The 14-time All-Star ran, played catch and hit off a tee before signing autographs for around 40 fans, though he was not prepared to set a timetable for his major league return.

"I'm working 24/7 to get back on the field," Rodriguez told reporters after beginning a 30-day rehabilitation schedule put together by his doctors and team officials. "There's no surprise - the way the season ended last year was very embarrassing.

"It was very tough on me, and obviously, (for) our team, it was devastating, the sweep against Detroit. I have a lot of unfinished business. I'm looking forward to getting back and helping my team win," added Rodriguez who went 3-for-25 with no extra-base hits last postseason.

Asked if he was likely to return to the Yankees this season, the 37-year-old Rodriguez replied: "I really hope so. That's as specific as I'll get."

The injured third baseman linked up with several other banged-up Yankees players in Tampa, including Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis and Francisco Cervelli.

"We always talk about it, injuries are part of the game, but God dang, this is crazy," Rodriguez said of the large group of his injured team mates. "I've never seen anything like it. It's remarkable." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

The 2008 world champion has obtained a special VIP pass for the animal, complete with a photograph of the dog wearing trendy headphones, but abandoned plans to bring the pet to last month's Bahrain Grand Prix because Roscoe was reported to be feeling under the weather.

The dog has acquired cult status for some Hamilton fans, with the Mercedes driver regularly posting photographs of him on Twitter.

Numerous 'fake' Twitter accounts have also sprung up in the animal's name.

"He's here. He went to the States with me and he came back the other day," Hamilton, who has a transatlantic relationship with American pop singer Nicole Scherzinger, told reporters at the Circuit de Catalunya when asked about Roscoe's F1 debut.

The Briton said his pet was limping, and had been to the vet, but was recovering after doing the 'splits' while left in the care of his father and stepmother when Hamilton was at the Mercedes factory recently.

"For some reason he's just always in the wars but he's much better today," said the Briton. "He's down in my motorhome, I didn't bring him in."

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by John Mehaffey)

The view may look bright at the top GOP echelon, but that does not appear to be the attitude of the rank and file. If anything, there is deep unease among activist conservativesthe sort who trudge to the polls in the bitter winters of Iowa and New Hampshireabout the state of the race. At several recent functions in Washington, attendees expressed great enthusiasm for unseating Obama, but hardly anyone was thrilled with their likely standard bearers.

Is it time for the GOP to start panicking yet?

Cains tortured and contradictory response to sexual-harassment allegations was made even worse by the reckless, not-ready-for-prime-time effort at deflection. Rick Perry was behind this! No, it was Rahm Emanuel! No, it was a massive media conspiracy! No, it was Professor Plum with the lead pipe in the billiards room. That Cain remains floating atop the GOP field is less a tribute to his staying power than a cruel indictment of the remaining field of frivolous flops. When you cannot lure voters away from a man who is accused of several counts of disreputable behavior and who seems to lack an understanding of many basic issues, fromto , youve got yourself a problem.

As for Romney, he has finally started to outline some specifics to his proposals, most notably courageous plans to . But even this effort posed an interesting problem for him. If another candidate had talked freely about raising the retirement age for Medicare and Social Security and turning Medicaid into block grants, there might have been a larger outcry. With Romney, there really wasnt. Even the media seem to have decided that nothing the risk-averse, milquetoast Romney says really has anything to do with his presidency. All his ideas feel like consultant-fed pablum free to be ignored the minute the polls turn. When 72 percent of Romneys own voters say they could easily , youve got a problem.

Which means the GOP nominating process may yet take some surprising turns. Overall, about half of Republicans surveyed in a recent Washington PostABC News poll said they may yet change their allegiance in the race. That feels about right. In fact, the number may even grow higher as voters continue to shop for the least unacceptable of the lot.

Of the main contenders, only Perry and Newt Gingrich have demonstrated any signs of resurgence. Since the GOP debates commenced, Gingrich has steadily crept back into double digits in most polls, based on something surprising: ideas. He has little money, he has few ground troops, he has unleashed no attack ads, but he has answered questions clearly, forthrightly, and knowledgeably. And it is not inconceivable that otherseven a Bachmann or a Santorum or a Huntsmanmay finally find their day in the sun.

This year feels very different, as if anything could happen. Who knows: if an establishment favorite like Romney falters early, it is always possible that an entirely new candidate might yet decide to jump into the contest. Hoover, FDR, Kennedy, Nixon, and LBJ each won presidential primaries as write-in candidates. If things continue to be so unsettled, its not impossible that someone may decide to repeat that feat in 2012. Just dont anybody give that idea to Donald Trump.

The Italian-born challenger briefly ruffled the champion by landing a couple of punches in the second round but apart from that appeared out of his depth.

Klitschko twice sent his opponent to the canvas in the fourth round before the referee called a halt to proceedings eight seconds from the end of the sixth as Pianeta took a pounding.

The 37-year-old Ukrainian extended his unbeaten run to 18 fights, his last defeat coming when he challenged Lamon Brewster for the WBO title in 2004.

Overall, he has won 60 of his 63 fights, including 52 within the distance.

Klitschko holds the IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA crown and his older brother Vitali holds the WBC crown. The two have pledged not to fight each other.

Pianeta, who at 1.93 metres is five centimetres shorter than his opponent, was previously undefeated with 28 wins and one draw.

"He started well and he tried to take the fight to me, he fought with great courage," said Klitschko. (Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Alan Baldwin)

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada got a taste of international panda diplomacy on Monday with the arrival of two "Very Important Pandas" at the start of a 10-year loan to two Canadian zoos.

Speaking as the two giant pandas arrived in Toronto from China, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Junsai - who gave the animals the VIP designation - noted that when he started his posting in Canada two years ago, he was greeted only by the Canadian director of protocol.

But the panda pair, Er Shun, 5, and Da Mao, 4, merited a personal welcome from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who reached an agreement on the panda loan during a visit to China last year.

"I am very delighted to officially welcome to Canada ... a pair of China's national treasures," Harper said at the airport.

Officials hope that Er Shun, who is female, and Da Mao, who is male, will mate during their five years in Toronto and five subsequent years in Calgary, Alberta, to produce the first Canadian-born panda cubs.

"China wants to be known for other than economic prowess," Gordon Houlden, director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, told CTV television. "This helps serve that purpose."

China has frequently loaned pandas to foreign zoos, in deals that can be lucrative to both sides. Fees paid by the host countries help fund panda research in China, but the zoos hope to recoup that in extra visitors.

Other costs include the vast quantities of bamboo that the two pandas will eat - they spend 10 to 16 hours a day eating 14 to 20 kg (31 to 44 lbs) of bamboo.

FedEx Corp, which flew the pandas to Canada from China, will fly in 600 to 900 kg (1,320 to 1,980 pounds) of bamboo each week from the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee because "pandas are picky eaters," it said.

(Writing by Randall Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Major League Baseball said the session Thursday in New York was planned before the attacks last week.

"This stadium operations meeting scheduled for later this week was not a product of the incidents in Boston," MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said Tuesday. "It is a part of our ongoing efforts to discuss state-of-the-art security measures with the clubs, and it's standard operating procedure."

Among the security topics that could be discussed are backpacks that fans bring into ballparks.

Each team has different policies for fans, although the general major league limitation on bag sizes is 16 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches. Teams might talk about whether they want to cut that down from the size of a standard school backpack to something such as a laptop carrying bag.

At Yankee Stadium, "briefcases, coolers and other hard-sided bags or containers are not permitted." At Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium, wrapped presents are banned along with cameras with lenses of 12 or more inches. The Orioles ban bags with wheels at Camden Yards.

David Rose, who works in the New York financial world, noticed increased security at Citi Field for the Mets' game Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He came with a standard-sized backpack and got a thorough examination at the gate.

"I've never had anything like that going to a major league game," he said. "They went through everything, they even looked at my wallet. It was like going through security screening at an airport. But after what happened in Boston and the train threat in Canada, people are jittery."

Rose said he hoped the permissible backpack size at stadiums wouldn't be reduced.

"A lot of people come to the ballpark straight from work," he said. "It would be inconvenience to have to leave it there."

Having stunned the golfing world the previous day when he made a second consecutive cut on the PGA Tour, the 14-year-old struggled off the tee before finishing at two-over 218, stone last in the 71-strong field.

"I just didn't do very good in the morning and was definitely in trouble with my driver," Guan, who is playing on a sponsor's exemption this week, told Golf Channel after mixing three birdies with five bogeys and an ugly triple at the sixth.

"I played pretty good in the middle of the round and made a couple birdies but still, it was not a very good round for me."

Guan covered the back nine in two-over 38, signing off with a bogey at the par-five last after playing a poor third shot out of a waste bunker at the TPC Louisiana, where alligators lurk in many of the water hazards.

"He hits the shot and he says with a smile, 'Hey, there's a little alligator right here'," Guan's caddie, Todd McPherson, told reporters. "People forget that he's still a kid.

"Yes, he pays attention to all the little things that go with playing good golf ... when it's time to hit a golf shot, he hits the shot. But at the end of the day he's still a kid."

Guan, who became the youngest player to make the cut in a major championship at the Masters two week ago, said he had not committed to play in any future PGA Tour events.

"I am not sure right now," the eighth-grade schoolboy said. "I intend to play the U.S. Open qualifier (next month in Dallas) and probably after that I will go back to China."

Asked whether he had been approached to compete in other PGA Tour events via a sponsor's exemption, he replied: "No, not yet."

Guan, who booked his place at the Masters by winning last year's Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, had thrilled the large galleries watching his every move this week as he opened with scores of 72 and 69.

"I feel okay with them watching me," he smiled. "The people here are really good, and my parents are following me too. I'm having fun." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Gene Cherry)

Financial details of the acquisition by the British drugmaker's MedImmune unit were not disclosed.

AstraZeneca's new CEO Pascal Soriot said last month he planned to build up the company's sparse drug pipeline by striking more deals, with cardiovascular and metabolic disease a particular priority.

Cardiovascular and metabolic disease is one of three core therapy areas for AstraZeneca - along with oncology and respiratory/inflammation - but the company currently has few experimental compounds for such conditions.

AlphaCore will help plug the gap, although it will not deliver any marketable products for many years. Its leading drug candidate ACP-501, a genetically engineered liver-derived enzyme called LCAT, only completed Phase I clinical tests last year.

Drugs need to go through three phases of lengthy tests before being approved for sale.

The hope is that ACP-501 will help in the management of cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It could also play a role in a rare, hereditary disorder called familial LCAT deficiency in which the LCAT enzyme is absent.

"As the science in this area continues to evolve, we are committed to exploring unique pathways that could lead to new combination or standalone therapies for patients living with chronic and acute cardiovascular diseases," said MedImmune head Bahija Jallal.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

A preliminary survey by HSBC Corp. said its monthly purchasing managers' index fell to a worse-than-expected 50.5 from March's 51.6 on a 100-point scale. That comes on top of data released last week that showed an unexpected slowdown in China's first-quarter economic growth.

"It builds on that picture last week and fears of a moderating growth scenario in China," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "That set a negative tone."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.2 percent to 21,773.72. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.1 percent to 2,194.12. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 2.2 percent to 928.24.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei index slipped as the yen gained ground against the dollar.The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.1 percent to 13,548.76. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also fell. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 percent to 5,010.20.

European stocks rose Monday in response to the re-election Saturday of Giorgio Napolitano as president of recession-mired Italy. He can now dissolve Parliament and call new elections, something he could not do in the final months of his first term. The country has been hobbled by political gridlock after inconclusive elections in February.

However, Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets in London, suggested in a commentary that Napolitano's selection by parliament reflected Italy's political chaos and the inability of its lawmakers to agree on a candidate apart from the incumbent who was planning to retire.

"Despite the optimism the inescapable fact remains that it is a sad state of affairs when an 87 year old man has to stand for re-election in an attempt to try and move the country forward."

Among individual stocks, Australia's Woodside Petroleum shot up 9.6 percent after the oil and gas company announced a special dividend and increased its dividend payout ratio after cutting a major LNG project.

Virgin Australia Holdings jumped 4.6 percent after the airline received approval from Australia's competition regulator for a takeover of budget rival Tiger Airways.

Wall Street posted modest advances Monday after energy stocks got a lift from recovering oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent to close at 14,567.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.5 percent, to 1,562.50. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.9 percent, to 3,233.55.

Investors are now turning their focus to company profits. About a third of the companies in the S&P 500 index, including Exxon Mobil and Apple, will report earnings this week. Of the companies that have reported earnings so far, 67 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations..

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 51 cents to $88.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract for May gained 75 cents to close at $88.76 on the Nymex on Monday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3043 from $1.3060 late Monday in New York. The dollar fell to 98.78 yen from 99.42 yen.

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