me any job -- military, police, security or worker."

In the face of regular attacks, police installed checkpoints at the village entrance, but despite this many gypsies left.

"In the village, the infrastructure was destroyed, including the water network and the electricity," explains Abbas al-Sidi, a member of the province's Human Rights Commission.

"The attacks, mostly by armed militias, forced the families to flee to other provinces. The number of families has fallen from 450 to 120. Those who remain are the poorest."

The number of Roma in Iraq, according to tribal chiefs, is estimated at 60,000. Their hopes of a better life in the country with a population of 30 million people appear slim.

"Islam considers them to be deviants," declares Hafiz Mutashar, a religious dignitary in Diwaniyah.

"They commit prostitution which is forbidden under Islam. It is normal that our community considers them inferior and insists that they be isolated." (AFP)

France to ban 'psychological violence' in marriage

France is to pass a law banning "psychological violence within the couple" and study the idea of tagging violent partners to prevent them stalking their victims, the government said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced the measures in a speech to mark the United Nations' tenth International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, promising legislation in the first half of nest year.

"It's an important step forward: the creation of this offence will allow us to deal with the most insidious situations, situations that leave no visible scars, but which leave their victims torn up inside," he said.

"And we are going to experiment with electronic surveillance measures on the Spanish model to monitor the effectiveness of restraining orders against a violent spouse," he added.

Spanish judges now have the power to force convicted a wife-beater to wear a watch-sized electronic bracelet that triggers an alarm if he gets too close to his former victim and gives her a chance to call the police.

Since June, 58 men have been tagged and police have been called 222 times.

Last year, 157 French women were killed by their husband or partner. (AFP)

China's pandas worth more than Tiger Woods: Australian zoo

Two giant pandas due to begin a 10-year stay at an Australian zoo could give the local economy a bigger boost than recent visits by Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong, officials said Wednesday.

Wang Wang, four, and three-year-old Funi are due to arrive at Adelaide Zoo Saturday for a long-term loan from the Panda Protection and Research Centre at Ya'an in China's Sichuan Province.

Zoos South Australia chief Chris West said the stay would be a "financial bonanza" for the state's economy, reaping an estimated 600-million dollar benefit over the 10 years.

"The pandas can be expected to generate 632 million dollars (584 million US) for the state economy over 10 years," West said.

"Each year (the pandas) could generate significantly more economic benefits than the much-vaunted appearances by golfer Tiger Woods or cyclist Lance Armstrong," he added.

West said the zoo was expecting "huge" visitor numbers for the pandas, which will be the only ones of their kind in the southern hemisphere.

"The average increase in visitation at the US zoos (with pandas) has been 70 percent for about two years after their arrival, and another 30 percent if and when baby pandas were born," he said.

The pandas will spend their first month in Australia quarantined in a new purpose-built enclosure, which features refrigerated rocks to help keep them cool through what is forecast to be a summer of record-breaking heat.

Their first public appearance will be on December 13, and zookeepers said they would focus on trying to breed panda cubs -- a notoriously difficult task for the low-sexed creatures. (AFP)

TV accused of fanning Pakistan political instability

Pakistan's television networks are heaping political pressure on an increasingly unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari with critical and influential programming that offers a voice to the poor.

In the decade since military ruler Pervez Musharraf issued licences and softened state control on media after seizing power, more than 50 channels have mushroomed in the country, with around half dedicated to news broadcasts.

The channels have become campaigners against the leadership, have whipped up fervour for and against the Taliban, have embarrassed the security services and sown fear with 24-seven coverage of attacks beamed into living rooms.

"The government is under constant pressure from the media," Mutahir Sheikh, head of international relations at Karachi University, told AFP.

A recent Gallup survey claimed that more than half of Pakistanis -- 57 percent of those polled -- blame the media for stirring up political instability in the country, which has known regular periods of military rule.

There are dozens of private satellite channels based in Pakistan and abroad that present every possible political opinion, pumping out news and debate in Urdu, English and regional languages to the country's 167 million people.

Owned by newspaper groups, wealthy businessmen and private individuals, critics accuse them of sensationalism and peddling conspiracy theories, particularly about perceived interference from India and the United States.

Renowned author Ahmed Rashid accuses talk show hosts of "demonising the elected government, trying to convince viewers of global conspiracies against Pakistan led by India and the United States or insisting that the recent campaign of suicide bomb blasts... is being orchestrated by foreigners.

"The campaign waged by some politicians and parts of the media -- with underlying pressure from the army -- is all about trying to build public opinion to make Mr Zardari's tenure untenable," he wrote on the BBC website.

This week, authorities banned a Dubai-based show presented by an outspoken critic of the government on Pakistan's most influential private channel, Geo.

"Apparently the Pakistani government, President Zardari to be specific, used his position to get the authorities in Dubai to impose a ban on the airing of the programme," Azhar Abbas, Geo's managing director, told AFP.

"The government is unnerved and uneasy over the independent criticism it faces in our unbiased programmes. But instead of countering argument with argument it goes for tactics which bring more embarrassment."

Last month the authorities cut live footage broadcast by some TV channels of a deeply embarrassing 20-hour siege on the Pakistani army's headquarters.

Television channels were also seen as having influenced a government decision to publish a list of officials, including Zardari, who have benefited from an amnesty on graft accusations that expires Saturday. The move has raised fears that heads may roll.

"The government had to expose its own allies, party officials and politicians who benefitted.... There are no sacred cows now," said Sheikh.

Many say the media play a vital role in shaping public opinion in a country where nearly half the population are illiterate.

"Independent media has empowered the underprivileged people to express themselves, which is itself a revolutionary change," said Fateh Muhammad Burfat, a sociology professor at Karachi University.

The channels supported a movement to restore ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, siding with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif until Zardari's government caved in, reinstating him in March to avert violence in the capital.

Television executives believe their news helps inculcate democracy and gives a voice to the disenfranchised, who get little assistance from the state.

"We adopt very democratic methods. Here you find people from both sides," said Talat Hussain, executive director of news and current affairs at Aaj News.

"The impression that we create chaos in society is not true," said Hussain.

In fact, he says, poor and underprivileged people with problems -- looking for employment or outraged by an issue -- descend on TV stations hoping for answers.

"In Pakistan people have utmost faith in two institutions -- judiciary and media. Our people pin their hopes on us and we do whatever we can to make ours a better society," said Hussain. (AFP)