TOKYO - A 3-foot-tall humanoid robot that can recognize about 10,000 words and work as a housesitter will go on sale in Japan in September, its manufacturer said Monday.

The "Wakamaru" robot can recognize the faces of up to 10 people and talk to them. When linked to cell phones, it can also monitor situations at home, such as a burglary or someone falling ill, according to Mitsubishi-Heavy Industries Ltd.

It said it would be the first time a robot with communication ability for home use has been sold.

"This is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can coexist," it said.

Mitsubishi-Heavy said it will start taking orders for "Wakamaru" from Sept. 16, and plans to sell 100 of the 66-pound robots at about $14,300 for residents in central Tokyo.

The owner's schedule can be programmed in advance and Wakamaru can give a wake-up call and remind them of the day's events.

CARACAS, Venezuela - The Rev. Jesse Jackson met with President Hugo Chavez in hopes of reducing tensions between the United States and Venezuela after a religious broadcaster called for the leftist president's assassination.The U.S. civil rights leader on Monday urged both sides to tone down their "hostile rhetoric," and said President Bush should strongly condemn recent remarks by conservative religious broadcaster Pat Robertson calling for Chavez's assassination.Jackson said good relations are in both countries' interests since Venezuela is a top supplier of U.S. oil."I hope that we've done something to facilitate a detente on threatening rhetoric," Jackson said. "We're not going to have an oil war."Chavez offered the United States cheap heating oil for poor communities and said he was willing to cooperate with the United States in anti-drug efforts, a program he recently suspended saying U.S. drug agents were involved in spying."In spite of the differences and the tense relations that exist, we're always willing to continue working together with Mr. Bush's government in the fight against drugs," Chavez said, adding that it "cannot be a mask to carry out spying or violate a country's sovereignty."Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro who has clashed repeatedly with Washington, said his government would tap into its Citgo Petroleum Corp. refineries in the United States to sell heating oil directly to poor communities, avoiding middle men to bring down costs.Details of the plan have yet to be worked out, but Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said officials hope to begin supplying heating oil this winter.By The Associated Press