"Fuel protest : Motorists drive past a tyre which was set on fire by students during a demonstration in Jakarta to protest against the government's recent increase in fuel prices." [yahoo photos]

"The crew of the International Space Station were forced to carry out emergency plumbing last week after their toilet went out of order. Fortunately, cosmonauts managed to fix the problem and can visit the little boy’s room again.

While the repair was being made, the crew had to relieve themselves in the toilet of the Soyuz space craft. Since its capacity is limited, they had to carry out some urgent tinkering to meet the demand."

www.russiatoday.ru/scitech/news/25358

"A model of a proposed European manned spaceship has gone on show at the Berlin Air Show.

The design, which has been produced by EADS Astrium, is based on the unmanned "Jules Verne" freighter recently sent to the International Space Station."

"The idea is to combine what is essentially the avionics and propulsion end of Jules Verne (also known as the Automated Transfer Vehicle - ATV) with a crew compartment taking the place of the current cargo section."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7419793.stm

"Sharon Stone's "karma" comment is having an instant effect on her movie-star status in China.

The 50-year-old actress suggested last week that the devastating May 12 earthquake in China could have been the result of bad karma over the government's treatment of Tibet. That prompted the founder of one of China's biggest cinema chains to say his company would not show her films in his theaters, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.

"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else," Stone said Thursday during a Cannes Film Festival red-carpet interview with Hong Kong's Cable Entertainment News. "And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?""

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080528/ap_en_mo/people_sharon_stone_quake

"French skydiver Michel Fournier's bid to set a new altitude freefall record was scuppered when the balloon that was to carry him into the stratosphere separated from the gondola." [yahoo photos]

>>	Junior Field Reporter 08/05/27(Tue)20:50 No.6670   File: 1211946609606.jpg -(66561 B, 470x470) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Joseph Kittinger strikes again.

"KINOKAWA, Japan (AFP) - In times of need, Japanese say they can even ask the cat for help. In this town in western Japan, people look to Tama, a nine-year-old cat working as master of an unmanned train station.

The tortoiseshell coloured creature, born and raised at Kishi Station on the provincial Kishigawa Line, wears a formal uniform cap of Wakayama Electric Railway and calmly watches passing passengers who greet her.

There are 10 train stations on the 14.3-kilometre (8.9-mile) line.

"Tama is the only stationmaster as we have to reduce personnel costs. You say you could ask for the cat's help, but she is actually bringing luck to us," Wakayama Electric spokeswoman Keiko Yamaki said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080525/od_afp/japantourismanimalcatoffbeat

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday called for a cut in European oil taxes to help consumers as fishermen and truck drivers across the continent staged protests against soaring prices.

French riot police cleared fisherman away from a key oil depot in southern France as British truck drivers staged a demonstration in London and Spanish fishermen started a strike and lorry drivers threatened to join in.

Italian and Greek fishermen may start strikes this week."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hX-SqMo2iaFkffklYI6E513bBSYg

"It's a new frontier for psychiatric illness: Brain pacemakers that promise to act as antidepressants by changing how patients' nerve circuitry fires."

"the new experiments with so-called deep brain stimulation, or DBS, are in their infancy. Only a few dozen patients with severe depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder so far have been treated in closely monitored studies."

""Not all patients get better, but when patients respond, it's significant," says Dr. Helen Mayberg of Emory University, who has implanted about 50 depression patients."

""We're rewiring the brain in many ways," says Dr. Ali Rezai, chief of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Neurologic Restoration."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080526/ap_on_he_me/healthbeat_brain_pacemakers

"The European Union hopes to bring fuel efficiency concerns to the forefront with a bill requiring all new passenger cars to have anti-skid and tire technology features by 2012.

The proposed high tech features would require fitting cars with computerized systems that control brakes and engines, tires that could contribute to a cut in fuel consumption and computer programs that monitor wheel pressure. The measures, which may hike vehicle prices by up to $473 (300 euro), also aim to promote road safety, said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011067470

"Billionaire George Soros on Monday blamed speculators for the sharp increase in the price of crude oil.

In an interview with the London Telegraph, Soros stressed that speculators are equally to blame for the skyrocketing prices in the crude market as much as the weak dollar, declining Middle East oil supply, and China's increasing demand for crude oil.

According the newspaper, Soros described the price increase as having a "Parabolic shape" which, he explained is ``characteristic of bubbles,'. The billionaire investor added that the oil bubble "will not burst until the U.S. and Britain are both in recession"."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011065592