Karzai meets Sarkozy as French threaten early pullout (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets French President Nicolas Sarkozy later Friday hoping to convince Paris not to accelerate its troop withdrawal and clinch a partnership agreement for post-2014.

Sarkozy last week suspended all French training and support operations on the ground and sent his defense minister and armed forces chief to Kabul after four French soldiers were killed by a rogue Afghan soldier.

Paris has 3,600 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 130,000-strong NATO-led force there. French troops mainly patrol Kapisa, a mountainous province near Kabul. One thousand French troops are due to leave by end-2012 and the rest by 2014.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday a decision would be made after Karzai's visit on whether to speed up the withdrawal, a move that could prove a boost to Sarkozy ahead of presidential elections.

Socialist rival Francois Hollande, who is comfortably ahead in the polls, has pledged to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of this year if he wins the election held in two rounds in April and May.

In a CSA survey published Thursday, 84 percent of people said they were in favor of troops leaving Afghanistan by the end of 2012.

Juppe ruled out a "hasty" retreat and most analysts believe technically it would be difficult for Paris to drop out of the NATO-led coalition so quickly, although bringing a departure date forward would prove popular.

France spends about 500 million euros ($668 million) a year on its Afghan operations at a time when Paris is trying to balance its finances.

The killings in the Taghab valley of Afghanistan's eastern Kapisa province were the latest in a series of incidents in which Afghan troops have turned on Western allies.

NATO has been rapidly expanding the Afghan security forces so that they will be able to take over all responsibility for security when Western combat forces leave in 2014.

Defense Minister Gerard Longuet submitted a report to Sarkozy earlier in the week outlining what Karzai is planning to do to improve security guarantees for its troops and clarify how Kabul was recruiting its new soldiers.

Among the requests Paris has made is to have French-trained Afghan officers made available to them to shadow local troops.

More than 2,500 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since 2001. The latest killings take the French toll to 82.

Karzai meets Sarkozy at 5 p.m. (11 a.m. ET).

(Reporting By John Irish)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_france_afghanistan

verizon galaxy nexus lawrence lessig lawrence lessig time magazine person of the year 2011 time magazine person of the year 2011 good morning america new orleans jazz fest

Libyan government concedes to restive town's demands (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) ? Libya recognized a tribal-based local government in the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid on Wednesday, illustrating the power of tribal leaders over the fragile interim government.

Fighters from the Warfallah tribe -- the dominant tribe in Bani Walid and the most populous in Libya -- drove out a pro-government militia from the town this week.

Salah al-Maayuf, a member of the Warfallah Elders Council in Bani Walid, said his tribal body appointed a new local council on Tuesday and that Defense Minister Osama al-Juwali recognized the body during all-day talks on Wednesday.

"The Defense minister told us that if we, as a tribe, believe that the new local council in Bani Walid will work, then we have convinced him that it can," Maayuf told Reuters from Bani Walid, a bastion of support for former leader Muammar Gaddafi during last year's rebellion.

"We told him that we want to keep the whole country peaceful

and that national unity was a priority," Maayuf added.

An official at the Defense ministry confirmed that Juwali had accepted the new council, but did not give further details.

NTC RETREATS

Juwali is a member of the provisional government installed in November by the National Transitional Council (NTC), the self-appointed body which won Western backing in the uprising that ousted Gaddafi in August.

On Monday, armed residents attacked the barracks of the NTC force in the town, killing four fighters by the account of the government militia, and forcing the unit to retreat to beyond the desert city's limits. Eight of the town's residents were also killed, doctors at the hospital said.

Echoing complaints by residents that the NTC fighters had been harassing people, making arrests and abusing prisoners, the town's elders said on Tuesday they did not want any interference from the Tripoli authorities and dismissed the local NTC council.

The unrest will heighten doubts about the NTC's ability to bring order and establish control over armed groups - goals crucial to rebuilding oil exports and securing Libya's vast desert borders in a region where al Qaeda is active.

Bani Walid, in Libya's Western Mountains 150 km (90 miles) south of Tripoli, was one of the last towns to surrender to the anti-Gaddafi rebellion last year. But residents reject accusations from NTC fighters that they remain loyal to Gaddafi.

After Gaddafi was captured and killed in October, one of his sons, the now captive Saif al-Islam, staged his last stand in Bani Walid before fleeing into the Sahara.

Reuters reporters who toured Bani Walid on Tuesday saw no signs of the Gaddafi-era green flags which NTC supporters said had been hoisted over the town following the retreat of the pro-government militia.

Some pro-Gaddafi graffiti remains in the town, but the most common banners flying were the red, green and black tricolor of the NTC.

GOVERNMENT FORCES SURROUND THE TOWN

Bani Walid is not alone. Towns and cities across Libya are being run with little reference to central authority. In a number of areas tensions have emerged between groups which were nominally allies in the revolt.

Abdul Azziz al-Jmaili, a resident of Bani Walid, said government forces were around the town to prevent escalating fighting.

Speaking to Reuters by telephone, Jmaili said a "peacekeeping force" comprised of units of former rebel fighters loyal to the NTC and drawn from other towns in the region had set up checkpoints in the outskirts of Bani Walid.

(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun and Oliver Holmes; Writing by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wl_nm/us_libya_talks

bernie fine bernie fine matt leinart cyber monday 2011 cyber monday 2011 turkey pot pie turkey pot pie

Chemists synthesize artificial cell membrane

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life.

Neal Devaraj, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and Itay Budin, a graduate student at Harvard University, report their success in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"One of our long term, very ambitious goals is to try to make an artificial cell, a synthetic living unit from the bottom up -- to make a living organism from non-living molecules that have never been through or touched a living organism," Devaraj said. "Presumably this occurred at some point in the past. Otherwise life wouldn't exist."

By assembling an essential component of earthly life with no biological precursors, they hope to illuminate life's origins.

"We don't understand this really fundamental step in our existence, which is how non-living matter went to living matter," Devaraj said. "So this is a really ripe area to try to understand what knowledge we lack about how that transition might have occurred. That could teach us a lot -- even the basic chemical, biological principles that are necessary for life."

Molecules that make up cell membranes have heads that mix easily with water and tails that repel it. In water, they form a double layer with heads out and tails in, a barrier that sequesters the contents of the cell.

Devaraj and Budin created similar molecules with a novel reaction that joins two chains of lipids. Nature uses complex enzymes that are themselves embedded in membranes to accomplish this, making it hard to understand how the very first membranes came to be.

"In our system, we use a sort of primitive catalyst, a very simple metal ion," Devaraj said. "The reaction itself is completely artificial. There's no biological equivalent of this chemical reaction. This is how you could have a de novo formation of membranes."

They created the synthetic membranes from a watery emulsion of an oil and a detergent. Alone it's stable. Add copper ions and sturdy vesicles and tubules begin to bud off the oil droplets. After 24 hours, the oil droplets are gone, "consumed" by the self-assembling membranes.

Although other scientists recently announced the creation of a "synthetic cell," only its genome was artificial. The rest was a hijacked bacterial cell. Fully artificial life will require the union of both an information-carrying genome and a three-dimensional structure to house it.

The real value of this discovery might reside in its simplicity. From commercially available precursors, the scientists needed just one preparatory step to create each starting lipid chain.

"It's trivial and can be done in a day," Devaraj said. "New people who join the lab can make membranes from day one."

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering supported this work. UC San Diego has filed a patent application on this discovery.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego. The original article was written by Susan Brown.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Itay Budin, Neal K. Devaraj. Membrane Assembly Driven by a Biomimetic Coupling Reaction. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012; 134 (2): 751 DOI: 10.1021/ja2076873

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/CvSYYt6EIeU/120125132822.htm

dadt dadt tucker carlson tucker carlson richard castle richard castle comedy central

RFP : Marketing and Communications Services RFP in District Of ...

1. Expires in 5 weeks and 1 day
2. Uploader has a undetermined reputation.

Services Description
The client anticipates the selected firm will provide the following services:
Guide the execution of creative marketing and communication campaigns, including the promotion of membership, training, annual exposition and several specialty events
Help set priorities and refine the ...

Source: http://www.rfpdb.com/view/document/name/Marketing-and-Communications-Services-RFP

cybermonday deals cybermonday deals steve johnson norman reedus norman reedus sears office max

I Didn?t Think Samsung Could Top Its Anti-Apple Ads? Until I Saw These

Next weekend is like the Super Bowl of commercials. Well, actually, next weekend is the Super Bowl (the real one), which is also much like a Super Bowl... for companies... with regards to their commercials. Maybe I should try a different analogy. Either way, next weekend is big for most companies and Samsung is getting started early with its latest "Apple fanbois are silly for waiting outside" campaign.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4DWcWQcFBQ0/

mark rothko mark rothko wiccan pumpkin carvings mcrib pumpkin seeds mark herzlich

'30 Rock' star back at work after hospitalization (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY ? Comedian and "30 Rock" cast member Tracy Morgan is back at work in New York after a brief hospitalization in Utah.

Morgan's publicist, Lewis Kay, says Morgan appreciates fans' concern. The actor was hospitalized Sunday while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, where the elevation is 7,000 feet.

Kay says Morgan suffered from exhaustion and altitude. Morgan also has diabetes.

Kay says no drugs or alcohol were found in Morgan's system.

Recordings of 911 calls made on the night he collapsed, and obtained by The Associated Press, indicate Morgan passed out at the Blue Iguana restaurant.

One caller says he didn't know if the actor had been drinking, but said he was unconscious. An ambulance later took him to a nearby hospital. He was released a day later.

___

AP Writer Jennifer Dobner contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_tv/us_film_sundance_tracy_morgan

presidential debate asexual john edwards jim carrey san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant kourtney kardashian pregnant

Ind. House Dems end long right-to-work fight (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? In the end, they just didn't have the votes.

For two legislative sessions, Indiana Democrats fought the divisive labor measure known as right-to-work. They offered amendments aimed at changing the bill. They sought to put the issue before voters in a referendum. And in their most high-profile gambit, House Democrats staged occasional boycotts to deny the Republican-dominated chamber enough members to conduct business.

But that all ended Wednesday when the minority party acceded to the mathematical reality of the Republican's 60-40 majority in the chamber. Democrats showed up, and the Indiana House voted 54-44 to make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.

It is the latest successful legislative push targeting union power following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010, and if Gov. Mitch Daniels signs the bill as expected it will make Indiana the first Rust Belt state to ban contracts that require workers to pay mandatory union fees for representation.

Highlighting his party's lack of power, House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer said Wednesday that his caucus' ability to stall the measure for even a few weeks itself constituted a success, of sorts.

"The fact that the Senate is going to have another week on this was probably undreamed of by (Republicans)," he said, referring to the likely timeline for passage in the Indiana Senate. "They never though that a full month would go by before they shoved this down the employees of the state's throats."

The measure faces little opposition in Indiana's Republican-controlled Senate and could reach Daniels' desk shortly before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

"This announces, especially in the Rust Belt, that we are open for business here," Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said.

Indiana is the latest Midwestern state where Republicans have pushed labor legislation with safe voting margins even as the efforts have drawn large protests by union backers and spawned recall efforts.

Wisconsin and Ohio last year passed laws stripping most public sector unions of collective bargaining rights. In both states, the laws provoked a firestorm. Wisconsin Democrats staged a similar, and similarly unsuccessful, boycott of their chamber for a time but also lacked the votes to ultimately kill the measure. Its passage sparked a backlash and the ongoing efforts to recall GOP Gov. Scott Walker and several Republican legislators. In Ohio, the law was handily repealed in November by voters in a referendum, a stinging defeat for GOP Gov. John Kasich and his Republican allies.

In Indiana, it's unclear whether Wednesday's vote marks the end of the controversy or a new phase.

But without the votes, Democratic opponents and a handful of Republicans who crossed party lines to oppose the measure, were left only to deliver emotional pleas to block it.

Democratic Rep. Linda Lawson called the Republican measure an attack on the union strongholds throughout the state.

"What you are doing is destroying my community!" said Lawson, who represents a northwest Indiana district packed with heavy manufacturers and a major BP oil refinery.

"What if I came into your community and said `No more cows' and `No more pigs?'" she said, referring to the agriculturally heavy districts represented by many of the Republicans who supported the bill.

Indiana would mark the first win in 10 years for national right-to-work advocates who have pushed unsuccessfully for the measure in other states. But few right-to-work states boast Indiana's union clout, borne of a long manufacturing legacy.

Oklahoma passed right-to-work legislation in 2001 but has a rural-based economy that produces comparatively fewer union jobs than Indiana.

Teamsters President Jim Hoffa sounded resigned to the right-to-work measure's passage, in a statement released shortly after the vote, but promised a voter backlash like those seen in other Midwest states.

"I have little doubt in my mind that Gov. Daniels and Indiana's Republican members of the state House and Senate will see a tremendous backlash from their constituents if right-to-work is passed," Hoffa said. "If there's one thing that we have seen this past year, it's that working men and women will rise up to challenge any legislation that threatens the welfare of their families."

___

Tom LoBianco can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/tomlobianco

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_us/us_indiana_right_to_work

miami heat pro bowl sinead oconnor celtics braylon edwards jimmer fredette mall of america