In the commercial, Fox throws his support behind Democratic Missouri Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, who supports stem cell research, against Republican James M. Talent. Fox also taped similar ads for other Democratic candidates, including Benjamin L. Cardin in his Senate race against Republican Michael S. Steele in Maryland and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D), who is seeking reelection.

The ads bear witness to the actor's unmistakable decline from Parkinson's, which the actor has suffered from for a long time, and harnesses that physical degeneration into a political message.

"What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans, Americans like me," Fox said in the television spot, which will continue airing throughout Missouri this week.

"This is the only time I've ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has," Limbaugh said. "He can barely control himself."

Limbaugh said Fox could "control himself enough to stay in the frame of the picture" and to keep "his eyes right on the . . . teleprompter. But his head and shoulders are moving all over the place."

"He is acting like his disease is deteriorating because Jim Talent opposes research that would help him get cured," Limbaugh said, adding that Talent only opposes "fetal stem cell research, but not adult."

"This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox," Limbaugh said. "Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."

Fox, who gained fame for his roles in the "Family Ties" and "Spin City" television shows and "Back to the Future" movies, has long been open about his battle with Parkinson's and his support for the research that could lead to a treatment.

But in this ad he shows a noticeable degree of decline not widely seen in previous public appearances. His speech is clear but his head and body are jerky and unsteady.

Besides the ads, Fox has also made plans to appear at events for two Democrats, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Tammy Duckworth, a candidate for Congress from Illinois.

"He wants to take on races and get involved in races that involve a pro stem cell candidate against an anti embryonic stem cell candidate," Fox publicist John Rogers said.

Cardin aides in Maryland said Fox contacted the campaign after seeing news accounts of Steele's position on the research. In February, Steele told members of a Baltimore Jewish group, "Look, you of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool."

He later apologized for the remark, which was interpreted as a comparison between embryonic stem cell research and Nazi experimentation.

"He came over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand, and the barb came up and hit him in the chest," Stainton said.

Wildlife documentary maker Ben Cropp, citing a colleague who saw footage of the attack, told Time.com that Irwin had accidentally boxed the animal in. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest," said Cropp. "It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger." (Read the TIME.com obituary.)

Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality Monday morning off Port Douglas, according to Australian media. (Gallery: The life of the "Crocodile Hunter")

Queensland Police Services also confirmed Irwin's death and said his family had been notified.

Irwin was director of the Australia Zoo in Queensland. He is survived by his American-born wife, Terri, and their two children, Bindi Sue, born 1998, and Robert (Bob), born December 2003.

"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns, according to The Associated Press. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!' " (Watch a remembrance of Steve Irwin -- 1:58)

"Steve was a larger-than-life force. He brought joy and learning about the natural world to millions and millions of people across the globe," said Discovery Communications founder and chairman John Hendricks in a statement. "We extend our thoughts and prayers to Terri, Bindi and Bob Irwin as well as to the incredible staff and many friends Steve leaves behind."

Irwin's "Crocodile Hunter" show aired on the company's Animal Planet network.

Cousteau's office issued a statement that he is "still in Australia with the family of his friend, Steve Irwin. It was a tragic ordeal for everyone on the boat that morning. All of our thoughts are now with Steve's family."

Discovery Communications said it will rename the garden space in front of Discovery's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, the "Steve Irwin Memorial Sensory Garden."

The company also is looking at the creation of a Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund. The fund will support wildlife protection, education and conservation, as well as aid Irwin's Australia Zoo and provide educational support for Bindi and Bob Irwin, the company said.

Australia Prime Minister John Howard said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death," according to AP. "It's a huge loss to Australia."

Irwin became a popular figure on Australian and international television through Irwin's close handling of wildlife, most notably the capture and relocation of crocodiles.

Irwin's enthusiastic approach to nature conservation and the environment won him a global following. He was known for his exuberance and use of the catch phrase "Crikey!" (E-mail us: How will you remember Steve Irwin?)

"His message is really about conservation: He really wants to leave the world a better place for everybody," Animal Planet's Maureen Smith told CNN.com in April.

"It's unbelievable, really," Jack Hanna, the host of "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventure" and director emeritus of the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo, told CNN. "You think about Steve Irwin and you think of people who are invincible."

Hanna, a friend of Irwin's, noted that Irwin's persona of the Crocodile Hunter was no act. Irwin grew up around crocodiles, snakes and other animals at his parents' Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and had been handling such creatures since he was a child.

"Steve really knew what he was doing. He was one of the finest reptile people in the world. He knew more about reptiles than anybody did. He was raised that way," said Hanna.

Though stingrays can be threatening, their sting -- usually prompted by self-defense -- is not often fatal. The bull ray that apparently stung Irwin was "a one-in-a-million thing," Cropp told Time.com. "I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me." (Watch a marine biologist talk about the dangers of stingrays -- 3:48)

"A wild animal is like a loaded gun -- it can go off at any time," Hanna said. "You have to be careful of that." But, he added, it's not the animals who are inherently dangerous, but the way they may react around humans. "People use the word 'dangerous,' and that sometimes is a word that's not fair to that animal, because that animal is only using the defenses that God gave it," said Hanna.

Rise to popularity

Irwin became popular with his show "Crocodile Hunter," which first aired on Australian TV in 1992. Eventually, the program was picked up by Discovery in the United States, establishing Irwin worldwide.

His popularity led to a film, "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" (2002).

Irwin was caught in a minor flap in January 2004 when he held his then 1-month-old son while feeding a crocodile at his Australian zoo. (Full story)

In 2003, Irwin spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s "Australian Story" television program about how he was perceived in his home country.

"When I see what's happened all over the world, they're looking at me as this very popular, wildlife warrior Australian bloke," he told the ABC.

"And yet back here in my own country, some people find me a little bit embarrassing. You know, there's this ... they kind of cringe, you know, 'cause I'm coming out with 'Crikey' and 'Look at this beauty.' "

At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes, the AP reported. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.

"Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace," was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.

"We're all very shocked. I don't know what the zoo will do without him. He's done so much for us, the environment and it's a big loss," said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate, according to the AP.

"He has left a legacy: That people do love some of the unloved animals like crocodiles and reptiles that people wanted to kill," Stainton told CNN. "He's actually put a position in their hearts for them. I want that to continue. ... I want people to really go out there and remember Steve Irwin for what he really was, which was a great conservationist, saving wildlife and actually promoting wildlife that people didn't love."

Perry's brother, Robert Perry, was 26 when he was shot several times on July 22, 2002, on the sidewalk next to his apartment complex. Police identified a man they said was the shooter, but he was not arrested and later was himself found shot to death.

"It's crazy," their sister, Chyneatha Perry, told the Boston Herald for Monday's editions. "Everyone thinks it's a dream that we're going to wake up from. How does this happen? The same day. The same place. Four years ago."

On Saturday night, Chyneatha Perry said, the sisters marked the anniversary of their brother's death as they have each year, leaving pictures of him at the scene and lighting candles.

"It was a windy day and she'd driven by there and seen the candles had gone out," said Chyneatha Perry. "She went to my sister's house and dropped off her daughter, then went down there. ... She was kneeling and lighting a candle when it happened."

On Sunday, dozens of people visited the shooting scene, where a cardboard sign with the words "Rest in Peace" lay against a fence. Friends recalled Analicia Perry as a good friend.

"She was always there for advice," said Chrissy Williams. "She was the first one of all of us to have a baby, so I always called her."

Friends said she was a talented hair stylist who had hoped to go to Quincy College in the fall to study nursing.

The ruling also noted that the party had not committed a crime.

PNVD's opponents had sought the ban, arguing that children had the right not to be confronted with the party's platform.

Taboos

The PNVD - which has only three known members - says its aim is to break taboos and fight intolerance.

It says it wants paedophilia to be freely discussed, arguing that a ban just makes children curious.

They claim the subject has been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in Belgium.

They also want to break the "negative" stigma surrounding paedophilia by getting into parliament.

But the PNVD says it is not just a one-issue party.

It also wants children from the age of 12 to be able to vote. It promotes the legalisation of hard and soft drugs and free train travel for all.

In order to take part in elections set for 22 November, the PNVD needs to submit a list of candidates and signatures of at least 30 supporters.

But even though the sun was behind the clouds, Wallsten still needs the sunglasses because he has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration that causes progressive vision loss.

The condition causes Wallsten to be sensitive to glare and even on a cloudy day, can cause pain and increase the loss of sight.

Wallsten said Bush called his cell phone later in the day to apologize and tell him that he didn't know he had the disease.

Wallsten said he interrupted and told the president that no apology was necessary and that he didn't feel offended since he hadn't told anyone at the White House about his condition.

"He said, 'I needle you guys out of affection,' " Wallsten said. "I said, 'I understand that, but I don't want you to treat me any differently because of this.' "

Wallsten said the president said he would not treat him differently, so Wallsten encouraged him to "needle away."

"He said, 'I will. Next time I'll just use a different needle,' " Wallsten said.

Wallsten said he thought that was a pretty good line. And his only complaint is that the president didn't answer his question at the news conference.

Wallsten, who is the author of a book coming out next month titled "One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century," had asked about White House credibility now in the aftermath of top aide Karl Rove having been cleared in the CIA leak investigation.

But Bush said he wouldn't comment with another top White House aide still facing prosecution in the case.

The castle, worth an estimated $25 million (19.6 million euros), was owned by the late Queen Marie and bequeathed to her daughter Princess Ileana in 1938. It was confiscated by communists in 1948 and fell into disrepair.

It was inherited by Dominic van Hapsburg, a New York architect who will be at the ceremony on Friday, said Iorgulescu. The Hapsburgs ruled Romania for a period starting in the late 17th century. Under the agreement, the owner will not be allowed to make any changes to the castle for the next three years, Iorgulescu said.

Restoration work began in the late 1980s and was partially completed in 1993. It is now one of Romania's top tourist destinations.

While known and marketed as "Dracula's Castle," the Bran Castle never belonged to Prince Vlad the Impaler, who inspired Bram Stoker's Count Dracula character, but the prince is thought to have visited the medieval fortress.

The Gothic fortress, perched on a rock, has appeared in numerous Dracula movies.

At the gates of Bran Castle, peasants sell Dracula sweaters hand-knitted from the thick wool of local sheep, cheesecloth blouses, and Vampire wine. Bran Castle is the most famous of 15 citadels and fortresses in the area, which were built by peasants to keep out marauding armies of Turks and Tartars and cruel local medieval lords.

Another former royal property, the Peles Castle, built in the late 19th century in the mountain town of Sinaia, will be returned to former King Michael, who owned it before it was confiscated by the communist regime in 1948.

Romania passed legislation earlier this year to return property to its former owners and establish a "property fund" to pay damages for assets that cannot be returned.

The fund includes stock in state-owned companies that are being privatized, such as utility companies, the Romanian postal service, and the Savings Bank.

Perhaps the most startling aspect of the roadmap is its acknowledgement that information put out as part of the military's psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding its way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans.

"Information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and Psyops, is increasingly consumed by our domestic audience," it reads.

"Psyops messages will often be replayed by the news media for much larger audiences, including the American public," it goes on.

The document's authors acknowledge that American news media should not unwittingly broadcast military propaganda. "Specific boundaries should be established," they write. But they don't seem to explain how.

"In this day and age it is impossible to prevent stories that are fed abroad as part of psychological operations propaganda from blowing back into the United States - even though they were directed abroad," says Kristin Adair of the National Security Archive.

Credibility problem

Public awareness of the US military's information operations is low, but it's growing - thanks to some operational clumsiness.

When it describes plans for electronic warfare, or EW, the document takes on an extraordinary tone. It seems to see the internet as being equivalent to an enemy weapons system

Late last year, it emerged that the Pentagon had paid a private company, the Lincoln Group, to plant hundreds of stories in Iraqi newspapers. The stories - all supportive of US policy - were written by military personnel and then placed in Iraqi publications.

And websites that appeared to be information sites on the politics of Africa and the Balkans were found to be run by the Pentagon.

But the true extent of the Pentagon's information operations, how they work, who they're aimed at, and at what point they turn from informing the public to influencing populations, is far from clear.

The roadmap, however, gives a flavour of what the US military is up to - and the grand scale on which it's thinking.

It reveals that Psyops personnel "support" the American government's international broadcasting. It singles out TV Marti - a station which broadcasts to Cuba - as receiving such support.

It recommends that a global website be established that supports America's strategic objectives. But no American diplomats here, thank you. The website would use content from "third parties with greater credibility to foreign audiences than US officials".

It also recommends that Psyops personnel should consider a range of technologies to disseminate propaganda in enemy territory: unmanned aerial vehicles, "miniaturized, scatterable public address systems", wireless devices, cellular phones and the internet.

'Fight the net'

When it describes plans for electronic warfare, or EW, the document takes on an extraordinary tone.

It seems to see the internet as being equivalent to an enemy weapons system.

"Strategy should be based on the premise that the Department [of Defense] will 'fight the net' as it would an enemy weapons system," it reads.

The slogan "fight the net" appears several times throughout the roadmap.

The authors warn that US networks are very vulnerable to attack by hackers, enemies seeking to disable them, or spies looking for intelligence.

"Networks are growing faster than we can defend them... Attack sophistication is increasing... Number of events is increasing."

US digital ambition

And, in a grand finale, the document recommends that the United States should seek the ability to "provide maximum control of the entire electromagnetic spectrum".

US forces should be able to "disrupt or destroy the full spectrum of globally emerging communications systems, sensors, and weapons systems dependent on the electromagnetic spectrum".

Consider that for a moment.

The US military seeks the capability to knock out every telephone, every networked computer, every radar system on the planet.

Are these plans the pipe dreams of self-aggrandising bureaucrats? Or are they real?

The fact that the "Information Operations Roadmap" is approved by the Secretary of Defense suggests that these plans are taken very seriously indeed in the Pentagon.

And that the scale and grandeur of the digital revolution is matched only by the US military's ambitions for it.

Robinette, who was driving and had no traces of drugs or alcohol in her system, was seriously injured. Coker lay in a coma at Orlando Regional Medical Center until he died Jan. 11.

"It was me who caused it. I turned the wheel. I turned the wheel that sent us off the road, into the concrete drain ..." Ranking wrote in the blog. "How can I be fine when everyone else is so messed up?"

Ranking later retracted his words, deleting them from the blog and penning an explanation.

"People say I 'contradict' myself since I 'already admitting pulling the wheel.' I didn't 'ADMIT' anything. I went on a guilt trip, and I posted the story that I WAS TOLD . . . Nicole told me I pulled the wheel, I believed her," he wrote.

Still, the confession forced him to lead guilty Monday to manslaughter charges. He could have gotten 15 years in prison, but defense lawyer John Spivey and Assistant State Attorney Julie Greenberg recommended five years in prison, 10 years of probation and a permanent license suspension.

Circuit Judge Mark Hill agreed to impose the sentence Dec. 28.

Greenberg said she had planned to use the blog as evidence, a first for the office covering Lake, Citrus, Hernando, Marion and Sumter counties, but almost certainly not the last.

"Anytime a defendant confesses, that is very relevant and important," she said.

Ranking posted the lyrics to Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" the day of Coker's funeral, but prosecutors said his remorse was not always apparent in his blogs, which included entries railing at Coker's mother because she asked him to stop calling and coming to the hospital.

"He lost the best friend he ever had," Spivey said in Ranking's defense.

Ken Coker, Jason's father, said his family never wanted prison time for Ranking, but they wished Ranking would stop writing about them because they felt the blog was insensitive. He said Ranking would benefit more from psychiatric counseling.

"There's not enough forgiveness in the world," he said.

___

The show had a serious macho tone, but over the years has achieved a cheesy, cult status. Sources say the project was built around the involvement of Valderrama, who is working on the final season of "That '70s Show" and appears in "The Darwin Awards," an indie that will screen at Sundance in January.

The action comedy has no producer and no director attached. The script will be written Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgove, who are writer-executive producers on "George Lopez."

In Virginia, Gov. Mark Warner spared the life Tuesday of Robin Lovitt, who was set to be No. 1,000 for stabbing a man to death with a pair of scissors during a pool-hall robbery. The governor said that key evidence -- namely the bloody scissors -- had been improperly destroyed, preventing the defense from subjecting it to the latest in DNA testing.

A similar incident led Easley to grant clemency to a death row inmate in 2002, and he did it one other time, in 2001, when defense attorneys argued the jury was racially biased against their client, a black man convicted of killing the husband of a white woman with whom he had been having an affair.

In all, 22 killers have been put to death during Easley's nearly five years as governor. Boyd would be the 39th inmate executed in North Carolina since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume.

A spokeswoman for Easley said only that he will treat Boyd's case like others he has considered.

In a prison interview, Boyd did not deny shooting Julie Curry Boyd and her father, Thomas Dillard Curry. The Boyds were separated at the time, and Julie Boyd was living with her father. Boyd suspected his wife was having an affair.

Boyd said he was drinking the night of the murders.

"I remember sitting in my house, nobody there," he said. "I blinked my eyes and I'd done shot my father-in-law. When they told me how many times I shot her, I couldn't believe it." He added: "It's just a thing that happened, just snapped."

In his clemency petition, Boyd's attorneys argued his experiences in Vietnam -- where as a bulldozer operator he was shot at by snipers daily -- contributed to his crimes. He began drinking while overseas.

Boyd called the death penalty "nothing but revenge."

Defense attorney Thomas Maher said he hoped the attention of the 1,000th execution would lead Easley to grant clemency.

Unlike Warner, who is considered a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, Easley -- a popular Democratic governor who is barred by law from seeking a third term -- has no apparent political ambitions beyond his current job.

"The unpopular decision would likely be to stay the execution," said Wake Forest University political science professor John Dinan. But even if he did so, given the governor's high approval ratings, "there's no reason to expect any political repercussions or harm."