A handout photo released by NASA shows a close-up view of a water bubble floating freely on the middeck of space shuttle Atlantis shows a refracted image of astronaut Leland Melvin November 24, 2009.  REUTERS/NASA Handout

Mahouts train for a light and sound show for UNESCO World Heritage Week in Ayutthaya province, 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, November 26, 2009.  REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) holds hands with his Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade at the presidential palace in Senegal’s capital Dakar November 26, 2009. Ahmadinejad arrived in Dakar during his last leg of an international tour of Latin America and Africa. REUTERS/Emilie Regnier

A Croatian ballet dancer smokes in a theatre cafe during a break in rehearsals for a new ballet show, in Zagreb November 26, 2009. The authorities imposed a ban on smoking in public in May this year but had to abolish it after widespread protests this summer.  REUTERS/Nikola Solic

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An Israeli police officer leans on a bus next to a dummy during a drill simulating a bomb attack near the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City November 25, 2009. Some 300 policemen, firefighters and rescue workers took part in a routine drill on Wednesday to help increase preparedness for emergency situations in civilian areas. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Former servicemen cry as they say goodbye to their fellow soldiers following the end of their army service term at a railway station in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province November 25, 2009. REUTERS/China Daily

Horses are pictured during the Sicab International Pre Horse Fair show in the Andalusian capital of Seville November 25, 2009. The show runs till November 28 and is dedicated exclusively to Spanish thoroughbreds. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

Jose Maria Di Bello (R) and his partner Alex Freyre kiss at a hotel bar after an interview with Reuters in Buenos Aires November 25, 2009. Freyre and Di Bello, Latin America’s first same-sex couple to be granted a marriage license, hope their wedding will pave the way for other homosexual couples in Argentina to marry. The couple are HIV positive and plan to marry on December 1 on World Aids Day.  REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Flash forward 20 years: People start marrying robots, the population plummets. There’s no need for Skynet’s gun-toting Terminators, because there’s no one to shoot at and Craig’s List personals read like an automotive parts catalogue: “Likes: hydraulic muscles and the smell of WD40. Dislikes: Clingy A-I personalities and 'bots that need to recharge every 10 minutes".

Reason to fear robots #1: Robots cook better than you do

Robot-maker Toyoriki’s “Okonomiyaki robot” has 15 motorised joints to precisely mix the batter for savory Japanese pancakes, then pour it onto a hot griddle and cheerfully entertain while you wait to be served by reading the latest news out loud and singing songs.

Reason to fear robots #2: Robots are better listeners

According to researchers, Paro, a seal-like robot, was developed to provide the relaxation and speedy patient recovery seen in animal-assisted therapy in places such as hospitals and nursing homes where animals aren’t allowed. The therapeutic robot has soft white artificial fur and a behavior generation system that mimics a real animal.

Reason to fear robots #3: Robots are never too lazy to recycle

Eager’s “D+ropop” eco-friendly robot’s soft outer case is made of corrugated cardboard while it’s inner structure is metal. The maker says the humanoid will become popular as a new form of advertising media -- just don’t leave it in the rain.

Photo credits: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Homeless for several months, struggling with addiction and a serious health issue, Dale Harvey has now turned his life around. He has gotten clean, had surgery and moved into his own apartment. On Monday when he moved in, he rented a moving truck and offered his services for free to anyone who needed help moving their belongings. Dale tells his story in the multimedia piece above.

ROUTE TO RECOVERY from Carlos Barria on Vimeo.

An Afghan policeman frisks an Afghan man at a checkpoint near of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Tillman November 24, 2009.  REUTERS/Bruno Domingos

A family of asylum seeker from Kosovo camp out in a squat in the town of Angers, western France, November 24, 2009.  The groups from countries such as the Darfur area of Sudan, Mali and Kosovo are demanding the right to remain in France, have been gathering the area for 21 days.  REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Demonstrators with hands covered in fake blood and a Tony Blair mask protest outside the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in London November 24, 2009. An official inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War began on Tuesday, promising a thorough investigation which could prove embarrassing for the government ahead of next year’s election. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

Soldiers from Iran’s army fire an anti-aircraft gun during the Defenders of Velayat (Pontificate) Sky Manoeuvre 2 near Arak, 290 km (180 miles) southwest of Tehran in this November 23, 2009 picture. REUTERS/FARS NEWS/Ali Shayegan

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Kabul-based, Afghani photographer Ahmad Masood, is spending a month based in Berlin.

On my first day of work in Berlin: a very different city from my city, Kabul, Afghanistan, I covered a demonstration by students demanding improved conditions at schools and universities. I have covered some hardcore protests in Afghanistan, where about 8 out of 10 resulted in death or serious injuries. This time I was in Germany and I didn’t expect any violence.

We arrived at the scene. There were many young men and women gathered with banners and some armed with whistles in their mouths. People were laughing and smiling. There was music playing on a loud speaker.  If that was not enough, some protesters were blowing their own trumpets and other instruments. It was just like a party. The students looked to be in pretty good condition, so I was wondering “Why? What are you complaining about?”.

The police were quiet and peaceful, kindly giving way to the marching, bustling and whistling demonstrators. To my surprise the police stopped me from taking their pictures.

So, before it began it finished and the only serious issues were as follows: police confiscated a banner which was not allowed, there was a colored flare fired and a couple of water balloons were thrown at the very well-behaved police.

I filed only three pictures to the wire, two of which were of the same person who was the only person I found in any way similar to an Afghan protester.

I could not help but to compare the two countries, Afghanistan and Germany, and the way they protest.

War and conflict impacts people everywhere and in my country it has been going on for nearly three decades with no sign of ending. People are too busy trying to make ends meet to protest for their rights. For the majority, to waste a day would mean no food for their children at home. Any demonstration in Afghanistan stems from extremely real rage.

This rage takes its toll on Afghanistan. Afghan police are interested in having their pictures taken, that is until they start beating up protesters, and at times journalists too.

Police are often not well trained and at some points they fire directly at the protesters instead of firing warning shots. Protesters, too, make a mess of the place by burning and destroying public property out of anger. When a protest erupts; clashes start, guns are drawn, shots are fired, rocks are flying.

In Afghanistan, it is always a protest of necessity not of choice.

The United Nations recently proclaimed Cantonese opera, which involves singing, acting and sometimes martial arts, as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Among all such opera groups in the territory, the Hong Kong Young Talent Cantonese Opera Troupe is made up of the youngest professional artists in town, many of them in their 20s. In this opera, a 16-year-old girl, who has studied Cantonese opera for ten years, is cast in the main role of a man, normally performed by older actors.

With younger faces on stage, the troupe hopes to attract a new generation of audiences to this centuries old art form.

A dead alligator lies in a drying lake that forms part of the Amazon river system, near the city of Manaquiri November 22, 2009. After a rainy season that caused some of the worst flooding in recent history, the seasonal drought that followed is proving to be especially bad as well. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/Amazonaspress

Czoton, 7, works at a balloon factory on the outskirts of Dhaka November 23, 2009. About 20 children are employed at the factory and most of them work for 12 hours a day. The weekly wage is 150 taka ($2.14) for the children. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

Uriel Ben-Hamo (L), Israel’s kickboxing champion, trains in a gym in Jerusalem November 19, 2009. Ben-Hamo, 19, divides his time between punching bags and the more peaceful pursuits of a yeshiva, or Orthodox Jewish seminary. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Men dressed as Santa Claus walk through the assembly hall after a meeting of the rent-a-Santa Claus service organized by the “jobcafe.de” at Munich’s University November 23, 2009. The job center at the University in Munich organize the rent-a-Santa Claus service each year for Christmas.  REUTERS/Michael Dalder

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Spanish matador Manuel Jesus “El Cid” performs a pass on a bull during a bullfight at the Plaza de Acho bullring in Lima November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil

A Romanian Roma child looks out from a voting booth at a polling station in Sintesti, near Bucharest November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel

North Koreans walk with shovels for harvesting crops behind a border fence separating the North Korean town of Sinuiju and the Chinese border city of Dandong November 22, 2009.  REUTERS/Jacky Chen

Pilgrims wait to see a cave where Prophet Mohammad prayed on Noor Mountain in the holy city of Mecca before the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

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Before I left London to cover the three-day cycle race TOUR OF IRELAND I got some last minute advice from colleagues in the office - “It’s wet there!” they told me, “take wet weather gear.”  I thought it can’t be wetter than London can it?  -  but I was very wrong.

 After checking in to my hotel near Dublin I met up with some local photographers for dinner where I first heard the name of St. Patrick’s Hill in Cork. Stories were told of its 23% gradient, cyclists giving up with spinning tyres, and it being an unbelievably steep climb in the middle of Cork.

Although it’s a hill - I come from Switzerland where we have real mountains and very steep passes, what are they talking about?

After a two-day journey through the country I finally arrived in Cork for the last stage of the tour where I got to see St. Patrick’s Hill. I was very impressed. It is really steep!

 The photo position was located some distance below the top of the hill. Hundreds of fans lined the route and it was tightly packed. The riders had to climb the hill three times, so I was ready to try different shots.

Surprisingly the weather forecast was for rain!!  Ten minutes before the first riders arrived it the heavens opened

and rain crashed down. Despite wearing world famous rain gear I got soaked to the skin and a torrent of water flowed through my shoes. Having survived the first round of rain, one of my camera bodies made a strange sound, before dying a few seconds later.

I had only ever experienced such weather once during the Euro 2008 soccer game between Switzerland and Turkey in Basel.

 As the view from my position could not show the steepness of the hill, I decided to take pictures showing the emotions of the riders - all my lenses were covered with rain and I had nothing that was dry to clean them.  The rain was relentless and coming horizontally.

It was amazing how the riders reacted, some gave up, others fought on and it’s true about the spinning tyres, some wheels just span round and round.

 After the second round of riders passed I surrendered to the weather and made my way to the finish area. As soon as the first rider arrived the sun came out!

The result of my stay on the hill was one broken camera, one broken Blackberry, a lot of wet clothes and an unforgettable memory.

My conclusion: Yes Ireland can be wet and never underestimate a hill!