ASIMO"s appearance in...

ASIMO"s appearance in London, where he will make four performances a day for the duration of the event, marks the start of a programme of public demonstrations across Europe over the next year to show how Honda is tackling one of the great technological challenges of the age. The tour will include Honda"s major facilities in Europe as well as scientific and robotics events across the continent. To see ASIMO in action, click on the following link ASIMO

Meanwhile, the ABD has expressed concern over the case of Kris Haskins, the deputy Mayor of Portland Town Council, who was sent a speeding ticket for 51 mph when he was actually travelling at 14 mph. He subsequently proved that the "camera had indeed lied" and the case was dropped.

ABD Spokesman Nigel Humphries said "There is potential for widespread injustice here. We are told that the camera was affected by a "reflected image" and gave a wrong reading, and that this is an "extremely rare occurrence". However this didn"t stop the ticket from being sent out. Had the driver just paid up, as millions do each year, no one would have been any the wiser.

"This sits very uneasily with the fact that many camera partnerships refuse to produce the photographs of the alleged "offence" unless the accused takes the case to court. This, of course, puts most people off trying to defend their cases, or even establishing whether the camera partnership has got its figures right."

The AA has revealed that batteries continue to top the 10 most common reasons for call-outs from the 3.9 million breakdowns it attended in 2003 (accounting for 15.1 per cent of callouts). The figures also show that cars are more likely to break down on a Monday than any other day of the week, and that Monday 6 January 2003, with 22,576 breakdowns, was the busiest day of last year.