clipped from www.thejakartapost.com

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 6:15 PM A diver in Santa Claus costume rides a bicycle inside a shark tank at the Sea World in North Jakarta on Friday.

clipped from www.foxnews.com

Canadian Man Builds Himself Robot Girlfriend

"She can recognize faces, she can identify medication, she can even butter your toast," Le Trung tells the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Not only that, but Aiko speaks — in both English and, for some reason, Japanese. (Le Trung has a Vietnamese name.) She can also read.

"Aiko is what happens when science meets beauty," Le Trung tells the Sun of London. "Aiko doesn't need holidays, food or rest, and will work almost 24 hours a day. She is the perfect woman."

She still can't walk, however. That will take a lot more work and, Le Trung tells the Globe and Mail, a new round of funding. He hopes to create and sell more pretty female robots in the future.

But, ahem, is there more than just companionship involved?

"Aiko is still a virgin, AND NO I do not sleep with her," he writes on the Project Aiko Web site, though he admits that she "has sensors in her body including her private parts, and yes even down there."

clipped from www.tampabays10.com

Grandma finds $97,000 in Cracker Barrel bathroom

She found the purse with nearly $100,000 in it in a Cracker Barrel bathroom last week and gave it back. Watts said the money was in the purse, hanging on the hook of a restroom stall door.

Watts said she searched the bag for a name or address, but I couldn't find one. That is when she spotted the money.

She counted the money with her husband, which was $97,000 in all, and then called Cracker Barrel to leave her information.

"I said, 'I won't tell you what I found in the bathroom, but give them my number if someone calls'," she recalled.

15 minutes later, Watts said a woman called her apartment. She identified the bag and a picture inside.

"She came up and hugged me. She offered me $1,000, but told me she needed every penny she could so I thought, it's not my money. If she needs it that badly, it knew she didn't really want to give it, so I didn't take it," said Watts.

clipped from www.thejakartapost.com

YUMMY MERRY-GO-ROUND

Visitors look at a merry-go-round made from ginger and chocolate in the lobby of the Mulia Hotel in South Jakarta. The cake is part of the hotel’s attractions to draw customers ahead of Christmas Day. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

The troubled star spent just 24 hours in the UK but her comeback visit was criticised by fans as half-hearted.

Miss Spears, who will turn 27 on Tuesday, was also jeered for a lacklustre appearance at a gay night in London where she neither sang nor spoke.

Thirteen million people were tuned into the X Factor on Saturday night to watch her perform in skimpy hotpants surrounded by top-hatted dancers.

But despite receiving a standing ovation from judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue, she failed to impress many viewers who flooded ITV chat forums with criticism afterwards.

One wrote: "Britney's performance was a disgrace. I don't know how she had the nerve to stand on that stage and mime when 'amateur' singers gave such good performances. Simon Cowell should be ashamed to serve up such rubbish."

"She couldn't even wish the poor contestants luck..... shame."

A spokesman for the star insisted: "She was never asked to perform".

clipped from www.thejakartapost.com

Obama missing 'rambutan, bakso and nasi goreng'

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a telephone conversation with U.S. president-elect Barack Obama during his stopover in Seattle, and invited him to visit Indonesia, tempointeraktif.com reported on Wednesday.

"He addressed me with, 'Apa Kabar Bapak President?' (How are you Mr. President?), in fluent Indonesian," Yudhoyono said.

Obama said he missed several local delicacies such as nasi goreng (fried rice), rambutan and bakso (meatball soup), he added.

Yudhoyono had congratulated Obama's election as U.S. president and suggested he visit Indonesia after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore next year.

Yudhoyono said they had both agreed to maintain good relations between the two countries.

"I felt his warmth and friendship in the conversation."

During one of his campaign speeches, Obama said he would visit Indonesia within the first 100 days of his presidency. Obama is due to take office on Jan 20, 2009.

clipped from www.thejakartapost.com

MUI investigates yoga, tells Muslims to suspend practicing

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is telling Indonesian Muslims to stop practicing yoga while the council investigates the practice after public concern rose when a Malaysian top Muslim body banned the practice.

MUI head of edict affairs said Tuesday the council would invite yoga experts to explain the practice within the next two weeks.

"We will let them explain it to us before we issue an edict on the practice," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com

The council plans to study whether yoga includes rituals, actions or teachings that run counter to Islamic teachings.

Last week Malaysia's National Fatwa Council, which has the authority to rule over how Muslims practice their faith, issued an edict banning Muslims from practicing yoga, saying the Indian physical exercise contains spiritual elements including chanting and Hindu worship practices that could corrupt Muslims.

Many analysts have said the edict reflects the growing strain of conservatism in Malaysia. The majority of Malaysians are Muslim. (dre)

clipped from www.thejakartapost.com

CHRISTMAS RECORD