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BERLIN – European leaders should not shy away from a proposal to buy back the bonds of troubled euro member states but should not rely too much on rich countries, Eurogroup Chief Jean-Claude Juncker said.

"It would be wrong to create taboos but we cannot overstretch the strong countries," Juncker said in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel seen by Reuters on Saturday ahead of publication.

A source told Reuters on Thursday that euro zone ministers are considering whether the bloc's rescue fund could buy back bonds of debt-ridden states, a plan Portugal said it supported.

Der Spiegel magazine also reported in an unsourced reported that the idea of a buy-back, which it said was first raised by the European rescue fund's chief Klaus Regling, had been greeted with sympathy by euro zone finance ministers this week.

Without citing any sources, Der Spiegel said Regling's suggestion stood good chances of becoming reality.

"The measure has good prospects of being signed off as part of a comprehensive package to stabilize the euro zone at the European Council in March," it said in a pre-publication release.

It also cited an unnamed high-ranking German finance ministry source as saying this was a good idea, running counter to official German denials this week.

"I wouldn't know of anyone in the Finance Ministry who would have said that," a spokesman for the ministry told Reuters, declining to comment on the Der Spiegel report.

Greece and Germany have insisted Greece, the first to succumb in the currency bloc's debt crisis, needed no help with debt repayments.

A spokesman for EFSF's Regling declined comment but referred to an interview earlier this week in which he said Greece did not need a restructuring of debt, while the Greek finance ministry again denied there have been any discussions on restructuring.

RESCHEDULE AID ONLY

Greece wants to stretch out repayment of the emergency funding it is getting from the IMF and its euro zone peers but is not in talks to restructure its debt, its deputy finance minister reiterated on Friday.

Under the proposal being discussed, the EFSF would be able to conduct buy-back operations of bonds of a distressed country, which could help stabilize its debt market, Reuters sources have said.

For this to be feasible, the fund would need to be beefed up to be able to actually lend out its full headline value of 440 billion euros ($598 billion), a move Juncker backed in his interview with Der Spiegel.

Currently only about 225 billion euros are effectively available because of the need to secure a triple-A credit rating.

Der Spiegel said bondholders would be paid, for example, a five percentage point premium for the bonds that Greece would buy back from them. The EFSF would secure this deal, the acceptance of which would be voluntary for creditors, the magazine said.

LONDON – World stocks edged up on Friday but were set to post their biggest weekly drop in eight weeks on concerns that rising inflation in emerging economies could lead to aggressive policy action and hurt global growth. Spain's stocks rose. Madrid plans a partial state takeover of its weakest savings banks as it seeks to reassure investors a costly bank rescue will not weigh on its deficit, sources and reports said.

The euro hit a two-month high against the dollar on growing expectations that euro zone policymakers will arrive at a more durable solution to the debt crisis. Hawkish noises from the European Central Bank were also cited as a reason for the latest surge in the currency.

Worries over inflation in China and India have put their stock markets under pressure, with Chinese stocks (.SSEC) down 3.3 percent so far this year and Indian equities (.BSESN) down 7 percent.

Other euro zone peripheral equities, which were hit hard last year by the sovereign debt crisis, have also recovered in 2011 on the back of rising inflation in emerging markets.

Commodity prices have also suffered as China is a top consumer, though copper and oil prices recovered on Friday.

"Background is still somewhat nervous given concerns over further tightening measures in China," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown in London.

World equities as measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index (.MIWD00000PUS) added 0.1 percent after losing for two days in a row. The index has fallen 1 percent this week, on track for its worst weekly performance since late November.

Spain's stocks (.IBEX) rose 0.9 percent and are up nearly 9 percent in January, while yields on 10-year Spanish government bond over benchmark German Bunds were steady at 219 basis points.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Spain is planning to force its debt-laden regional saving banks to become conventional banks and seek stock market listings.

High levels of bad property loans at the savings banks are seen as a major risk for Spain's government as it aggressively cuts its budget deficit to stave off fears it will need an Irish or Greek-style bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Among Spanish banks, Banco Santander (SAN.MC) advanced 2.2 percent and BBVA (BBVA.MC) put on 2 percent.

EURO RISES, COMMODS REBOUND

The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.3533 after rallying to a two-month high of $1.3556. It also hit a five-week high against the yen, at around 112.20 yen.

"This reaction seems overdone as it's highly unlikely the ECB will raise rates soon and there's been nothing concrete on the rescue fund," said Raghav Subbarao, currency strategist at Barclays Capital.

"We think Portugal will have to be bailed out eventually. After that the euro can rise further as Spain we believe is solvent, but the euro rally is not sustainable here," he added.

The dollar (.DXY) was down 0.4 percent against a basket of major currencies.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index gained 0.2 percent, while U.S. stock index futures eased around 0.1 percent, indicating a weak open on Wall Street ahead of results from General Electric and Bank of America.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average (.N225) dropped 1.6 percent and posted its biggest weekly loss in three months.

Copper recovered 0.5 percent after falling 3.6 percent in the two previous sessions, and is down 2.5 percent for the week, while oil snapped a three-session losing streak, up 0.4 percent.

BERLIN – World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy said Saturday that the chances of closing the long-delayed Doha round of talks on a new free trade pact are much better than a year ago.

"We are now in a go period after two years of stop, or at least of very slow progress," Lamy said at a meeting of agriculture ministers in Berlin.

"The political context is more committed, more favourable," he said, adding, "it can be done."

Launched 10 years ago in the Qatari capital, the Doha Round of negotiations between the WTO's 153 member nations or trade blocs has repeatedly stumbled on trenchant disagreements and missed deadlines.

The last major push for a deal was launched in July 2008, but the initiative collapsed as developing and industrialised nations failed to agree on lowering tariffs on industrial goods and cutting subsidies on agricultural products.

The United States and Europe were accused by many developing nations of scuppering the deal by failing to adequately scrap subsidies for their farm sectors.

But Lamy said the agricultural chapter was 90 percent concluded, adding that the problems lay rather in other fields.

"But since everything is linked, we must settle these other fields."

European Union Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said participants should not let bilateral agreements stand in the way of a global accord.

"We must make sure that we really get to the end of the round," he said.

Lamy said in mid-December that the "final countdown" had begun for the talks, noting that there was new energy to wind up the Doha Round in 2011.

At the same time EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said it had "become clear" that the United States wants to conclude the round.

SEATTLE – Facebook is preparing to open its books this year or early in 2012 to give investors a glimpse into the financial workings of the world's No. 1 social network, after it sealed an oversubscribed $1.5 billion round of financing led by Goldman Sachs.

The financing, $1 billion of which is from Goldman Sachs' overseas clients and $500 million from Goldman itself and Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies, gives the company a projected value of $50 billion, setting the stage for what could be one of the largest initial public offerings next year.

Facebook, founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, said it would begin to file public financial reports no later than April 30, 2012, in a statement detailing the new investment.

United States securities regulations require companies with more than 499 shareholders to disclose financial information whether they are publicly traded or not. Facebook expects to exceed that number some time this year.

The new funding was organized by investment bank Goldman Sachs, which raised $1 billion from non-U.S. investors in a fund that Facebook said was oversubscribed.

Goldman Sachs originally pitched the investment to U.S. investors, but switched focus to overseas clients as concerns grew that intense media coverage surrounding the offering could run afoul of U.S. securities laws.

Initial projections from Goldman Sachs in documents circulated to potential investors earlier this month indicated it was looking to raise up to $1.5 billion.

Facebook said it made a "business decision" to limit the offering to $1 billion, without explaining further. It said it had no immediate plans for using the money raised.

The company earned $355 million in net income in the first nine months of 2010 on revenue of $1.2 billion, according to a document distributed by Goldman Sachs to potential investors earlier this month, the only source of financial data on the company.

In December, Digital Sky Technologies, Goldman Sachs and some funds managed by Goldman invested $500 million in Facebook.

Facebook has more than 500 million users and is challenging big Web businesses like Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for users' time online and for advertising dollars.

Investors are increasingly eager to buy shares of Facebook and other fast-growing Internet social networking companies on private exchanges.

WASHINGTON – True or false: States suing to overturn core requirements of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are refusing to carry out the law. If you said "true," you'd be wrong.

Republican state legislators and governors are working on how to deliver coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured, as the law calls for, even as GOP attorneys general lead the legal battle to overturn the law's mandate that most Americans have health insurance.

The result? Perhaps the first practical opportunity for the two political parties to work together on an issue that divide them in Washington.

"I can be philosophically opposed and recognize that we can't be asleep at the switch," said Alabama state Rep. Greg Wren, a Republican playing a national role.

"I for one have no interest in ceding any regulatory or statutory authority to the federal government in this area and allowing our state to default while we pursue the litigation side," said Wren, co-chairman of a National Conference of State Legislatures task force on the health care remake.

The debate in the nation's capital seems headed for a stalemate this year because Senate Democrats have the votes to thwart House Republicans' efforts to repeal the law. Denying the Obama administration money to carry out the law isn't a sure strategy either; most of the money was woven tightly into the legislation Congress passed last year.

"We will see a lot of small battles in Congress, but the real center of gravity will shift to the states," said Mike Leavitt, former Republican governor of Utah and health secretary under President George W. Bush. "Bipartisanship is more vibrant in the states than it is in Washington. That doesn't mean it's plentiful, but at least it's alive."

States have to be ready to take on major responsibilities when the coverage expansion gets going in 2014. If not, the federal government will come in and run things.

States must set up and operate health insurance markets where an estimated 24 million people eventually will buy private coverage, most with the aid of federal subsidies. Also, states must open their Medicaid programs to a broader segment of low-income people.

The Medicaid expansion worries state officials. They're already struggling with the costs of the program, draining money from other services from education to law enforcement. Special added Medicaid payments that Washington funneled to the states in the economic downturn will end this year, worsening the crunch.

About 16 million newly eligible people eventually would get Medicaid under the law, and potentially several million more who are eligible today but not signed up could enroll as well. The law says the federal government will pick up the full cost of those newly eligible for the first few years, but doesn't deal directly with covering the other group.

If state officials are unsure about the Medicaid expansion, they're intrigued about what they might be able to do with the new insurance markets, known as exchanges.

Consumers will be able to go online and pick a private plan from a range of coverage levels and options. Comparison shopping will be easier because benefits will be standardized.

Nearly every state has applied for an initial round of federal planning grants to explore how to design the markets.

"State exchanges are good from a conservative standpoint because they involve consumer choice and markets," said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

"What I would like to see is more flexibility given to states in the regulations that define how the legislation works," said Frist. "Each state can develop the exchange that best meets the needs of their people." Two models already exist: Utah's, which is light on regulation, and Massachusetts', where the state government is more directly involved.

Frist, a heart transplant surgeon, has teamed with Democrat Tom Daschle of South Dakota, also a former Senate leader, to try to change the health care debate by stepping back from the repeal fight and using the law as a foundation that can be improved. They expect to direct many of their recommendations to the states.

In New Jersey, Democratic Assemblyman Herb Conaway is hoping to be able to work with Republican Gov. Chris Christie to design their state's exchange. Conaway, a primary care doctor, heads the health committee and is the Democratic counterpart to Alabama's Wren in national planning efforts by state legislators.

"There will be tangible benefits that come to states for taking on these problems," said Conaway. "Done right, there is a benefit that comes to them from getting their people insured. An insured population uses resources more wisely, instead of going to the emergency room and getting treatment that costs four times as much."

TUNIS – Tunisian protesters demanded the departure of the embattled prime minister on Saturday, and an investigator promised to uncover the interior ministry's role in this month's shooting of scores of unarmed demonstrators.

Emboldened by their overthrow of the president a week ago in a "Jasmine Revolution," marchers took to the streets to try to force out his lieutenants.

Not satisfied with his pledge to quit once free elections can be held, hundreds surged past a half-hearted police cordon at the office of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi. One banner read: "No place for men of tyranny in a unity government."

Ghannouchi, who stayed on to head a would-be unity coalition after strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled on January 14, made an emotional late-night plea for patience on television on Friday. He portrayed himself as a fellow victim and pledged to end his political career as soon as he could organize elections.

But as he met cabinet colleagues on Saturday, thousands -- including many policemen -- took to the streets of Tunis and other towns to keep up the protest momentum and reject what many deride as Ghannouchi's token attempt to co-opt a handful of little-known dissidents into his government.

One demonstrator outside the premier's office said: "We want to tell Mr Ghannouchi the definition of 'revolution' -- it means a radical change, not keeping on the same prime minister."

The toppling of an authoritarian ruler by waves of street protests has transfixed Arabs across North Africa and the Middle East. The underlying problems of unemployment and corrupt rule are common across the region, and its leaders -- many supported by Western powers as bulwarks against radical Islam -- are watching anxiously as events in Tunisia unfold.

In neighboring Algeria, still scarred by an Islamist revolt in the 1990s against the ruling party, police used batons on Saturday to stop a gathering by an opposition group.

In Saudi Arabia, a man burned himself to death. It was not clear if he was, like numerous others in Egypt and elsewhere, inspired by the self-immolation of a Tunisian vegetable seller whose desperate act last month launched the wave of protests.

In Tunis, a man died after setting himself on fire outside a telephone company. It was not clear what his motive was.

The heads of three commissions established by Tunisia's interim government this week said they would overhaul the country's laws and examine the interior ministry's role in the shooting of protesters.

"We saw in some cases shots had been directed to the head or to the chest... We will look into the reason those who held guns or knives struck those with empty hands who called for bread and freedom," said Taoufik Bouderbala, head of the National Commission to Investigate Abuses.

"We will accuse no one. We will check the facts... but we will ask who gave permission to those who opened fire?"

Tunisia's interior minister has given a death toll of 78 since the start of the demonstrations, but the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights put the number at 117, including 70 killed by live fire.

It is unclear when elections for president and parliament might be held. But leaders of secular and Islamist opposition groups, harshly repressed under Ben Ali's rule, are rushing to re-enter the political fray.

Rached Ghannouchi, exiled leader of the banned Islamist Ennahda (Renaissance) movement, told Al Jazeera his movement supported the democratic trend and should not be feared: "We are a moderate Islamic movement, a democratic movement based on democratic ideals in ... Islamic culture," he said.

Moncef Marzouki, a secular dissident who returned from exile in Paris and hopes to run for president, urged the appointment of a new, independent prime minister. He said premier Ghannouchi's presence was hampering, not helping, efforts to restore stability.

But mindful of the dozens of deaths this month and of the thirst for retribution against Ben Ali's clan and the organs of his police state, Marzouki urged those in the streets to stay calm.

"The great thing is that this revolution has been peaceful," he said. "Please continue this way and don't get into revenge."

Even policemen, once the feared blunt instrument of Ben Ali's 24-year rule, were declaring changed loyalties. In Tunis thousands joined in a chant of "We are innocent of the blood of the martyrs!" at a rally to show their support for the revolt.

Clearly under pressure, Prime Minister Ghannouchi said on television late on Friday: "I lived like Tunisians and I feared like Tunisians." He added: "I pledge to stop all my political activity after my period leading the transitional government."

The response of the street protesters was scornful: "Since 1990, Ghannouchi has been finance minister, then prime minister," said student Firass Hermassi outside Ghannouchi's office. "He knows everything, he's an accomplice."

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday abandoned his decision to delay the inauguration of parliament by a month, lawmakers said, bowing to heavy domestic and international pressure to end days of political turmoil.

Karzai struck a last-minute deal with representatives to open the session on Wednesday, just three days after the originally planned January 23 ceremony.

He also suggested he could abolish a special election court which sparked the crisis.

The reverse is a political climbdown that will please both Karzai's foreign partners and Afghan opposition politicians who worried the president was over-reaching his powers.

There were also fears that further delays would fuel unrest and instability at a time when violence is at its worst since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government by U.S-backed forces.

The crisis began when Karzai earlier this week backed a request from the poll tribunal -- which he had set up -- to allow another month to probe fraud claims from the September 18 vote.

Lawmakers furious that they still had not met four months after the election, and nearly two months after final results were announced, denounced the tribunal and the delay as illegal.

They threatened to meet at parliament on Sunday regardless of whether Karzai showed up, and said security forces had promised not to block them from the building, suggesting Karzai did not have the backing of his cabinet.

The nations that support Karzai with cash and troops were also unhappy. The United Nations, United States, European Union and Canada issued a joint statement expressing "deep concern."

Losing candidates who supported the delay added the specter of street clashes, when they pledged to gather hundreds of protesters near parliament and bar the winners from entering.

Marathon talks to stave off the looming meltdown in the Afghan political system ended late on Saturday night.

"We have agreed on Karzai's request to open parliament on Wednesday and refrain from going to parliament tomorrow," said Sediq Ahmad Usmani, a representative from Parwan province, as he headed home close to midnight.

Karzai's spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

But after repeated delays to the inauguration, some lawmakers remain skeptical the president's word can be trusted. The group's closed-door debate on his proposals was at times so heated that the shouting that could be heard from outside.

"The majority of us may agree on what has been proposed by the president, but there is no guarantee he won't back away," said Sharifullah Kamawal, a member of parliament for Kabul.

COURT MAY GO

The lawmakers have drafted a three-point note which they will send to parliament, committing to a Wednesday opening but also rejecting the election tribunal and any other decision it makes.

"We have agreed that the special court is not valid for us, any decision it makes is not acceptable to us and we will strongly reject it," said the third point on the statement.

Lawmakers quoted Karzai as saying during the negotiations that he might be willing to set aside the election court that sparked the crisis.

"Karzai has agreed that criminal cases should be decided according to the laws and constitution. If the special court is illegal then it will automatically be abolished," said Mirwais Yasini, a representative for eastern Nangarhar province.

Karzai set up the tribunal by presidential decree after protests by losing candidates angry at corruption and winners frustrated that they still had not taken their seats.

But critics say it is designed to serve his political agenda rather than the interests of justice, and raises wider questions about his respect for rule of law.

Karzai is believed to be unhappy about the poll results, which have left the assembly with a larger, more vocal and coherent opposition bloc than in the last parliament.

"This court is in direct violation of the constitution of Afghanistan," said Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's main rival in presidential elections and now head of an opposition coalition.

"Establishing a special court gives the president a free hand in coming years to establish a special court on any issue, and that court can act in accordance with his wishes and demands."

NAIROBI, Kenya – Despite successful raids by Malaysian and South Korean navies that rescued two ships and their crew members from Somali pirates, the European Union Naval Force said it would not follow suit because such raids could further endanger hostages.

Malaysia's navy was holding seven Somali pirates Saturday who were apprehended in the second dramatic commando raid within hours on ships seized near the African coast, authorities said.

The operations gave both Malaysia and South Korea dramatic successes in the battle against pirates who have long tormented shipping in the waters off the Horn of Africa.

The Royal Malaysian Navy said its commandos wounded three pirates in a gunbattle and rescued the 23 crew members on the Malaysian-flagged chemical tanker MT Bunga Laurel early Friday, shortly after the pirates stormed the vessel in the Gulf of Aden with assault rifles and pistols.

The operation came the same day as another stunning raid by South Korean commandos who freed a hijacked freighter, which on Saturday was sailing toward Oman under the escort of a South Korean destroyer, a company official said.

EU Naval Force spokesman Wing Cmdr. Paddy O'Kennedy said despite these successes the force would not change its approach toward tackling piracy.

"Our priority is the safety of the hostages. The pirates are using the hostages as human shields and if we get too close to the pirates they threaten to kill the hostages... I am sure they will carry out the threats if we got too close," O'Kennedy said.

The force now has four ships patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean. The EU's force for Somalia, also called Operation Atalanta, escorts merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid. The force said it also "protects vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean," in an effort to deter and disrupt piracy.

O'Kennedy said the force last year disrupted 64 attempted hijackings by Somali pirate groups. The EU naval force has also used a strategy of destroying pirates ships, which normally includes several skiffs and a mother vessel.

Somali pirates in the end will not be brutal with hostages because, he said, they know they will eventually get money.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, during which time piracy has flourished off its coast, sometimes yielding millions of dollars in ransoms.

There are now 29 vessels and 703 hostages being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The country lies next to one of the world's most important shipping routes, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea beyond.

Malaysia's navy said it sent a ship and a helicopter to the Bunga Laurel, which was then 14 miles (22 kilometers) away, after crew members locked themselves in a safe room and activated a distress call Friday morning.

Elite security forces managed to board the ship and overpower the pirates after an exchange of gunfire, it said in a statement. No one in the rescue team or the ship's crew was injured.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was informed that seven pirates were captured. Authorities were considering whether they should be brought to Malaysia to face trial, he said.

"I am proud of our (navy), which acted with full efficiency and demonstrated courage," Najib said.

The navy ship was in the Gulf of Aden to escort vessels with Malaysian interests. The attack occurred only two hours after it had left the Bunga Laurel after accompanying it to what was considered relatively safe waters, the navy said.

It did not provide the crew members' nationalities. Representatives of the Malaysian International Shipping Corp., which operates the Bunga Laurel, could not immediately be reached.

Later Friday, the raid by South Korean commandos killed eight pirates and captured five others, ending the weeklong captivity of 21 crew members, including eight South Koreans, aboard the Samho Jewelry.

The wounded captain of the South Korean freighter, Seok Hae-gyun, was being treated at a hospital in Oman for a gunshot wound in the stomach by a pirate, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-ho of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters in Seoul that Seok's condition was not life-threatening.

The captain helped the rescue operation by steering the vessel in a zigzag pattern to stall for time after the pirates demanded that the ship be taken toward Somalia, Yonhap said.

A Samho Shipping official confirmed that the ship was heading toward Oman, but said he had no other information because of a breakdown of the ship's communication equipment.

South Korea is studying whether to bring the five captured pirates to Seoul for prosecution or hand them over to countries near Somalia, Yonhap said, citing an unidentified government official.

Repeated calls to South Korea's Foreign Ministry seeking comment went unanswered Saturday.

Other countries' special forces have also launched raids to save ships boarded by Somali pirates within hours of the attacks in recent months, after being assured the crew was locked in safe rooms, commonly referred to as "citadels."

MELBOURNE, Australia – Rural Australian towns braced for another week of flooding Sunday as a vast lake continued to spread across the country's southeast and a potential tropical storm threatened the northeast.

The flooding began more than a month ago in Australia's northeast Queensland state, where 30 people have died, more than 30,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and at least 3 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) in crops and coal exports have been lost.

Record rains have shifted the flood emergency focus to southeast Victoria state, which is usually parched during the southern summer.

Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said in a statement Sunday that the floods will rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in Australian history and its impact on the economy will be felt for years.

The government will announce its first cost estimates on Friday, he said.

The State Emergency Service has warned that a lake about 55 miles (90 kilometers) long northwest of the Victorian capital of Melbourne will continue coursing inland for the next week until it spills into the Murray River.

Emergency services were focusing their efforts 210 miles (340 kilometers) northwest of Melbourne at Swan Hill, a town of 10,000 where the Murray meets the swollen Lodden River and flood waters are expected to peak mid week, SES spokesman Sam Bishop said Sunday.

SES said 75 towns in the state have been affected by flooding and another five to 10 towns are still in the floodwaters' northern path across flat wheat-growing country.

Almost 2,000 homes and businesses were flooded or isolated and close to 5,000 people have been evacuated, SES said.

Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology warned Sunday that a low pressure system off the north Queensland coast could develop into a cyclone over the next few days.

The bureau rated the chances of a cyclone — which could lash the coast with gale-force winds and torrential rains — at between 20 percent and 50 percent.

POTOMAC, Md. – His 19 grandchildren read short remembrances, U2 frontman Bono led mourners in singing "Forever Young" and fond memories and laughter filled a funeral service for R. Sargent Shriver, the 95-year-old statesman laid to rest this weekend.

Shriver, the Peace Corps' first director who also ran the 1960s War on Poverty and served as a running mate on an ill-fated Democratic presidential ticket, was buried Saturday evening in a Massachusetts cemetery just hours after his funeral in suburban Washington.

Shriver, who had Alzheimer's disease, died Tuesday in his native Maryland where a funeral Mass was held in Potomac.

At Shriver's service, mourners from Bono to Vice President Joe Biden to former President Bill Clinton paid tribute to the man affectionally known as "Sarge," talking of a life spent serving others.

First lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey attended. Wyclef Jean played the piano and sang "All the Ends of the Earth" as guests — and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington — clapped along. Later, Vanessa Williams performed "Soon and Very Soon." Bono and Glen Hansard, who starred in the movie "Once," sang "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace."

"I was a student really of the Sarge way of doing things," Bono told The Associated Press after singing at the service. U2's lead singer founded the Red Campaign with Shriver's eldest son Bobby to fight AIDS in Africa.

"It's a rare combination of grace and strategy," Bono said of Sargent Shriver.

Clinton spoke of Shriver's legacy of public service.

"Fifty years ago, President Kennedy told us we should ask what we can do for our country," Clinton told the crowd at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. "A whole generation of us understood what President Kennedy meant by looking at Sargent Shriver's life."

Shriver grew up during the Great Depression, attended Yale University on a scholarship and served in the Navy in World War II. Then, he fulfilled his brother-in-law John F. Kennedy's campaign promise by developing the Peace Corps into a lasting international force.

One by one, many of Shriver's 19 grandchildren read brief remembrances about their grandfather, recalling his passion for helping people, his hugs and his love of baseball.

Maria Shriver, the former NBC reporter and wife of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said her family took comfort in "knowing that Daddy is in heaven with God and with Mummy."

Shriver was buried later Saturday alongside his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of Special Olympics. The private burial was held at a cemetery in Barnstable, Mass., where family members carried candles as they stepped off a bus under a darkening sky.

Sargent Shriver was a businessman and lawyer descended from a prominent Maryland family. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the past eight years. His wife died in 2009 at age 88.

Mark Shriver recalled some of his father's final years in the Potomac funeral service.

"Alzheimer's robs you of so much. In Dad's case, it stripped him to the core," he said. Still, he "would shake your hand and smile, look you in the eye and tell you you were the greatest and that he loves you."

Sargent Shriver was former Sen. George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election, but the Democrats lost in a landslide to President Richard M. Nixon. Still, Shriver campaigned until the end, even when it was most difficult.

"Sargent Shriver was going to go out with his head held high," Clinton said.

Biden credited Shriver for helping him win his own Senate seat in Delaware during a tough race the same year.

A last-minute visit from Shriver put him over the top in a heavily Republican state at the time. "That's when the sun rose for me," Biden said.

In 1994, Shriver received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. His son Anthony recalled the day his father received that honor, addressing Clinton.

"I'll never forget him there in the White House and you looking at him and giving him one of those big Bill Clinton hugs," he said. "Wow was he high that day."

After Google's ground-shaking decision to change CEOs, the company should explain soon to customers and partners how its plans for the enterprise will evolve after Larry Page takes over in April from Eric Schmidt.

Google's enterprise unit caters to an audience of CIOs, IT directors, business managers, resellers and consultants, all of whom demand clarity, consistency and long-term product road maps from their vendors and partners.

While shifts in the top management at any tech firm can be a worry for enterprise customers, the issue could be seen as a bigger one at Google, whose enterprise business contributes a tiny piece of its overall revenue.

In addition, this year Google's main enterprise product, the Google Apps suite, will face much tougher competition from various players, including Microsoft with its upcoming release of Office 365.

The enterprise unit may well rank below other priorities for Page, such as boosting Google's shaky social-networking position, pushing ahead with Android in the cutthroat mobile market, doubling-down on the upcoming Chrome OS and growing display ad revenue, not to mention retaining Google's dominance in search advertising.

"If push comes to shove and management decides to jettison less-strategic initiatives, Google Apps could be in trouble," Gartner analyst Tom Austin said via e-mail.

It doesn't help that Schmidt, a former CEO at Novell and CTO at Sun Microsystems, has much more experience and, arguably, knowledge of enterprise software than Page. Schmidt once described the enterprise unit as Google's backup plan if the bottom ever fell out of the online ad market.

"Page has less enterprise business experience. Schmidt has deeper enterprise roots. Does that mean they will back off on their enterprise investment on Google Apps? We don't know but we would be surprised if they don't raise -- or re-raise -- that question," Austin said.

Google declined to comment at this early stage about Page's plans for the enterprise unit. However, a source familiar with the strategy said Page has always been a strong advocate for the business and expects it to remain a focus for the company and a continued area of investment.

Douglas Menefee, CIO of healthcare company The Schumacher Group, is optimistic about Page's appointment but hopes he articulates his vision for the enterprise unit quickly.

"With any senior change in an organization I have concerns on the products and service. I will be monitoring our service delivery throughout the transition," he said via e-mail.

The Schumacher Group has 2,500 users of Google Apps for Business, the paid version of the suite, as well as 3,500 users of Google's Postini message security and archiving service. In addition, the Lafayette, Louisiana-based company plans to start using Google's enterprise Search Appliance.

It gives him confidence that Google Enterprise products are in enough demand and generating enough revenue for Google that freezing investment in them would be illogical. "My hope and anticipation is that Google will continue to commit resources towards enterprise solutions," Menefee said.

That said, it wouldn't surprise him if Google Apps sales slow until Page explains his plans for the enterprise. "However, I don't anticipate a knee-jerk reaction from the CIO community to exit out of existing contracts. After all, we continue to get value from the solutions," Menefee said.

Industry analyst Michael Osterman from Osterman Research believes that when Schmidt assumes his new role as executive chairman, which will focus on external relations with customers, partners and government agencies, he may have more time to spend advocating for Google Apps in the marketplace.

"Google definitely needs to focus on the enterprise market given Microsoft's strong push with Office 365," he said via e-mail. "Consequently, there is an important window of opportunity for Google now in the enterprise space in advance of Office 365."

Cloud Sherpas, a Google Apps reseller and service provider, has no concerns about the CEO switch, said founder and marketing vice president Michael Cohn.

"We're sad to see Eric step down. He was a strong supporter of Google Enterprise," Cohn said in a phone interview. "But we don't have any fear with regards to Larry."

However, Cohn also looks forward to hearing what enterprise strategy Page plans to pursue, especially his plans for the Google Apps channel partners.

For analyst Rebecca Wettemann at Nucleus Research, Page has a lot of work to do to prop up Google's enterprise business.

"While Eric was a good spokesperson, Google still struggled between enterprise aspirations and the smartest-kid-in-the-room mentality. It's not surprising that Eric was challenged in driving real enterprise success at Google. At Novell, his skill was in brilliant research & development, not necessarily in bringing compelling enterprise products to market," she said via e-mail.

Page needs to bring more execution to the enterprise unit beyond product innovation, including reliable product road maps, enterprise-class customer support and service, and a stronger commitment to business needs and data protection, she said. "I'm not sure Page is up to the challenge, but Eric didn't leave huge shoes to fill," Wettemann said.

IDC analyst Al Hilwa is also skeptical about Google's long-term commitment to the enterprise market. "It's not clear how much Google really wants to play there. They have talked the talk, but I'm not sure they are walking the walk," he said via e-mail.

Currently, Google Apps has more than 30 million users, including millions of its paid version Apps for Business. In 2010, more than 1 million businesses adopted Apps, raising the total to more than 3 million businesses, according to Google. Recent customer wins include the U.S. General Services Administration, Virgin America and large food retailer Ahold.

Chris Abraham, president of the Abraham Harrison digital marketing and social media agency, is also confident in his company's investment in Google Apps for Business. "If Google had brought in an outsider, there might be more of a concern, but the fact that it's a co-founder taking the reins is reassuring," he said in a phone interview.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials concerned about the slowing pace of new drugs coming out of the pharmaceutical industry have decided to start a billion-dollar government drug development center to help create medicines.

The New York Times reported on its website Saturday about the new effort that comes as many large drug makers, unable to find enough new drugs, are trimming back research.

Promising discoveries in illnesses like depression and Parkinson's that once would have led to clinical trials are instead going unexplored because companies are not inclined and do not have the money to undertake the effort.

The paper reports that initial financing of the government's new drug center is relatively small compared with the $45.8 billion that the industry estimates it invested in research in 2009. The cost of bringing a single drug to market can exceed $1 billion, according to some estimates.

The drug industry's research productivity has been declining for 15 years and shows few signs of reversing that trend, said Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

The new center, to be called the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, will do as much research as it needs to so that it can attract drug company investment.

TIRANA – Albania's president and western envoys urged warring political parties to settle their differences and called on security forces to investigate the killing of three people in an anti-government protest.

Prosecutors said on Sunday that police had not yet carried out arrest warrants issued for the six republican guardsmen suspected of the shootings in Friday's confrontation.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama have blamed each other for the deaths, with each side promising new rallies in an escalating political row.

"Restoring political dialogue, respect for the institutions of the state and the expression of maturity and balance is of a vital importance for the present and European future of Albania," a statement from President Bamir Topi and U.S. and European Union ambassadors said on Saturday evening.

They said it was "indispensable that law enforcement institutions cooperate with each other to conduct a transparent, professional and unbiased investigation."

The opposition Socialists have refused to accept the results of a 2009 election which gave Berisha, Albania's dominant post-Communist politician, a second four-year term and accuse his government of corruption and vote fraud. The deputy prime minister resigned this month amid corruption charges.

On Friday, their supporters staged a demonstration in central Tirana, pelting Berisha's office building with sticks and stones, prompting police to respond with tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon, stun grenades and firearms.

Three civilians died, one of a gunshot wound to the head and two from shots to the chest, in the worst violence in the former Stalinist country since protesters backing Berisha stormed the same government building in 1998.

Video footage showed two of the victims collapse after shots rang out from the courtyard of the government building. About 60 people were wounded and 113 have been arrested. One protester and a policeman remain in critical condition.

One of Europe's poorest countries, Albania is part of NATO but the European Union rejected its application last year to become an official candidate, urging it to fight corruption and establish a functioning democracy and the rule of law.

Urgent diplomatic consultations continued on Sunday.

In a move to bolster support, Berisha on Saturday gave a bonus of one month's wages to security officials who patrolled the protest on Friday, and four months' wages for police officials who were wounded.

Security officials have added coils of barbed wire on the ground around the government building on the capital's main boulevard.

A planned opposition rally on Sunday was delayed pending the completion of the last two of three funerals. One funeral, with Rama in attendance, was broadcast live on Albanian television.

The opposition Socialists scheduled a rally for next Friday at the same location in front of Berisha's office.

MANILA, Philippines – Searchers from the Philippine coast guard found five missing Americans on board a sailboat that was reported missing en route from Guam. All were in good health, officials said Sunday.

A search ship guided by a spotter plane located the 38-foot (11-meter) catamaran The Pineapple after it was spotted off the southern island of Dinagat, coast guard chief Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo said. The rescuers were escorting the vessel to its original destination on central Cebu island, he said.

"They apparently had engine trouble while in rough seas," Tamayo told The Associated Press, adding that he was awaiting other details.

The sailboat left Guam on Jan. 6 on a trip that normally would take seven to 10 days, officials said. Relatives of the Americans contacted the U.S. Coast Guard when it had not reached its destination by Jan. 18, they said. The U.S. Coast Guard then asked the Philippines to help in the search.

Guam, a U.S. territory, is about 1,400 miles (2,290 kilometers) east of Cebu, where heavy rains and rough seas have been reported in recent weeks.

"They're all in fine health," Tamayo said of the four men and a woman on board the boat, including a Filipino-American in the U.S. Air Force. Their identities and hometowns have not been released by the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

A Philippine coast guard plane spotted the sailboat on Saturday but could not identify the vessel due to poor visibility. The plane returned after the weather cleared Sunday and confirmed it was the missing boat, Tamayo said.

A video taken from a search plane showed four of the Americans on top of the white-hulled catamaran, one apparently waving, as a rubber boat with coast guard personnel approached.

U.S. authorities were informed of the discovery and have been in touch with Philippine officials to provide help to the Americans, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said.

Many Philippine provinces, particularly in the east, have experienced rough seas amid unusually heavy rains since late December. At least 68 people have died and 26 others remain missing from the stormy weather set off by a cold front.

The coast guard rescued 260 of 277 people aboard nearly a dozen boats that sank, overturned or ran into trouble last week due to the inclement weather. Fifteen remain missing while two drowned, the officials said.

CAIRO – Egypt's interior minister said on Sunday the government had proof that the Army of Islam, a Palestinian group linked to al Qaeda, was behind the New Year's Day bombing of a church that killed 23 people.

The Army of Islam praised the attack but denied involvement.

Egyptian officials had suspected an al Qaeda-inspired bomber was behind the blast that ripped through a crowd outside the church in the city of Alexandria, prompting protests by Christians that the state had not done enough to protect them.

An Iraq-based al Qaeda group had called for attacks on Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up one tenth of the population, before the church bombing.

"If elements of the Palestinian Army of Islam, linked to al Qaeda, thought they had hidden behind elements that were recruited, we have decisive proof of their heinous involvement in planning and carrying out such a villainous terrorist act," Interior Minister Habib el-Adli said in a speech.

The bomber died in the blast, which wounded 97 people.

Egyptian state security had pointed to possible foreign involvement and officials said they were investigating several Palestinians who were perceived as possible threats.

A spokesman for the Army of Islam, which considers al-Qaeda's leaders as spiritual mentors, told Reuters in Gaza that the group "has no connection to the church attack in Egypt, though we praise those who did it."

President Hosni Mubarak, in an address broadcast on state TV, praised the police for their efforts to identify those responsible and said the attackers had sought to sow discord between Egyptian Copts and Muslims.

Sectarian tensions often flare over issues such as building churches or romantic relationships between members of both religions.

"We will not allow terrorism to shake our stability and horrify our people or attack the unity of Muslims and Copts," Mubarak said. "Egypt's security and stability are targeted."

The Army of Islam played a part in a cross-border attack in 2006 in the Gaza Strip in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted. The group later cut relations with Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza, and has clashed with it.

LONDON – Nearly two months after WikiLeaks outraged the U.S. government by launching the release of a massive compendium of diplomatic documents, the secret-spilling website has published 2,628 U.S. State Department cables — just over 1 percent of its trove of 251,287 documents.

Here's a look at what the consequences of the cables' release has been so far, and what the future could hold for WikiLeaks.

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IT'S LIFTED THE VEIL ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

WikiLeaks has given the world's public an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at U.S. diplomacy. Among the most eye-catching revelations were reports that Arab countries had lobbied for an attack on Iran, China had made plans for the collapse of its North Korean ally, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had ordered U.S. diplomats to gather the computer passwords, fingerprints and even DNA of their foreign counterparts.

Some of the most controversial cables dealt with a directive to harvest biometric information on a range of officials. U.S. diplomats have been forced repeatedly to deny spying on their counterparts — although none have specifically addressed the instructions to gather personal details, sensitive computer data, and even genetic material or iris scans.

Anthony Cordesman, an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, cautioned that some cables were less explosive when taken in the context they were written. He noted that Arab belligerence toward Tehran has festered for years — and suggested the rhetoric was being ratcheted up at a time of high tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

As for the cables on scooping up fingerprints, frequent flyer numbers, and other personal information, Cordesman said that "there isn't a diplomatic service in the world that doesn't serve its intelligence community."

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IT'S SHOWN HOW LEADERS LIE

Over and over again, the cables captured world leaders lying — to each other, to their allies, and to their own citizens.

Diplomacy "comes across as a scheming, duplicitous profession — which it kind of is," said Carne Ross, a former British diplomat who resigned over the Iraq war.

Ross said the most outrageous example of double-dealing he had seen so far was the 2009 cable that caught Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh sharing a joke about how another senior official had covered up a series of U.S. attacks by lying to parliament.

But there are other examples. One of the cables has Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's longtime opposition leader-turned-prime minister, telling Western diplomats that his calls for easing sanctions against Zimbabwe are for public consumption only. Another cable cites Israeli officials, who have often insisted their controversial blockade of the Gaza Strip is targeted only at their arch-foe Hamas, as freely acknowledging that the restrictions were in fact an effort to keep the Gazan economy teetering on the brink of collapse.

The cables are laced with cynicism. One quotes a former French prime minister as dismissing a fellow socialist politician as too honest for his own good. Meanwhile Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, describes his country's apparently cordial relationship with neighboring Iran as one big charade.

"They lie to us, and we lie to them," Al-Thani is quoted as saying.

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IT'S SHAKEN U.S. DIPLOMACY

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini drew considerable attention when he described the WikiLeaks release as the "September 11 of world diplomacy."

At the very least, the cables have angered some major world figures. Turkey's prime minister demanded that U.S. diplomats be punished for claiming that he had money stashed away in a collection of Swiss bank accounts; cables covering attempts to secure nuclear material in Pakistan drew outrage in a country where public hostility to the United States is already high; rivals such as Russia jumped on the cables to accuse the U.S. of arrogance and dishonesty.

Richard Dalton, the former British ambassador to Libya and now a fellow at London's Chatham House think tank, dismissed Frattini's prediction of a worldwide diplomatic meltdown, suggesting that things would eventually return to business as usual.

"It is — so far — a bump in the road," he said, although he noted longterm damage to U.S. diplomacy was still hard to gauge.

Even if the U.S. State Department rapidly recovers, individual officials still face serious damage to their careers. Officials have told The Associated Press that Ambassador Gene Cretz may lose his job as envoy to Tripoli over his descriptions of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's eccentricities.

Allied officials have been rattled by the releases as well: The German foreign minister's chief of staff took a leave of absence following the revelation that he was feeding information to Washington; Afghanistan's finance minister offered to resign after he was quoted as describing President Hamid Karzai as weak and paranoid; Britain's central banker also faced criticism after a cable caught him sharing his doubts about Prime Minister David Cameron's economic competency with the U.S. ambassador to London.

Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo may have been speaking for many across the world last month when he instructed officials to be less open when speaking with their American counterparts.

"The WikiLeaks disclosures have been disastrous for U.S. diplomacy," Yeo said.

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WHAT'S NEXT?

Although only a small sliver of the entire trove of State Department documents has made it online, the secret memos have been held by The New York Times, Britain's The Guardian, Germany's Der Spiegel, and Spain's El Pais for weeks, if not months. Recent cables have made news, but lately they haven't carried the same punch as earlier releases.

It isn't clear whether WikiLeaks or what it calls its "media partners" have gone through the documents in their entirety. The secret-spilling website did not return an e-mail seeking comment on its future plans, although its founder Julian Assange has repeatedly promised to speed the cables' release.

Whether or not the State Department cables have already yielded their most arresting secrets, WikiLeaks is still sitting on a huge archive of leaked data from nearly every country in the world — including, Assange has hinted, a massive trove of e-mails from Bank of America.

And even though his website is no longer accepting submissions, Assange said secrets were still making their way to him all the time. On Monday, a Swiss ex-banker — now under arrest for his interactions with WikiLeaks — handed Assange his latest set of secrets, data which he claimed carried details of tax evasion by some 2,000 prominent people.

Assange said the material could be online within weeks.

SALMON, Idaho – They work as doctors and lawyers by day but lurk as vampires by night. While they may not wish to suck your blood, there are plenty of willing victims on tap, says the nation's top scholar on a subculture that emulates the undead.

Idaho State University sociologist D.J. Williams, newly hired as a consultant for a proposed television documentary about "self-identified vampires," said true modern acolytes of Dracula seek consensual blood-sharing relationships.

The popular fascination with vampires dates back to the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", and later books such as Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles."

But it exploded in recent years with the best-selling "Twilight" series of novels by Stephenie Meyer and movie adaptations. The seductive vampire character Edward Cullen in the movie, played by actor Robert Pattinson, became a teen idol and made vampires cool.

VAMPIRE MANIA

Vampire mania has spawned an international subculture that strongly relates to traits associated with mythical vampires. They are believed to be seductive beings unafraid to explore the dark side of human nature that is usually masked for the sake of social acceptance.

"Self-identified vampires realize humans are a mix of light and dark," said Williams. "There is the socially desirable self that people show in public and then there is the shadow self that may not be as nice, not as optimistic. It varies from person to person, but generally vampires don't pretend it's not there: they acknowledge it and try to manage it."

What separates them from mere vampire wannabes -- the guy in a cape who sleeps in coffins or believes he is capable of morphing into a bat -- is an internal lack of energy that makes them seek energy from external sources such as the high that comes from the crowd at a rock concert or from the blood of a willing donor.

"They call it feeding," said Williams, who also moonlights as an FBI consultant for investigations involving violent criminals who are claiming to be vampires.

SUCKING BLOOD

Williams says self-identified vampires seek significant others with an abundance of energy willing to allow them to suck blood from a small incision made high up on the chest by a scalpel.

"Quite often, they are in a relationship with a donor, where one person has energy blockages and the partner has excess energy; it's a perfect, symbiotic relationship," he said.

The arrangement is legal because it is struck between two consenting adults and aims to have no ill effect, said Williams.

He is pioneering the study of such alternative lifestyles. It took years for the scholar in forensic social work, criminal justice and leisure sciences to gain the trust of self-identifying vampires, whom he says are widely misunderstood.

"The negative discourse out there about blood and the transmission of infectious diseases just drives them underground," said Williams, who advises vampire acquaintances to abide by safe blood-drinking practices like having donors tested for HIV and other ailments transmitted by blood.

And with American serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 young men and boys in a frenzy of necrophilia and cannibalism between 1978 and 1991, billing himself as a vampire, what's a law-abiding vampire to do?

"The vampire community would argue that Jeffrey Dahmer and others aren't real vampires, they're murderous criminals," Williams said. "Those high-profile cases damage the image of self-identified vampires."

Vampire myths span the centuries, with some pinned to real-life figures like Vlad the Impaler, a 15th-century Romanian noble known for the fearsome punishment he inflicted on enemies.

MOST ADMIRED MONSTERS

Pointing to a UCLA study that ranked vampires as the most admired of monsters, Williams said self-identified vampires wage an uphill battle with stereotyping.

The subculture sometimes sinks its teeth into debates about proper vampire attire and etiquette, with some clans requiring black clothing and others insisting on beverages like blood.

Surveys circulating among vampires ask questions about their energy level, whether they heal quickly from wounds and whether blood bothers them.

Williams said virtually every age, race, religion and profession is represented in the subculture, which is strongest in urban areas.

"They see themselves as normal, regular people in normal regular jobs: they are teachers, lawyers, accountants, they may be parents," he said. "They have normal lives but there is this aspect to needing to take energy from time to time and in certain ways."

TEL AVIV – Start-up Iway Mobile and Cellcom, Israel's largest mobile phone operator, launched on Sunday a communications, Internet and entertainment system for the automobile.

While the Comodo Console will be sold first in February in Israel, where it will be marketed exclusively by Cellcom, Iway is in talks to sell the product to cellular operators in other countries over the next six months.

Iway founder and Chief Executive Danny Knafou said the first countries would likely be France, Russia and China.

"We are in talks with SFR, China Mobile and MTS," Knafou told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference.

The operating system is programed for 20 languages, including Russian, Arabic and Chinese, and more will be added.

Comodo includes a 4.3 inch touchscreen, speakerphone, a rear camera to increase security when in reverse, a GPS antenna and a cellular modem for an always-on connection to the Internet via a 3G cellular network. The driver can listen to radio stations from around the globe.

"There is one world that hasn't yet been captured by the Internet revolution, and that is the automobile," said Adi Cohen, head of marketing at Cellcom.

While mobile handset makers are focused on developing phones that are faster, smaller and better designed, Iway said it concentrated on giving the driver a different experience.

To ensure drivers' safety, videos can be watched only when the car is not moving, and emails can be received but not sent. Text messaging and chatting services are not available, and the 80 applications can be activated with two clicks.

Knafou said he did not know of any other similar product.

The three-dimensional navigation system warns drivers when approaching a dangerous road or intersection and can alert when the driver is exceeding the speed limit or to problems up ahead, such as camels on the road.

Iway, which is based in the southern city of Beersheba, far from Israel's high-tech center, invested millions of dollars in private funds to develop the product.

Knafou said the firm's next fund raising would be an initial public offering in Tel Aviv during 2011.

When asked whether Cellcom might invest in Iway, Cellcom CEO Amos Shapira said: "Until today it has not been Cellcom's strategy to make financial investments."

The console sold by Cellcom will cost 109 shekels ($23.5) a month for 36 months, and the service package without the music costs 20 shekels a month and another 14.9 shekels for the music.

The design and development of the console was done in Israel, while the assemblage is carried out in China and Taiwan.