Oddly Enough

"Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen?”

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Los Angeles company is touting a new reality game show called "Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen" that aims to create televised matrimony between legal citizens and immigrants who have temporary visas.

The show's backers at Morusa Media hope to make a sort of love match between reality TV and a national obsession with immigration. But the producers make no promise that a marriage will occur or lead to U.S. citizenship.

Show creator Adrian Martinez said that Morusa Media has not yet found a network to produce or air the show, but he is currently in talks with one cable TV network and already has signed up contestants for six episodes.

"It's this generation's 'Dating Game,' but with a twist -- it aims to show love knows no borders," Martinez told Reuters.

As in the "Dating Game," which ran on network TV for more than two decades starting in the 1960s, a single U.S. citizen gets to ask contestants various questions. Toward the end of the show, he or she decides which one to select as a potential mate.

So far, most of the contestants are Hispanic immigrants, although at least one is from the Philippines, Martinez said.

In a statement, Morusa said that while it does not guarantee marriage or legal status, it will pay for a wedding party and honeymoon should a marriage result.

"We're just out to play matchmaker," said the show's host, Angelo Gonzales. "There are thousands of U.S. citizens seeking a spouse, and just as many immigrants seeking the same. So we want to make it a win-win situation for all involved."

LONDON  - A canoeist who went missing, presumed drowned, off the Cleveland coast five years ago has turned up alive and well at a London police station, officers said on Monday.

John Darwin was reported missing in March 2002 after he failed to appear at work, and the shattered remains of his red canoe were later found washed up on a beach near Hartlepool, Cleveland.

Despite extensive searches for the former prison officer, involving aircraft, lifeboats and a Royal Navy ship, no trace was found of him.

On Saturday, Darwin, who is in his 50s and married with two children, turned up at West End Central police station in London. Mystery surrounds his disappearance.

"It is not known at this time where he has spent the last five-and-half years," a police spokesman said.

Darwin has been identified by his family.

TOKYO-- At Tokyo's 12th Robo-One Grand Championship match, two-legged robots jabbed, ducked, hurled balloons and even sang in their quest to become world champ.

Twenty-five finalist robots put up their fists to knock one another out of a ring on Saturday, showing off some of the latest moves originated by children, homemakers and other robot fans in the world's biggest robot market.

Hundreds of spectators clapped as robot "Arichyon", clad in Christmas lights, sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas". They then cheered when a robot with a penguin head toppled Arichyon over with a single punch.

Japan, home to 40 percent of the world's robots, is also fertile ground for amateur programmers, who invest serious pocket money and hours into making the ideal biped out of server motors, cameras, sensors and wires.

To win the tournament and the title of the world's strongest two-legged fighting robot, contestants need to be able to keep their balance while punching and dodging blows, and get up when pushed down.

"Companies can't make money making robots like these," said Terukazu Nishimura, chairman of the Robo-One committee. "The future of robotics depends on amateurs."

The cost of developing robots has compelled electronics firms to pull the plug on cutting-edge robots targeting the consumer market. The most prominent example is Sony's Aibo dog robot, discontinued last year.

Toymakers such as Takara Tomy now have entered the consumer robot market, with firms cutting development costs and simplifying design to market low-cost robots for the home.

But toys just don't cut it for true robot lovers like 40-year-old Naoki Maru. Robot hobbyists have long outpaced companies in innovation, he said. 

PALERMO, Italy - Italian police burst into the room of a suspected Mafia mobster in Sicily and arrested him as he watched a television show about the arrest of a Mafia boss, investigators said on Friday.

Police said Michele Catalano was watching the concluding chapter late on Thursday of the TV mini-series "The Boss of Bosses", recounting the arrest in 1993 of real-life Cosa Nostra leader Salvatore "Toto" Riina, when he was detained.

They Catalano, 48, was suspected of being a senior commander serving under the latest "boss of bosses" Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who was arrested this month after nearly 25 years on the run.

Catalano faces charges of drug trafficking and extortion.

Lo Piccolo had taken over the reins of the Sicilian crime syndicate from Riina's successor Bernardo Provenzano, who was arrested last year after 40 years on the run. The arrests have seriously weakened the Mafia, police say.

Politicians and cultural figures criticised Channel 5's mini-series for portraying Riina as a hero and lobbied its owner Mediaset, belonging to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, to take the final episode off the air. Mediaset declined.

Nicknamed "the Beast" for his brutality, Riina has been convicted on more than 100 counts of murder.

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