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Premiers, Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 8:00 PM (EST) In a SURVIVOR first, 10 ultra-fans of the series will take on 10 former castaways to compete as FANS vs. FAVORITES. The two tribes will be marooned amidst the Rock Islands of Palau, Micronesia. The skills of the former castaways will be put to the test while the tribe of first-time competitors will see if their enthusiasm and passion for the game is enough to distinguish them as worthy competitors. Who will prevail to become Sole Survivor?

A little-known virus is causing a big fuss in Micronesia, the Pacific island nation partly managed by the United States. The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, produces an itchy rash, pinkeye, joint pain and fever. Since its discovery 60 years ago in an ill monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda, it has caused rare cases and outbreaks in Africa and Southeast Asia. There is no specific treatment or vaccine. Now Zika has made its first appearance in Micronesia, on the island of Yap, where health officials say there have been at least 42 confirmed cases and 65 probable ones....

HEIDELBERG, Germany — They came from Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and the Philippines. They came from Ghana, Micronesia, Albania and … Canada, Great Britain and Egypt? Nearly 60 U.S. soldiers, stationed throughout U.S. Army Europe but originally from all parts of the globe, gathered Tuesday at Campbell Barracks to take the oath renouncing allegiance to “any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty” and become U.S. citizens. “I think it’s the best country in the world."

Nothing lasts forever. Just ask Ozymandias, or Nate Fisher. Only the wind inhabits the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado, birds and vines the pyramids of the Maya. Sand and silence have swallowed the clamors of frankincense traders and camels in the old desert center of Ubar. Troy was buried for centuries before it was uncovered. Parts of the Great Library of Alexandria, center of learning in the ancient world, might be sleeping with the fishes, off Egypt's coast in the Mediterranean. "Cities rise and fall depending on what made them go in the first place," said Peirce Lewis,...

An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale has been detected at off the Pacific island group of Micronesia, the Hong Kong observatory said today. "The epicentre was initially determined to be over the seas of the western part of Micronesia, about 330km east-northeast of (the island of) Yap," the observatory said. The quake, classified in Hong Kong as "severe", was recorded at 4:24 am, it said. There were no immediate reports of tsunamis or damage on nearby islands.

WASHINGTON - President Bush visited the war wounded Thursday at a local military hospital and said those who tend to soldiers' injuries are "helping to protect America" just as much as troops on the battlefield. "All of you here today are engaged in a great cause, a noble cause, an important cause for our country, and for freedom and peace," Bush told some 200 cheering doctors, nurses and other staff of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "By your good work, you're helping to protect America." Before speaking to the hospital staff, Bush met privately with a few dozen...

Sorry for the vanity but today at work some liberals were trashing Bush over Iraq- one was touting Ted Kennedy claiming that the only reason we're in Iraq is because Saddam tried to kill Dubya's father. That's when I lost it and said that I was sick and tired of the liberal lies about the war and that there hasn't been another attack in this country since we went into Afghanistan. I was then informed that another attack is imminent. The conversation got around to the libs saying that we don't have any support from the world and we should...

NEW YORK - The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday to tell Israel to drop its decision to "remove" Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, whom it described as the main obstacle to Middle East peacemaking. The 191-nation assembly, where Washington has no veto, voted 133-4, with 15 abstentions, in an emergency session to adopt a resolution demanding that Israel not carry out the policy to oust the Palestinian leader. The United States and Israel voted "No," joined by the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. Australia, Canada, Kenya and Colombia were among those abstaining. EU members unanimously swung in line behind...

Pacific islanders angry over Washington Post’s sarcasm WASHINGTON: Irate Northern Pacific island states on Thursday fiercely rebutted media sarcasm whipped up by their role in the US-led war on Iraq, arguing they offered the “coalition of the willing” far more than coconuts, tapioca and scuba diving. Nursing wounded pride, several governments complained that scoffing at their presence in President George W. Bush's much lampooned coalition was an insult to Pacific islanders who put their lives on the line alongside US troops in Iraq. Palau, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean are among nearly 50 nations...