Prosecutors ordered to identify NYC terror witness (AP)

NEW YORK ? A judge gave federal prosecutors until a week from Wednesday to give up the name of a witness they say was recruited for a chilling, al-Qaida-sanctioned plot for suicide bombers to attack the New York City subways with explosives made from beauty supplies.

Lawyers for alleged plotter Adis Madunjanin had demanded to know the identity of the man, referred to only as John Doe in court papers, before Madunjanin goes to trial later this year.

At a pretrial hearing on in Brooklyn federal court in Wednesday, prosecutors initially resisted identifying the government witness ? "Mr. John Doe" one called him ? citing concerns about his safety. But U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie said Madunjanin's lawyers had a right to know the name.

"They have to prepare a defense," the judge said.

However, the judge also agreed to allow the government to provide the name under a protective order barring the defense from disclosing it to the public.

In a revised indictment filed last week in Brooklyn, Medunjanin was hit with a new allegation that he ? along with former high school classmates Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay ? tried to recruit John Doe to travel to Pakistan "to wage violent jihad."

It was the first time the government had linked a fourth person in the U.S. for what prosecutors call three "coordinated suicide bombing attacks" on Manhattan subway lines.

Medunjanin, 27, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the new indictment, which added a charge of use of a destructive device. He had previously pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, providing material support to a terrorist organization and other counts.

Prosecutors allege that Medunjanin, Zazi and Ahmedzay tried to recruit the fourth man before the three went to Afghanistan in 2008 to join the Taliban and fight U.S. soldiers. The three fell under tutelage of al-Qaida operatives, who gave them weapons training in their Pakistan camp and asked them to become suicide bombers, authorities say.

The new indictment doesn't say what became of the fourth man.

After returning, Zazi, a former Denver airport shuttle driver, cooked up explosives with beauty supplies and set out for New York City around the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. After becoming suspicious he was being watched by law enforcement, he abandoned the plan and returned to Colorado.

Zazi and Ahmedzay have since admitted in guilty pleas that they wanted to avenge U.S. aggression in the Arab world by becoming martyrs. Both could testify against Medunjanin at a trial expected to begin in mid-April.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_terror

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96% Tomboy

In "Tomboy," 10-year old Laure(Zoe Heran) moves to a new neighborhood with her parents(Sophie Cattani & Mathieu Demy) and younger sister Jeanne(Malonn Levana). While looking out from an apartment window one pleasant afternoon, Laure sees a group of boys playing out in the park. When she finally leaves her sister and sleeping, very, very pregnant mother behind in the apartment, the boys are gone, with only Lisa(Jeanne Disson), a girl of her age, left behind in their wake. Laure introduces herself as Mikael and they run after them together, so they can join in the fun. With that simple, elegant setup, writer-director Celine Sciamma tells an evocative and naturalistic genderblender with a very belieable sibling relationship. Sadly, the movie eventually runs straight into a narrative wall. Until then, Laure is not just being a tomboy; she is passing as a boy but not 24/7, so we'll keep to the feminine pronouns.(Actually, it is not until later that she is revealed not to be a boy.) She does this to enjoy the freedoms that boys enjoy but is too young to realize the minefield of gender that she has just walked into. That's where parents come in, as the movie smartly shows how parents help to shape their children's gender.

November 29, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomboy_2011/

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Bill Gates: 'Have to raises taxes' (Politico)

Bill Gates said Thursday that the county?s has got to hike taxes and the wealthy should shoulder a greater burden of the increase, while he rejected any close correlation between job creation and the level of taxes.

?Even as the economy improves and you end the wars, you?re going to have to raise taxes and certainly, whatever form it takes, and I?m not an expert on this ? the rich should bear a larger increase than the rest,? the billionaire founder of Microsoft told Fox News Thursday in Switzerland, where he is attending the World Economic Forum.

Continue Reading

When asked about the argument that taxing the wealthy would actually hinder job creation by putting pressure on companies to contract and hire less, Gates said he didn?t see that to be the case.

?There is no strong correlation between job creation and what the tax environment has been at any point in time,? gates said. ?If something?s a profitable activity, you?re going to engage in it. Yes, there are tax rates that are so high that people may work less. But that?s ? you have to get up in the 50, 60 percent range before that?s the case.?

According to Forbes, Gates is the second richest person in the world with a net worth of about $56 billion. Coming in at a close third-place is Warren Buffett with a net worth of about $50 billion. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address this week that under the ?Buffett Rule,? millionaires should pay a minimum tax rate of at least 30 percent, even for income derived from investments.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_72007_html/44314568/SIG=11m069d65/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72007.html

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Greece hopes for debt swap deal by end of week (AP)

ATHENS ? Greece is aiming to complete negotiations on its debt swap deal by the end of the week, the government's spokesman said Wednesday, adding that the talks were at their "most delicate phase."

Charles Dallara, head of the Institute of International Finance ? the body representing banks and other investment firms ? is to head back to Athens on Thursday for the negotiations on the bond swap, known as the Private Sector Involvement, government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said.

"The target is to conclude the PSI agreement even within this week," Kapsis told reporters in Athens.

On the front line of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, Athens is trying to get its private creditors to swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with half their face value, thereby slicing some euro100 billion ($130 billion) off its debt. The new bonds would also push the repayment deadlines 20 to 30 years into the future.

However, the main stumbling block over the past few weeks to securing this deal has been the interest rate these new lower-value, longer-term bonds would carry. A high interest rate could buffer losses for investors, but would also require the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to put up more than the euro130 billion ($169 billion) in rescue loans they promised in October.

The bond swap is crucial to bring Greece's debt back to a sustainable level. The Eurozone and IMF say a higher interest rate would prevent Greece's debt from falling to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 ? the maximum level they see as sustainable. Without the debt swap, Greece's debt would approach 200 percent of GDP by the end of this year.

"We are at the moment at perhaps the most delicate phase of the negotiations on completing the PSI, and also in formulating the new program for the stabilization of the economy," Kapsis added.

"It is obvious that what happens in the coming days ... will affect the course of the country in coming years," he added.

Separately, representatives of Greece's private sector bondholders were to meet in Paris on Wednesday to discuss the agreement after the EU toughened its demands, a person close to the investors said.

The so-called steering committee of the IIF was to gather for an "important meeting ... to really take stock" of the talks, the person said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The committee represents banks and other investment funds that hold a large part of Greece's debt and are being asked to swap their existing bonds with new ones of a reduced value, longer maturity and lower interest rate.

Eurozone finance ministers decided this week to cap the average interest rate on those new bonds at well below 4 percent. In their last offer, the bondholders said the average interest rate should be above 4 percent.

The finance ministers are pushing for a lower rate because whatever debt relief Greece doesn't get from the investors will have to come from them and the International Monetary Fund, the country's bailout rescuers.

The person close to the private bondholders said the meeting was called for Wednesday because some eurozone officials wanted the deal to be ready for a summit of EU leaders on Monday.

____

Steinhauser reported from Brussels.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Euro zone may yet escape recession as services jump: PMIs (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? The euro zone may yet escape recession thanks to a surprise upturn in the service sector that outweighed the ongoing contraction in manufacturing this month, surveys showed on Tuesday.

Markit's Flash Eurozone Purchasing Managers' Composite Index (PMI), often seen as a growth indicator, jumped to 50.4 from December's 48.3, its highest reading in four months.

That easily beat the highest forecast of 49.5 in a Reuters poll, which gave a median prediction of 48.5.

"The index seems to have bottomed out in October and we've had three months of improvement. Three months we see as a turning point signal, and we are beginning to get a bit more confident," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at data provider Markit.

"So it may not be a recession in the euro zone but a very brief period of decline."

A Reuters poll last week predicted the euro zone would wallow in a mild recession until the second half of this year and shrink in 2012 by around 0.3 percent.

But some of the recent growth was spurred by reducing backlogs of work, with the composite sub-index remaining below 50 at 47.2, albeit up slightly from December's 46.4.

Firms were also forced to cut prices for the second month to drum up business, despite input costs rising.

In a worrying sign for policymakers, the big two economies of Germany and France supported growth in the bloc, the rest of which remained firmly in contraction territory, Markit said.

Earlier data from Germany, the backbone of the bloc, showed its service sector expanded at its fastest pace in seven months - far quicker than expected - while manufacturing activity increased for the first time in four months.

France's service sector grew at its fastest pace since August, but factory sector activity declined for the sixth straight month.

SERVICES BOOST

The service sector PMI rose to 50.5 this month from 48.8 in December, the first time it has been above the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction since last August.

That beat both the median prediction of 49.0 and the highest forecast of 50.0 in a Reuters poll.

The manufacturing PMI came in at 48.7, above December's 46.9 and also beating both the top-end forecast and a median prediction for 47.3 in a Reuters poll.

Factory output held steady this month, with the index at 50.0, considerably higher than December's 47.1.

Despite the continued contraction, factories took on extra workers this month. The jobs sub-index rose to 50.5 from 49.9, but service sector firms reduced their workforce as they battled to rein in costs.

Official data showed the unemployment rate held steady at 10.3 percent in November but a Reuters poll predicts it will rise this year.

OPTIMISTIC

Services firms, ranging from banks to hotels, grew more optimistic about the future with the business expectations index jumping to 56.0 this month from December's 53.6, the highest reading since August.

"We saw companies more confident in the outlook that they think the euro zone's crisis may be coming to some sort of conclusion with some deal-making on Greek bonds in particular," Williamson said.

The bloc has struggled as the debt crisis that began in Greece over two years ago has raged on, threatening to rip the currency union apart, while it has also been hurt by a global economic slowdown.

But France and Germany said on Monday that a deal with private sector investors to reduce Greece's debt burden was "taking shape" although Athens needed to stick to its reform promises to secure a new EU/IMF program it needs to avoid default by March.

- Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a license.

To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: http://www/markit.com/information/register/reuters-pmi-subscriptions

For further information, please phone Markit on +44 20 7260 2454 or email economics@markit.com

(Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_eurozone_pmi

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How protein networks stabilize muscle fibers: Same mechanism known for DNA now found for muscle proteins

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) ? The same mechanism that stabilises the DNA in the cell nucleus is also important for the structure and function of vertebrate muscle cells. This has been established by RUB-researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Linke (Institute of Physiology) in cooperation with American and German colleagues. An enzyme attaches a methyl group to the protein Hsp90, which then forms a complex with the muscle protein titin. When the researchers disrupted this protein network through genetic manipulation in zebrafish the muscle structure partly disintegrated. The scientists have thus shown that methylation also plays a significant role outside the nucleus.

They published their results in Genes and Development.

Methylation in the nucleus

Enzymes, called methyltransferases, transfer methyl (CH3) groups to specific sections of the DNA in the nucleus. In this way, they mark active and inactive regions of the genes. However, not only DNA but also nuclear proteins incur methylation, mostly at the amino acid lysine. Methylated lysines on nuclear proteins promote the formation of protein complexes that control, for example, DNA repair and replication. However, methyltransferases are not only found in the nucleus, but also in the cellular fluid (cytoplasm). Yet, it is not well established which proteins they methylate in the cytoplasm and how this methylation may affect function.

Shown for the first time: methylation in the cytoplasm promotes protein complex formation

The researchers first identified an enzyme which is mainly present in the cytoplasm and which methylates the amino acid lysine (Smyd2). Then they searched for interaction partners of the enzyme Smyd2 and found the heat shock protein Hsp90. The scientists went on to show that Smyd2 and methylated Hsp90 form a complex with the muscle protein titin. "Titin is the largest protein in the human body and known primarily for its role as an elastic spring in muscle cells" explains Linke. "Precisely this elastic region of titin is protected by the association with methylated Hsp90."

Titin requires protection by methylated proteins

In skeletal muscle cells of the zebrafish, Linke's team explored what happens when the protection by the methylated heat shock protein is repressed. By genetic manipulation they altered the organism in such a way that it no longer produced the enzyme Smyd2, which blocked the methylation of Hsp90. Without methylated Hsp90, the elastic titin region was unstable and muscle function strongly impaired; the regular muscle structure was partially disrupted.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum, via AlphaGalileo.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. L. T. Donlin, C. Andresen, S. Just, E. Rudensky, C. T. Pappas, M. Kruger, E. Y. Jacobs, A. Unger, A. Zieseniss, M.-W. Dobenecker, T. Voelkel, B. T. Chait, C. C. Gregorio, W. Rottbauer, A. Tarakhovsky, W. A. Linke. Smyd2 controls cytoplasmic lysine methylation of Hsp90 and myofilament organization. Genes & Development, 2012; DOI: 10.1101/gad.177758.111

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Mx08F8alWUo/120123094444.htm

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CSN: Lincecum reportedly turns down 5-year offer

January 22, 2012, 3:59 pm
Tim Lincecum rejected a contract offer of at least $100 million for five years from the Giants, according to a report.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports writes that Lincecum "seeks a deal for seven or eight years but would be content to do a one- or two-year contract if no megadeal can be accomplished now."

After two Cy Young Awards and a World Series Championship in his first four full MLB seasons, Lincecum is coming off what could be considered a down year for him. He went 13-14 with a 2.74 ERA and 220 strikeouts.

Lincecum, 27, is coming off a two-year, $23-million contract that expired after the 2011 season, and the Giants would like to reach a new agreement to avoid a potentially record-breaking arbitration hearing.

Heyman and others have speculated that Lincecum could become the game's first $200-million pitcher if he becomes a free agent after the 2013 season.

Co-ace Matt Cain can become a free agent a year before Lincecum, and Heyman cites "Giants people" as saying talks are "ongoing" between Cain and the team.

Heyman also writes that there is optimism that the Giants "can keep Cain on a longterm deal for under $20 million a year."

Giants fans -- which ace do you think signs on the dotted line of a new contract first?

Rael Enteen is a web producer with CSNBayArea.com. Follow him on Twitter @RaelEnteenCSN.

Source: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/giants-talk/post/Report-Lincecum-turns-down-five-year-off?blockID=636144&feedID=2539&awid=6308812600456732938-766

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Cecile Richards: Women are Watching on Anniversary of Roe


On the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, women are watching, and they are angry at what they see.

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed every woman's right to make her own medical decisions without government interference. At the time, the Supreme Court recognized the inherent right to privacy for women, an urgent issue given that women were dying in emergency rooms across the country from self-induced abortions.

But today, women across the nation are disturbed to see a set of politicians doing everything they can to undermine this landmark decision that has stood as a critical safeguard for women's health for four decades.

Last year, anti-women's health politicians across the country launched what was surely the most aggressive assault on women's rights since the Roe decision was handed down. The scope of their attacks has been mindboggling. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2011, state legislatures passed more than triple the number of anti-women's health laws than in 2010 -- the highest ever. Twenty-four states enacted 92 new abortion restrictions last year, shattering the previous record of 34 adopted in 2005.

Behind these numbers, real women are feeling the impact. For example, just a year ago, women living in rural Arizona could count on high-quality and compassionate abortion care in their own communities. But now, due to anti-women's health laws passed in that state last year, those women will have to travel long distances ?and presumably go out of state in some instances ? for safe, legal abortion care. That means time away from work, transportation costs, someone to take care of the kids ? it all adds up to an additional burden on women who are already going through a very stressful experience.

Ironically, just last week, Guttmacher reported that in countries where abortion is illegal ? which we are close to becoming ? abortion rates are actually higher. Contrary to what anti-women's health politicians would have us believe, evidence shows that restricting access to safe, legal abortion care does not lower abortion rates. It just forces women to search for clandestine and unsafe abortion care. And, according to the World Health Organization, complications from unsafe abortion account for an estimated 13 percent of all maternal deaths worldwide.

The best way to reduce the need for abortion is to reduce unintended pregnancy. But in the U.S., politicians are also increasingly putting up roadblocks to access preventive care, including the birth control that helps women avoid unintended pregnancy. In fact, in the past year, the House of Representatives and extreme state legislatures have worked to cut many women off from access to birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings for breast and cervical cancer.

Women have another idea. We think that when women have access to preventive care --including birth control, breast exams, and pap smears -- it is good for women, good for their families, and good for America.

So this year, Women are Watching. It's our campaign to spread the word about these unprecedented attacks on women's health and to let the public know where candidates stand on pivotal health care issues. By empowering one another to hold politicians accountable for what they say and do, we can cast informed votes for candidates who support women and women's health.

By the looks of things, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. With November in their sights, the crop of GOP presidential candidates have zeroed in on women's health and rights. In a reckless political game, every one of them has vowed to overturn Roe and take away the right to safe and legal abortion care for women in America -- even in the case of rape or incest.

And they aren't stopping there. In complete defiance of the majority of Americans, these candidates want to prohibit women from getting birth control and cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood health centers. They want to end the nation's family planning program, which provides preventive care to more than five million women and men, and cut off access to birth control for women who need it the most. They want to end health care for millions by repealing the Affordable Care Act. They even support so-called "personhood" measures, declaring a fertilized egg a person, which could result in outlawing birth control, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. It's become a national race to the bottom to see who can be the worst possible president for women.

In short, a whole class of elected officials currently in office is dead set on turning back the clock nearly half a century. And another band of them is waiting in the wings ? with their eyes on the White House.

Opposing Roe and essential women's health care isn't just bad policy -- it's bad politics. That's because Americans agree with the protection that Roe provides. Polling consistently reaffirms that a majority of Americans support a woman's right to make her own decisions about pregnancy in consultation with her doctor and her family. Politicians who oppose this firmly held notion are swimming against the tide, putting themselves outside the mainstream.

So, as Roe heads into its 40th year as a touchstone for women's health -- and the opportunity, equality, and self-determination that health brings -- women are standing up and taking note of who is supporting their best interests and who is playing politics with their health and lives. And they are raising their voices to let their leaders know that this is not a game.

We must continue to raise those voices and keep the pressure on. Every day, from now through November, we need to remind politicians that women are watching. We see what they are doing. We hear what they are saying. And we vote.

?

Follow Cecile Richards on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cecilerichards

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/women-are-watching-on-ann_b_1222388.html

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Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence (Reuters)

BANI WALID, Libya (Reuters) ? A bullet-scarred barracks, scorched and abandoned like the ageing tanks guarding its shattered gateway, was all that remained on Tuesday of what passed for the Libyan government's grip on Bani Walid.

But a day after townsmen put to flight a force loyal to the Western-backed interim administration in Tripoli, elders in the desert city, once a bastion of support for Muammar Gaddafi, dismissed accusations they wanted to restore the late dictator's family to power or had any ambitions beyond their local area.

"Allegations of pro-Gaddafi elements in Bani Walid, this is not true," said Miftah Jubarra, who was among dozens of leading citizens gathered at a local mosque to form a municipal council now that nominal representatives from the capital have fled.

"In the Libyan revolution, we have all become brothers," Jubarra told Reuters. "We will not be an obstacle to progress."

That might reassure the National Transitional Council, the body which won NATO backing to oust Gaddafi last year but which is now struggling to restore services and impose order on myriad armed groups. An official of the NTC's government in Tripoli insisted it saw no threat from the "limited local incident."

Yet the violence, 150 km (90 miles) south of the capital, was also symptomatic of major obstacles to Libyan hopes of a rapid transition to peace, democracy and oil-fueled prosperity.

Residents heard warplanes overhead late on Monday as NTC forces hastily drove south from Tripoli to take up positions 50 km from Bani Walid. But those troops had, as yet, no orders to move on the town, where Gaddafi loyalists fought rebel forces to a standstill before negotiating a surrender in October.

Interior Minister Fawzi Abd al-All told a news conference in Tripoli would "strike with an iron fist" anyone who posed a threat to Libyan security - but he also said there would be no NTC move against Bani Walid until it was clear what happened.

People in Bani Walid urged the NTC to keep back and the government official in Tripoli, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the interim administration was in no hurry to get mired in a dispute he characterized as a spat between local factions, rather than a counter-revolution.

"GREEN FLAGS" ABSENT

Though pro-government militiamen who fled on Monday spoke of their barracks being overrun by fighters flying the green flag of the old regime, Reuters journalists who toured the town of 75,000 on Tuesday saw little overt sign of such allegiances to Gaddafi, whose now captive son Saif al-Islam staged a last stand in Bani Walid before fleeing into the Sahara three months ago.

Rather than green flags, the most common banners flying were the red, green and black tricolor of the NTC.

Some graffiti spoke of lingering nostalgia for the Gaddafis in a town whose dominant Warfalla tribe fared well under him. But those willing to talk to reporters insisted the violence was no revanchist putsch but was provoked by local abuses allegedly committed by The May 28th Brigade, a militia loyal to the NTC.

"When men from Tripoli come into your house and harass women, what are we to do?" said Fati Hassan, a 28-year-old Bani Walid resident who described the men of May 28th as a mixture of local men and outsiders, former anti-Gaddafi rebels who had turned into oppressors when given control over the town.

"They were arresting people from the first day after liberation. People are still missing. I am a revolutionary and I have friends in The May 28th Brigade," said Hassan, who said he urged them to ease off. "The war is over now."

A sleep-deprived doctor at the poorly supplied local hospital in Bani Walid, as well as other residents of the town, said at least seven people were killed on Monday when tempers boiled over, and an eighth died of wounds on Tuesday.

It was unclear if this figure included four militiamen whose comrades in the NTC brigade said were killed.

Jubarra, who sat at the meeting of elders, gave details of the incident which, he said, caused patience to snap among the people of the town.

"On Friday, the May 28th Brigade arrested a man from Bani Walid. After Bani Walid residents lodged a protest, he was finally released. But he had been tortured.

"This caused an argument that escalated to arms.

"Bani Walid fighters took over the 28th May camp, confiscated weapons and pushed them out of the city," Jubarra explained to the elders, who sat in silence around him, many of them wrapped in traditional white woolen blankets.

SIGNS OF BATTLE

At the barracks once used by Gaddafi's army, which had been their headquarters, spent cartridge cases crunched under foot, testifying to an intense gunfight. A meter-wide hole in the perimeter wall showed where a rocket had blasted through. Local people said the two sides exchanged fire with anti-tank weapons.

Clearly conscious of the risk that the NTC, keen to assert an authority that has been ebbing in recent weeks as memories fade of the victory over dictatorship, local people were anxious to send a message to Tripoli not to hit back:

"We are asking the NTC not to escalate this issue by sending troops," Jubarra said, turning his from the assembled town elders gaze to address Reuters journalists directly.

Another of those gathered at the mosque to form a local government, Ali Zargoun, said they would reject any attempt by NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, Libya's de facto head of state, to impose an authority on them: "If Abdel Jalil is going to force anyone on us, we won't accept that by any means."

Abdel Jalil was already having a bad week and has warned Libyans of a "bottomless pit" if trouble goes on in a country awash with guns. His deputy quit, bemoaning an "atmosphere of hatred" after being roughed up by disgruntled citizens.

And Abdel Jalil found himself besieged in his office by protesters in Benghazi, the seat of the revolt. They were complaining about delays in providing services for people in a country impatient to see its oil riches shared out more widely.

There is also growing dismay at progress toward an election due in June, with details still unclear on how the vote will be conducted and complaints of a lack of transparency from a body that includes many who held important positions under Gaddafi.

TENSIONS NATIONWIDE

While Bani Walid was and remains a particular headache for the NTC, it is not alone. Towns and cities across the country are being run with little reference to central authority and in a number of areas old scores and local frictions are being fought over by groups that were nominally allies in the revolt.

"The civil war has produced new conflicts that are far from settled and that have yet to play out, namely power struggles at the local level, and conflicts between local centers of power for influence at the national level," said Wolfram Lacher of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs who has been in the country researching post-Gaddafi Libya.

"Most of these are unlikely to develop into violent conflicts as in Bani Walid," Lacher said from Berlin. "But they will be playing out across the country in the coming months."

The government official acknowledged the difficulties. Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, he said: "As we all know, some regions are fragile in view of the vastness of the country and the presence of huge quantities of arms."

Among the issues being disputed is determining who will replace those who held power under Gaddafi, and who might be punished or otherwise held accountable for past abuses.

Many Libya watchers urge caution, however, in branding any of those competing groups as "Gaddafi loyalists," and few see any real threat of the late leader's exiled sons, or Saif al-Islam who is being held captive by pro-NTC fighters in the town of Zintan, becoming a focus for a fight back by the old guard.

Rather, the label "pro-Gaddafi" has tended to be applied to adversaries by groups keen to undermine their rivals' cause:

"We should be cautious regarding reports of Gaddafi loyalists," Libya expert Lacher said. "This may be one local party to the conflict trying to get other forces to intervene by painting its adversaries as pro-Gaddafi."

During clashes between rival militias since "liberation" was declared in October, Reuters journalists have often been told by both sides in various disputes that they are aligned with the NTC and are fighting the remnants of Gaddafi's troops.

Though there are those among the six million Libyans who yearn for the old days, and there is pro-Gaddafi graffiti in Bani Walid, as well as boisterous children ready to yell "Only Gaddafi!" at foreign journalists, many regard that as largely evidence of irritation with the NTC than of a serious threat to turn the clock back on Libya's "Arab Spring" revolution.

LOCAL PRIDE

Mustafa Fetouri, an academic and writer who comes originally from Bani Walid, saw this week's violence there as a matter of local pride, notably among elders of the Warfalla tribe, who felt ill used by the incoming powers in Tripoli - even though many Warfalla clansmen fought for the NTC during the war.

"It's tribal dignity not necessarily in support of the old regime," Fetouri told Reuters. "The (NTC's) goal is to teach the Warfalla a lesson ... It will be bloody and fruitless."

Many townspeople were keeping indoors on Tuesday, although markets were being held and life seemed relatively normal. Handfuls of armed local men manned checkpoints out the edges of the town, which sits in a desert ravine that proved hard for NTC forces to take during the fighting last September and October.

The fighters themselves were distinguishable from the motley forces loyal to the interim government only in that they did not wear the laminated identity badges distributed to NTC militiamen. They carried the same automatic rifles and drove the same pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns that became the emblem of the chaotic war against Gaddafi's army.

Potential adversaries from men who describe themselves as part of the NTC's "national army" sat by the road closer to Tripoli. "We have received no orders to enter Bani Walid," said Mohammed al-Ajali, who said his unit had been sent there from eastern Libya on Monday to deal with the trouble in the town.

He had little patience for the protestations of the townsfolk that they were not counter-revolutionaries: "The solution for Bani Walid is to disarm them," Ajali said.

"I think 75 percent are Gaddafi supporters."

A Libyan air official said warplanes were being mobilized to fly to Bani Walid. But it was not immediately clear what the government in Tripoli could do. It has yet to demonstrate that it has an effective fighting force under its command.

(Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun in Bani Walid, Ali Shuaib and Hisham El-Dani in Tripoli, Alastair Macdonald in London and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Writing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_libya

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Drought returns to Sahel, bringing hunger (AP)

DAKAR, Senegal ? For the third time in the past decade, drought has returned to the arid, western shoulder of Africa, bringing hunger to millions. Aid agencies are warning that if action is not taken now, the region known as the Sahel could slip into crisis.

More than 1 million children in the eight affected countries are expected to face life-threatening malnutrition this year, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. The region has not yet recovered from the last drought two years ago, and many families lost their herds which means that they will not have assets to purchase food.

Aid workers also worry that donors are suffering from "famine fatigue," as the looming West African crisis comes just six months after Somalia's capital was declared a famine zone.

"I think there is a real risk that people may think this is the kind of thing that just happens every few years," Stephen Cockburn, the West Africa regional campaign manager for Oxfam, said of the droughts in the Sahel.

Earlier this week, aid agencies revealed that thousands of people died needlessly in the Horn of Africa because donors waited until people started dying to respond. The warning signs were there as early as August 2010 but aid wasn't ramped up until July 2011.

Signs of the looming famine in the Sahel were first detected late last year, according to the report released Wednesday by Oxfam and Save the Children. The lessons of Somalia and the Horn of Africa, where as many as 100,000 people died, are front and center in how aid agencies are responding to the potential famine in West Africa.

"Everyone recognizes in looking back that there was a delay in responding (in the Horn of Africa). Tens of thousands of people died because of that delay ... We know from this recent and painful experience what the risks are," said Cockburn.

He said that there could be more hope for the Sahel, since the indications of a crisis have been detected early on.

"The alarms (for the Sahel) were already sounding in November and December. Every country in the region, and every president in the region, has recognized this and asked for outside help," he said.

The U.N. children's agency was among the agencies reacting early. The organization issued an appeal in December and began ordering therapeutic foods for infants and toddlers. By then, Niger had already issued its own alert saying that more than half the country's villages were vulnerable to food insecurity.

Droughts in the Sahel ? a region spanning eight countries, including northern Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, northern Nigeria, Cameroon and southern Chad ? have become increasingly frequent with emergencies declared in 2005, 2008 and 2010. The consequences are especially dire for children, said UNICEF spokesman Martin Dawes.

"In this crisis adults will suffer, but children will die. Why? Because nutrition deterioration is a vicious cycle ? in growing, the body requires more to replace and make up what it lacks and when the right kinds of food are not available the situation gets worse," said Dawes. "They go from moderately malnourished to acute, and lifesaving intervention is needed."

As the child gets weaker, he or she becomes more vulnerable to routine problems, like diarrhea. The child is less able to fend off diseases, and the effects are more pronounced, Dawes said.

Even during a non-drought year, as many as 300,000 children die of malnutrition in the Sahel, says Cockburn. It's a region that is perpetually on the edge, and any extra shock sends it over the precipice.

"The increasing frequency of droughts in the Sahel means that communities have had little time to recover from the last food crisis," according to Malek Triki, the Dakar-based spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program. "Their savings are exhausted and livestock herds have not been rebuilt."

The United Nations is already purchasing food and deploying specialized teams to the region. Grain prices across the region are rising and WFP has observed a rush on maize by wholesalers, who are buying up local stocks. Markets are emptying and staples including millet and sorghum are now in short supply.

Traders from the Sahel are traveling increasingly greater distances to buy maize, with some spotted as far as northern Ivory Coast, according to the WFP.

Cockburn said that the hard-learned lessons of Somalia are already bearing fruit. He is cautiously optimistic by the response from the European Union, which announced this week that it is doubling its humanitarian aid for the Sahel.

Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid visited Niger on Wednesday in order to see the problem up close.

"Within months people will begin to starve unless we act," she said, according to a statement posted on the European Union's website. "The alarm bells are ringing."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_af/af_west_africa_hunger_crisis

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