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Sky Anytime+ achieves impossible, will carry iPlayer (and ITV Player) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The following is a guest post from Neal Frankle, who is a Certified Financial Planner in Los Angeles.? He also is the owner of Wealth Pilgrim ? one of my favourite personal finance blogs.
People launch their own business for a variety of reasons.? Everyone likes to have a few more shekels in their pockets of course but there are plenty of other motivations.? Having your own business, no matter how big or small allows you to be creative in a way few other activities can.? Finally, being in business for yourself (even if it?s just a weekend job that turn into a business) is a great confidence builder.
When you create something from nothing and see that it is productive and profitable, it?s just a wonderful feeling unlike any other in my experience.
But how can you launch a business if you don?t have much money to spare?? Before you ask that question, ask how much does it cost to start your business?? It may be much less than you think.? My strong preference is to start very small and only invest in the business once you see profits coming in (not just revenue).
But even if you do start small you may need some working capital that is simply beyond your reach.? Here are 5 ways to fund your business that you may not have considered in the past:
If you are buying an existing business or need a little equipment just to get off the launching pad, have the seller (of the business or the equipment) finance it.? Don?t be shy about asking for them to invest in the business this way.? If the people who are selling the business or equipment tell you how this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, turn the tables on them.? If they really believe this business or equipment is so great, let them put their money where there mouth is.
You?ll probably still have to come up with some amount for a down payment but it?s very common for sellers and vendors to finance buyers.? Take advantage of that.? And in this kind of economy, make sure you bargain hard with the sellers and don?t pay exorbitant interest rates.
Not long ago I read that 42% of the money that finances small business comes from family of the company?s founders.? An additional 40% comes from friends and neighbors!? This means that your family and friends are ready and willing to help you.? Just make sure you have a solid business plan and once you do, approach them with a positive attitude.
How badly do you want to have a small side business?? Are you willing to go through your house and sell the stuff that?s been laying around collecting dust?? I must admit, I?m really lazy when it comes to using Ebay and Craigslist.? Not only that, I?m intimidated by the process.? But I recently decided it was time to get rid of a bunch of junk and Craigslist helped move the inventory pronto.? I found it easy, fast and kind of fun.? By going through this process you?ll have a more clear living environment and more bucks in the bank with which to start your business.
If you want to really leverage this idea, why not offer to go through your friends and family?s homes and offer them the same service?? Get rid of their junk and split the profits.? Heck, that could be your side business right there!
If after you take these steps you still need money there a few institutions you can approach.? I?m not a big fan of using credit card debt to finance your business because it can be so darn expensive.? A better way to go is to approach a peer-to-peer lenders like Lending Club and Prosper.? Peer-to-peer lenders match people like you who need money with people who have money to loan.? If you have good credit, you?ll get your small business financing much cheaper than you would if you use your credit card.? It?s a win-win and an option you should consider.
A final suggestion is to partner with another person who has the cash you lack.? I?m not a big fan of this approach.? While it will be easier to get the money quickly, you might be inviting trouble down the road.
My experience tells me that it?s very difficult to find the right partner over the long-run.? Just the same, under the right circumstance, this could be a perfect way to get your company off the ground.? Just make sure that if you do go this way, you draft a very clear partnership agreement.? Even though you may not technically need one, it?s always smart to have all the terms and conditions agreed on beforehand.
Having mentioned these 5 good places to find funding, you should probably avoid using your home or retirement accounts to fund your business.? If you do tap those assets you will be taking on much greater risk.? If you review the 5 areas above you will see that you are either creating the investment capital by selling assets or sharing the risk with other people.? But if you risk your home and/or retirement accounts, you are putting a much higher percentage of your net-worth into the business.? I?m not a fan of going this route.
Regardless of how you fund your business, make sure you have a solid business plan.? That way, you?ll know how much you can afford to pay for borrowed funds ? and whether or not it makes sense to do so.
How did you get the money to start your small business?
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Source: http://www.boomerandecho.com/best-way-to-finance-your-very-small-side-business/
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TOKYO ? Japan's industrial production rebounded 4 percent in December from November and household spending increased for a second month, suggesting the still-weak economy is gaining some steam after last year's tsunami disaster and flooding in Thailand that disrupted manufacturers' supply chains.
Output of automobiles, cell phones and semiconductors drove the gains last month after production fell 2.7 percent in November. Manufacturers project further production increases in January and February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
But Japan's unemployment rate edged up to 4.6 percent and Junko Nishioka, economist at RBS Japan Securities, cautioned that the economic outlook was "mixed."
While she was heartened by the 0.5 percent uptick in family spending, Nishioka said prospects for Japan's vital manufacturing sector remained tentative amid weak export demand.
"The pace of recovery will be slow," she said. "So far, we're seeing some recovery in the auto sector and electronic components, but still it's still not enough to compensate for the gap recorded after the March disaster and the Thai flooding."
The factory data showed that shipments grew 4.5 percent and inventories fell 2.9 percent, both healthy indicators. Broadly speaking, production was led by strength in the electronics, automobile and general machinery sectors, the report showed.
Looking ahead, manufacturers predicted that industrial output would rise 2.5 percent in January and another 1.2 percent in February, according to a METI survey.
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BEIRUT ? The Syrian military launched an offensive to regain control of suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus on Sunday, storming neighborhoods and clashing with groups of army defectors in fierce fighting that sent residents fleeing and killed at least 12 people, activists said.
Violence elsewhere in the country killed at least 17 more people, including six soldiers in a roadside bombing south of the capital.
But the heaviest fighting was focused in a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, where government troops reinforced by dozens of tanks and armored vehicles battled with armed defectors who have grown increasingly bold, staking out positions and setting up checkpoints in recent days.
Some of the fighting on Sunday was only two miles (four kilometers) from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital as President Bashar Assad's regime pushes to uproot protesters and dissident soldiers who have joined the opposition.
"There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. "Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others."
The ten-month uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms against the regime.
The assault on the suburbs seemed to be a sign of the growing presence of dissident soldiers closer to Damascus, and the regime's rising concern about the situation. Although the tightly controlled capital has been relatively quiet since the uprising began, its outskirts have witnessed intense anti-regime protests and army defectors have become more visible and active in the past few months.
The military has responded with a withering assault on a string of Damascus suburbs in a bid to stamp out the resistance, leading to a spike in violence has killed nearly 100 people since Thursday.
The rising bloodshed has added urgency to new attempts by Arab and Western countries to find a resolution to the 10 months of violence, which according to the United Nations has killed at least 5,400 people as Assad seeks to crush persistent protests demanding an end to his rule.
The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters in Egypt on Sunday that contacts were under way with China and Russia.
"I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters at before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.
The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.
The Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria because of the escalating violence, until the League's council can meet to decide the mission's fate. Arab foreign ministers were to meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis in light of the suspension of the observers' work and Damascus' refusal to agree to the transition timetable, the League said.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed." He spoke at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa Sunday.
While the international community scrambles to find a resolution to the crisis, the violence on the ground in Syria has continued unabated.
On Sunday, activists said three civilians including a 16-year-old died in fierce fighting in the suburb of Kfar Batna. There was heavy shelling there and in the nearby suburbs of Saqba and Arbeen, they said.
"Troops this morning stormed Kfar Batna, Hammouriyeh and Ein Tarma," said an activist who identified himself as Mohammad Doumani, based in the Damascus suburb of Douma. "It looks like the regime has launched an operation to regain control of those areas."
Doumani said dozens of families were fleeing Ein Tarma and nearby areas for Damascus. Amateur videos posted on the Internet showed residents, including women and children, fleeing on foot carrying bags stuffed with belongings as the crackle of gunfire echoed in the background.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 23 people were killed in Syria Sunday, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. The dead include 10 soldiers who were killed in an ambush in Idlib, it said.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network said 29 people were killed on Sunday, including 12 who were killed in the suburbs of the capital.
Syria's state-run news agency said "terrorists" detonated a roadside bomb by remote control near a bus carrying soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers and wounding six others. Among those killed in the attack some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital were two first lieutenants, SANA said.
In the Iraqi northern Kurdish city of Irbil, about 200 members of Syria's Kurdish parties were holding two days of meetings to explore ways of supporting efforts to topple Assad.
Abdul-Baqi Youssef, a member of the Syrian Kurdish Union Party, said representatives of 11 Kurdish parties formed the Syrian Kurdish National Council that will coordinate anti-government activities with Syria's opposition.
"This is a good start to unify the Kurds in Syria and to drive the revolution forward for the sake of getting rid of Bashar Assad," Youssef said by telephone.
While the Kurds support the broader Syrian opposition movement's efforts to overthrow the regime, they also want opposition leaders to "guarantee our national rights before the fall of the regime," Youssef said.
Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria's 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.
___
Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, and Luc van Kemenade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.
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Sunday, January 29th, 2012 |
Indications have emerged that the Ministry of Finance may soon approve a request by the Nigerian Stock Exchange to restructure bad loans of operators in the capital market. A reliable source in the ministry told our correspondent on Friday that the Finance Minister, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had received the request from the NSE, and was??[Read More...]
Originally posted here:
Finance Ministry may approve loan restructuring for brokers
Source: http://www.ghanamma.com/2012/01/finance-ministry-may-approve-loan-restructuring-for-brokers/
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PHILADELPHIA ? A federal appeals court has granted another look at the evidence in the case of a man convicted of killing his daughter in what authorities alleged was an arson fire two decades ago in eastern Pennsylvania. Defense attorneys and some arson specialists say that determination was made using what's now considered flawed science.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted 76-year-old Han Tak Lee's request for an independent examination of evidence from the July 1989 fire that killed 20-year-old Ji Yun Lee at a religious retreat in the Pocono Mountains.
Attorneys for Lee argue that advances in fire science now show that expert testimony was unreliable.
Defense attorney Peter Goldberger says his client is "delighted." Monroe County District Attorney David Christine says an appeal is under consideration.
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Israel announces plans to build national broadband network, increases fiber intake originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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An annual inventory of newly discovered species lists more than 19,000 ?? half of them insects. A total of 9,738 insect species were first identified in 2009, the most recent year of data compilation. And that's not even counting spiders.
The 2011 State of Observed Species report, released Jan. 18 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, categorized 19,232 species that became known to science during the 2009 calendar year.
"As the number of species increases, so, too, does our understanding of the biosphere," said Arizona State entomologist Quentin Wheeler, a founding director of the institute. The report, the institute's fourth, showed a 5.6 percent increase from the previous year in the number of newly discovered species.
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Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: What's the physics behind a slap shot? Videos created by NBC, the NHL and the National Science Foundation explain the science of ice hockey.
After insects, the largest group of new living species was vascular plants, totaling 2,184. Newly discovered arachnids, a group that includes spiders and mites, numbered 1,487.
Forty-one of the listed species were mammals, and seven were birds. There were also 1,360 newly identified species of fungi and 1,107 new microbes.
Species IDs need improvement
In fact, the number of new living species discovered in 2009 was about twice as many as were known in the lifetime of Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who initiated the modern system of plant and animal classification more than 250 years ago.
"The cumulative knowledge of species since 1758, when Linnaeus was alive, is nearly 2 million, but much remains to be done," Wheeler said. "A reasonable guess is that 10 million additional plant and animal species await discovery by scientists and amateur species explorers."
The report notes there is a growing need for improved approaches regarding species exploration and the recognition of new species. An "obvious lesson" learned during the compilation of the report's data was that the registration of all the aspects that contribute to the identification and naming of a new species, including its description, must be mandatory going forward, Wheeler said.
"In the animal world, it takes about two years to mine the international literature for evidence of newly named species," Wheeler explained. "The current lack of registration requirements simply compounds the problem of an already massive backlog."
Discovery and conservation
The researchers stressed that species discovery and identification play an important role in designing future wildlife conservation efforts.
"It is through knowledge of the unique attributes of species that we illuminate the origin and evolutionary history of life on our planet," Wheeler said. "As we find out where species live and how they interact, we increase our ability to understand the function of ecosystems and make effective, fact-based decisions regarding conservation."
In addition to the new report, the species institute is releasing a Retro State of Observed Species report, which reviews species discovered from 2000 to 2009. The Retro SOS shows that 176,311 species were discovered during that period.
You can follow LiveScience writer Remy Melina on Twitter @remymelina. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience? and on Facebook.
? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46167880/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Insight on two U.S. law firms preparing to launch a class action lawsuit against both Costa and Carnival, with Marc Bern, Napoli Bern Ripka.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio ? An Ohio investment group's lawsuit seeking to collect $100 million on three-decade-old Venezuelan promissory notes is headed back to a federal judge for further deliberations.
The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear the case was a setback for Venezuela, which argued that federal law protects it from U.S. lawsuits because it is a foreign state.
The high court declined on Monday to accept Venezuela's appeal of a 2010 federal appeals court decision that said the suit filed by Skye Ventures of Columbus could go forward in the U.S.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said a lower court must determine whether the case should be tried in Venezuela, which will be the next step.
Skye seeks payment on the notes from a defunct government-sponsored bank.
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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates ? Rory McIlroy opened his season by outplaying Tiger Woods in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, shooting a 5-under 67 Thursday for a share of the lead.
Woods shot a 70 in the threesome with McIlroy and top-ranked Luke Donald, who finished with a 71. Robert Karlsson tied for the lead, with Gareth Maybin and Richard Finch one shot back.
Woods played bogey-free golf that produced few momentous shots and two birdies. He missed several birdie chances, including a 6-footer on his ninth, the 18th hole.
"Hit the ball well all day today. It was a good ball-striking round," Woods said. "I had a hard time reading the greens out there. The greens were pretty grainy and I just had a hard time getting a feel for it. Toward the end I hit some pretty good putts, but overall I got fooled a lot on my reads."
McIlroy, the U.S. Open champion who has had three top-five finishes in Abu Dhabi, had three birdies on his first four holes but erratic driving led to two bogeys on the next four. He steadied himself with three birdies on his back nine, including a chip-in on No. 8 from just off the green.
"It's a nice way to start the competitive season, I suppose," McIlroy said. "I didn't feel like I played that good. I definitely didn't strike the ball as good as I have been the last couple of weeks. I think it's just because your first competitive round of the season, card in your hand, you can get a little bit tentative or a little apprehensive."
Woods also struggled with his approaches shots at the National Course at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which was playing much tougher than in the past with narrower fairways and thicker rough. That resulted in many 25- and 30-footers that he couldn't sink.
McIlroy calls Woods a friend and was chatting with his playing partner for much of the day. He said he didn't take much satisfaction from beating him in the first round.
"If it was the last day of the tournament and you're both going in there with a chance to win, I would take a lot of pride from that, obviously," said the 22-year-old Northern Irishman.
"But the first day of a tournament is a little different," he said. "You're just going out there and playing and seeing what you can do. But, hopefully, I can get myself into position where I do play with him on a Sunday and see how I get on."
After a seven-week layoff, Woods said he's fitter than he has been in years. He's coming off a dramatic victory at the Chevron World Challenge last month, which ended a two-year title drought.
With the win, Woods moved to 25th in the world after briefly falling outside the top 50 last year. Before the victory, Woods finished third at the Australian Open and delivered the clinching point for the American team in the Presidents Cup.
"It felt the same as it had from Oz to the World Challenge to here," Woods said of his game. "I controlled my ball all day and just had a hard time getting a feel for these greens. They are grainy enough where I just didn't quite read them right, and I hit them good, and then the grain would take it, not take it. It was just difficult."
Sergio Garcia (71) had a hole-in-one on the 12th hole but otherwise struggled.
Second-ranked Lee Westwood (72) and defending champion Martin Kaymer (77) got off to poor starts and never challenged for the lead.
Westwood had four bogeys to go with two birdies on the front nine. Kaymer, who shot 24-under 264 last year to win the tournament for the third time, started with a double-bogey when his drive went out of bounds.
___
Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1
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Footage captured by NASA shows Venus, Earth and, on the opposite side of the field-of-view, a?briefly?mysterious triangular object headed our way.
Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. And, once again, they've been foiled by the laws of physics.
Skip to next paragraphThis time, they called attention to?peculiar new footage?captured by a telescope onboard NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft ? one of a pair of probes parked on either side of the sun which, together, provide a 360-degree view of the inner solar system. The footage shows Venus, Earth and, on the opposite side of the field-of-view, a mysterious triangular object headed our way.
"Comparing it for size to the planetary objects that are seen in this telescope, if my calculations are correct, that thing is enormous," said YouTube user "BeePeeOilDisaster" in his video commentary on the footage, which was captured Dec. 27 -29. Talk of a cover-up quickly followed when, a few days later, NASA scientists updated the STEREO website to display newer images.?
This is not the first time?alien hunters?have found what they believe to be enormous UFOs in images captured by the STEREO probes. [Mysterious Planet-Size Object Spotted Near Mercury]
But this time, the team of scientists who work with data from the probes decided to address the claim directly. In?a post on the STEREO website, the researchers offered up an explanation of the triangular feature in the December footage. The researchers say it's no more than a trick of the light.
"The answer lies on the exact opposite side of the image," the scientists wrote. "At the same time as this strange-looking feature starts being visible, the very bright planet Venus enters the [telescopic camera's] field-of-view from the lower left."
The scientists note that Venus and the triangle, opposite each other across the middle of the camera plane, stay in step as they move. "This is not a coincidence. The strange-looking geometrical 'object' is actually an internal reflection of?the planet Venus?within the telescope optics. This effect has been seen many times before."
In this optical effect, incoming light reflects back and forth off lenses and mirrors inside the telescope; the shape of artifacts produced by this scattered light ? usually triangles and circles of various sizes ? depends on the relative orientations of those lenses and mirrors.?
Another example of internal reflection, this time of light from planet Earth, can be seen in?a STEREO-B image from May 2007. More examples of internal reflection and other optical and data-processing artifacts are displayed on the scientists' "Image Artifacts" Web page, along with explanations of the various effects.
Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on?Facebook.
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TAMPA, Fla. ? Mitt Romney's tax returns and Newt Gingrich's business dealings are likely to remain at center stage of the increasingly contentious Republican presidential primary campaign in Florida.
Romney predicted during a sometimes heated debate that his 2010 tax returns and an early report on his taxes for last year will generate chatter but not any surprises.
"You'll see my income, how much taxes I've paid, how much I've paid to charity," he said on the debate stage Monday night. "Will it be an article? Yeah. But is it entirely legal and fair? Absolutely. I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes."
Romney earned $21.7 million income in 2010, most of it from his investments, according to records his campaign released within hours of the debate's conclusion. He donated a combined $3 million to charitable causes and the Mormon Church and paid about $3 million in federal income taxes for an effective tax rate of about 14 percent, the records showed.
For 2011, he'll pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said.
The tax records may silence Gingrich and others who argued that Republican voters should know the details of Romney's wealth before they select their presidential nominee and not after, as Romney had wanted. But a new line of criticism rising from the records was expected to be leveled at the former front-runner, who keeps some of his personal fortune in investments in the Cayman Islands, where many international investors shelter their income from American taxes.
In Monday's debate, Gingrich faced harsh questions about his own financial dealings. While comfortable as the aggressor in previous encounters with Romney and their rivals, he found himself battered by Romney's criticism as the pair clashed repeatedly in sometimes personal terms.
"You've been walking around the state saying things that are untrue," Gingrich told Romney.
After Gingrich's overwhelming victory in South Carolina last Saturday, Romney can ill afford to lose Florida's Jan. 31 primary, and he showcased a new aggression from the opening moments in the debate. He said Gingrich had "resigned in disgrace" from Congress after four years as speaker and then had spent the next 15 years "working as an influence peddler."
In particular, he referred to the contract Gingrich's consulting firm had with Freddie Mac, a government-backed mortgage giant that Romney said "did a lot of bad for a lot of people and you were working there."
Romney also said Gingrich had lobbied lawmakers to approve legislation creating a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare.
"I have never, ever gone and done any lobbying," Gingrich retorted emphatically, adding that his firm had hired an expert to explain to employees "the bright line between what you can do as a citizen and what you do as a lobbyist."
Romney counterpunched, referring to the $300,000 that Gingrich's consulting firm received in 2006 from Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage giant.
And when Gingrich sought to turn the tables by inquiring about the private equity firm that Romney founded, the former Massachusetts governor replied: "We didn't do any work with the government. ... I wasn't a lobbyist."
Romney will briefly turn his attention Tuesday morning to President Barack Obama, offering a "pre-buttal" to the president's State of the Union address before shifting to Gingrich's work for the federal mortgage giant at a campaign event focused on Florida's housing problems.
Gingrich has a busy day on the campaign trail planned as well, with rallies set for St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Naples.
Rep. Ron Paul, who's bypassing Florida in favor of smaller, less expensive states, returned to Texas after Monday's debate. But Rick Santorum will appeal to the tea party to help revive his candidacy, appearing at two tea party events.
Santorum and Paul were reduced to supporting roles Monday night. Santorum jumped at the chance to criticize both Romney and Gingrich for having supported the big federal bailouts of Wall Street in 2008. He also said both men had abandoned conservative principles by supporting elements of "cap and trade" legislation to curb pollution emissions from industrial sites.
"When push came to shove, they were pushed," he said.
Paul sidestepped when moderator Brian Williams of NBC asked if he would run as a third-party candidate in the fall if he doesn't win the nomination. "I have no intention," he said, but he didn't rule it out.
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Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
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Kimberlites are magmatic rocks that form deep in the Earth's interior and are brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions. On their turbulent journey upwards magmas assimilate other types of minerals, collectively referred to as xenoliths (Greek for "foreign rocks"). The xenoliths found in kimberlite include diamonds, and the vast majority of the diamonds mined in the world today is found in kimberlite ores. Exactly how kimberlites acquire the necessary buoyancy for their long ascent through the Earth's crust has, however, been something of a mystery. An international research team led by Professor Donald Dingwell, Director of the Department of Geo- and Environmental Sciences at LMU, has now demonstrated that assimilated rocks picked up along the way are responsible for the providing the required impetus. The primordial magma is basic, but the incorporation of silicate minerals encountered during its ascent makes the melt more acidic. This leads to the release of carbon dioxide in the form of bubbles, which reduce the density of the melt, essentially causing it to foam. The net result is an increase in the buoyancy of the magma, which facilitates its continued ascent. "Because our results enhance our understanding of the genesis of kimberlite, they will be useful in the search for new diamond-bearing ores and will facilitate the evaluation of existing sources," says Dingwell. (Nature 18. January 2012)
Most known kimberlites formed in the period between 70 and 150 million years ago, but some are over 1200 million years old. Generally speaking, kimberlites are found only in cratons, the oldest surviving areas of continental crust, which form the nuclei of continental landmasses and have remained virtually unchanged since their formation eons ago.
Kimberlitic magmas form about 150 km below the Earth's surface, i.e. at much greater depths than any other volcanic rocks. The temperatures and pressures at such depths are so high that carbon can crystallize in the form of diamonds. When kimberlitic magmas are forced through long chimneys of volcanic origin called pipes, like the water in a hose when the nozzle is narrowed, their velocity markedly increases and the emplaced diamonds are transported upwards as if they were in an elevator. This is why kimberlite pipes are the sites of most of the world's diamond mines. But diamonds are not the only passengers. Kimberlites also carry many other types of rock with them on their long journey into the light.
In spite of this "extra load", kimberlite magmas travel fast, and emerge onto the Earth's surface in explosive eruptions. "It is generally assumed that volatile gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapour play an essential role in providing the necessary buoyancy to power the rapid rise of kimberlite magmas," says Dingwell, "but it was not clear how these gases form in the magma." With the help of laboratory experiments carried out at appropriately high temperatures, Dingwell's team was able to show that the assimilated xenoliths play an important role in the process. The primordial magma deep in the Earth's interior is referred to as basic because it mainly consists of carbonate-bearing components, which may also contain a high proportion of water. When the rising magma comes into contact with silicate-rich rocks, they are effectively dissolved in the molten phase, which acidifies the melt. As more silicates are incorporated, the saturation level of carbon dioxide dissolved in the melt progressively increases as carbon dioxide solubility decreases. When the melt becomes saturated, the excess carbon dioxide forms bubbles. "The result is a continuous foaming of the magma, which may reduce its viscosity and certainly imparts the buoyancy necessary to power its very vehement eruption onto the Earth's surface," as Dingwell explains. The faster the magma rises, the more silicates are entrained in the flow, and the greater the concentration of dissolved silicates until finally the amounts of carbon dioxide and water vapor released thrust the hot melt upward with great force, like a rocket. The new findings also explain why kimberlites are found only in ancient continental nuclei. Only here is the crust sufficiently rich in silica-rich minerals to drive their ascent and, moreover, cratonic crust is exceptionally thick. This means that the journey to the surface is correspondingly longer, and the rising magma has plenty of opportunity to come into contact with silicate-rich minerals.
###
The project was funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator Grant (EVOKES) and further supported by an LMUexcellent Research Professorship awarded to Donald Dingwell. (gd)
Publication:
Kimberlite ascent by assimilation-fuelled buoyancy
J.K. Russell, L.A. Porritt, Y. Lavalle, D.B. Dingwell
Nature Advanced Online Publication, 18. January 2012
doi: 10.1038/nature10740
Contact:
Professor Donald B. Dingwell
Department of Geo- and Environmental Sciences, LMU Munich
Phone: +49 89 2180 4136
Fax: +49 89 2180 4176
Email: dingwell@lmu.de
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 23-Jan-2012 Share ] Contact: Dr. Katrhin Bilgeri
kathrin.bilgeri@lmu.de
49-892-180-6938
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen
Kimberlites are magmatic rocks that form deep in the Earth's interior and are brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions. On their turbulent journey upwards magmas assimilate other types of minerals, collectively referred to as xenoliths (Greek for "foreign rocks"). The xenoliths found in kimberlite include diamonds, and the vast majority of the diamonds mined in the world today is found in kimberlite ores. Exactly how kimberlites acquire the necessary buoyancy for their long ascent through the Earth's crust has, however, been something of a mystery. An international research team led by Professor Donald Dingwell, Director of the Department of Geo- and Environmental Sciences at LMU, has now demonstrated that assimilated rocks picked up along the way are responsible for the providing the required impetus. The primordial magma is basic, but the incorporation of silicate minerals encountered during its ascent makes the melt more acidic. This leads to the release of carbon dioxide in the form of bubbles, which reduce the density of the melt, essentially causing it to foam. The net result is an increase in the buoyancy of the magma, which facilitates its continued ascent. "Because our results enhance our understanding of the genesis of kimberlite, they will be useful in the search for new diamond-bearing ores and will facilitate the evaluation of existing sources," says Dingwell. (Nature 18. January 2012)
Most known kimberlites formed in the period between 70 and 150 million years ago, but some are over 1200 million years old. Generally speaking, kimberlites are found only in cratons, the oldest surviving areas of continental crust, which form the nuclei of continental landmasses and have remained virtually unchanged since their formation eons ago.
Kimberlitic magmas form about 150 km below the Earth's surface, i.e. at much greater depths than any other volcanic rocks. The temperatures and pressures at such depths are so high that carbon can crystallize in the form of diamonds. When kimberlitic magmas are forced through long chimneys of volcanic origin called pipes, like the water in a hose when the nozzle is narrowed, their velocity markedly increases and the emplaced diamonds are transported upwards as if they were in an elevator. This is why kimberlite pipes are the sites of most of the world's diamond mines. But diamonds are not the only passengers. Kimberlites also carry many other types of rock with them on their long journey into the light.
In spite of this "extra load", kimberlite magmas travel fast, and emerge onto the Earth's surface in explosive eruptions. "It is generally assumed that volatile gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapour play an essential role in providing the necessary buoyancy to power the rapid rise of kimberlite magmas," says Dingwell, "but it was not clear how these gases form in the magma." With the help of laboratory experiments carried out at appropriately high temperatures, Dingwell's team was able to show that the assimilated xenoliths play an important role in the process. The primordial magma deep in the Earth's interior is referred to as basic because it mainly consists of carbonate-bearing components, which may also contain a high proportion of water. When the rising magma comes into contact with silicate-rich rocks, they are effectively dissolved in the molten phase, which acidifies the melt. As more silicates are incorporated, the saturation level of carbon dioxide dissolved in the melt progressively increases as carbon dioxide solubility decreases. When the melt becomes saturated, the excess carbon dioxide forms bubbles. "The result is a continuous foaming of the magma, which may reduce its viscosity and certainly imparts the buoyancy necessary to power its very vehement eruption onto the Earth's surface," as Dingwell explains. The faster the magma rises, the more silicates are entrained in the flow, and the greater the concentration of dissolved silicates until finally the amounts of carbon dioxide and water vapor released thrust the hot melt upward with great force, like a rocket. The new findings also explain why kimberlites are found only in ancient continental nuclei. Only here is the crust sufficiently rich in silica-rich minerals to drive their ascent and, moreover, cratonic crust is exceptionally thick. This means that the journey to the surface is correspondingly longer, and the rising magma has plenty of opportunity to come into contact with silicate-rich minerals.
###
The project was funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator Grant (EVOKES) and further supported by an LMUexcellent Research Professorship awarded to Donald Dingwell. (gd)
Publication:
Kimberlite ascent by assimilation-fuelled buoyancy
J.K. Russell, L.A. Porritt, Y. Lavalle, D.B. Dingwell
Nature Advanced Online Publication, 18. January 2012
doi: 10.1038/nature10740
Contact:
Professor Donald B. Dingwell
Department of Geo- and Environmental Sciences, LMU Munich
Phone: +49 89 2180 4136
Fax: +49 89 2180 4176
Email: dingwell@lmu.de
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/lm-apt012312.php
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TAMPA, Fla. ? Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Tuesday he doesn't want to continue debating his Republican rivals if the audience isn't allowed to participate. His campaign said later that he would participate in upcoming debates, regardless of the audience rules.
Gingrich, whose rise in the polls and come-from-behind victory in the South Carolina followed well-received debate performances, complained that people were admonished by NBC News anchor and debate moderator Brian Williams not to applaud during Monday night's debate in Tampa. The candidates were to debate Thursday night in Jacksonville, Fla.
"That's wrong," the former House speaker told Fox News. "The media doesn't control free speech. People ought to be allowed to applaud if they want to. It was almost silly."
Disagreeing with his rival, Mitt Romney told reporters that the rules for general-election debates are much stricter and that Gingrich would have to be willing to follow the rules of the Presidential Debate Commission.
"He better learn to debate in all settings," Romney said.
Romney's advisers believe that audience participation drove Gingrich's breakout moments in two debates in South Carolina. They were pleased with the audience reaction during Monday night's debate, calling it more serious than the raucous crowds at the second South Carolina debate.
Gingrich was an audience favorite at the two debates in South Carolina, particularly when he admonished debate moderator John King of CNN for bringing up the subject of ex-wife Marianne Gingrich and her allegation that Gingrich had sought an "open marriage" as he was having an affair with the woman now his wife, Callista. Audience members applauded and cheered Gingrich's criticism of King as well as some of his policy statements.
Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who was the GOP's nominee in 2008, said Tuesday that he thinks debates have had an inordinate influence, and at times a negative one, on the primary campaign. McCain is supporting Romney's bid for the nomination.
"It's very harmful to Republicans because of instead of presenting their views, their policies and their proposals ? it's all gotcha, it's all gotcha," McCain told reporters on Capitol Hill. "And disapproval ratings go up. And people spend an hour or two insulting each other. So I think it's very damaging."
___
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata in Washington contributed to this report.
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ReutersPhillies star Chase Utley missed 59 games with injury last season.
updated 4:23 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012
|
Baseball Expert Tony DeMarco has been covering the big leagues since 1987, and been casting Hall of Fame ballots for the last 12 years. He answers questions weekly here:
Q. The Phillies seem extremely passive this off-season, given their woeful playoff performances the last three seasons. Are they in denial about their poor hitting?
? Bob Silin, Horsham, Pa.
A. The Phillies finished seventh in the National League in runs scored last season, but that is a bit misleading, as they were only 22 runs short of the second-place finisher, Cincinnati. So only the Cardinals, who scored 49 more runs, were significantly more productive than the Phillies in 2011 ? and as you may have heard, they don't have Albert Pujols any more.
The problem the Phillies have had is keeping their top veterans ? all now in their 30s ? in the lineup. Jimmy Rollins (19 games), Placido Polanco (40 games) and Chase Utley (59 games) missed extensive time last season, and now they'll have to do without Ryan Howard for a couple of months as he recovers from left Achilles surgery.
It will be up to the platoon of Ty Wigginton and Jim Thome to fill in at first base for Howard, and for John Mayberry Jr. and/or Domonic Brown to settle in as a productive left fielder and replace Raul Ibanez. I like the chances of success for the left-field situation much more than at first base, as one of those two young players figures to step up ? or at the very least, the two should form a productive platoon.
But you really have to wonder how much Thome can play defensively, since he hasn't played first base regularly since 2005. So there will be pressure on Wigginton until Howard returns. The Phillies also will get a full season from Hunter Pence, and their run production ticked up to 4.47 per game after he was acquired from Houston.
None of this should have much affect on the Phillies' playoff chances ? not with their rotation, and the addition of Jonathan Papelbon at the back end of the bullpen. And don't forget there will be an added wildcard spot this season, so it's very likely the Phillies will stretch their consecutive post-season appearances streak to six.
But going deep into October is another question, and they really will need everybody to be healthy and having high-level seasons. If not, you'll see them adding another bat mid-season. After all, as you mention, the Phillies are trending in the wrong direction in the post-season since winning the 2008 World Series: Losing the 2009 World Series, the 2010 NLCS and a 2011 division series.
Q. Hey, Tony, please tell me I'm not crazy. Shouldn't the Giants be going after Manny Ramirez? They need the offense, and clearly, Bay Area fans don't mind when outfield sluggers dabble in PEDs. And they could get him cheap.
? Curtis Hettich, Sacramento
A. Sorry, Curtis, but you're crazy. Manny is finished. He'll turn 40 in May, didn't play after April 8th last season, and his last stretch of high-level hitting came in the first half of the 2009 season with the Dodgers.
His 2010 stretch run with the White Sox was embarrassing ? a .261 batting average with one homer, two extra-base hits, two RBI and a .319 slugging percentage in 88 plate appearances. The only thing he did well was draw walks.
It took the Rays only five games and 17 at-bats early last season to realize they made a rare bad decision in signing Ramirez, who retired at that point rather than face a second suspension, and needs to just walk away at this point.
If Ramirez does sign, he won't be eligible to play until he serves a 50-game suspension. And even if he still could produce enough offensively, the last thing you'd want is for him to be playing left field. It's DH or nothing at this point, so the Giants should have no interest whatsoever.
I'll be very surprised if Manny makes any significant contribution to whatever American League team ? Oakland? ? decides to take a flier on him.Q. What's in store for Ryan Spilborghs?
? Bill Oliphant, Santa Barbara, Calif.
A. A question from a hometown fan of Spilborghs, who had a nice run with the Rockies before a subpar 2011 season that was interrupted by two trips to the disabled list due to plantar fasciitis.
Spilborghs, 32, has signed a minor-league deal with the Indians, and will compete in spring training for a spot as a backup outfielder. The field is crowded, but a right-handed bat is needed, as the projected starting outfield includes left-handed hitters Grady Sizemore, Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo ? all of whom missed extensive time in 2011 due to injuries.
In building outfield depth, the Indians also have acquired Aaron Cunningham in a deal with San Diego, and signed free-agents Fred Lewis and Felix Pie to minor-league deals. Shelley Duncan and Chad Huffman are other possibilities for manager Manny Acta.
Spilborghs will have to show he's over the plantar fasciitis that limited him to 98 games, and recapture the form that made him a valuable platoon player from 2006-'10 in Colorado. He also can play all three outfield positions ? a needed skill in a fourth outfielder.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union governments agreed on Monday to an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, buy or transport Iranian crude oil, a move to put pressure on Tehran's disputed nuclear program by shutting off its main source of foreign income.
However, to protect Europe's economy as it battles to overcome a debilitating debt crisis, the governments agreed to phase in the embargo, giving countries with existing contracts with Iran until July 1, 2012 to end those deals.
At a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, EU governments also agreed to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank and to ban all trade in gold and other precious metals with the bank and other public bodies, EU officials said.
Western powers hope the far stricter sanctions net, which brings the EU more closely into line with U.S. policy, will force Iran to scale back or halt its nuclear work, which Europe and the United States believe is aimed at developing weapons. Iran says it is enriching uranium solely for peaceful purposes.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she wanted financial sanctions to persuade Tehran to return to negotiations with the West, which she represents in talks with Iran.
"I want the pressure of these sanctions to result in negotiations," she told reporters before the ministers met.
"I want to see Iran come back to the table and either pick up all the ideas that we left on the table ... last year ... or to come forward with its own ideas," she said.
Tehran says its nuclear program is necessary to meet its rising energy needs, but the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said last year it had evidence that suggested Iran had worked on designing a nuclear weapon.
EU sanctions follow fresh financial measures signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve and mainly targeting the oil sector, which accounts for some 90 percent of Iranian exports to the EU. The European Union is Iran's largest oil customer after China.
MEASURED STEPS
Economic considerations weighed heavily on EU preparations for the embargo in recent weeks because of the heavy dependence of some EU states on Iranian crude. Greece, which is at the heart of the debt crisis, is almost entirely dependent on Iranian oil. It must now seek alternative sources.
Diplomats will return to the issue of oil sanctions before May, officials said, to assess whether the measures are effective and whether EU states are succeeding in finding sufficient alternative resources.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other oil-rich states in the Gulf are expected to increase their output of crude oil to offset the loss of access to Iranian exports.
"There will be a review of the embargo before May," one EU official said. The review could potentially affect the date when the full ban takes effect, diplomats said.
Greece, which depends on financial help from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to stay afloat, gets nearly a quarter of its oil from Iran, thanks to favorable financing terms from Tehran.
"The financial situation of Greece at the moment is not the brightest one, and rightly they are asking us to help them find a solution," a senior EU official told reporters on Friday.
With a significant part of EU purchases of Iranian oil covered by long-term contracts, the grace period will be an important factor in the effectiveness of the EU measures.
The unprecedented effort to take Iran's 2.6 million barrels of oil per day of exports off international markets has kept global prices high, pushed down Iran's rial currency and caused a surge in the cost of basic goods for Iranians.
(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft in London and Sebastian Moffett in Brussels; Editing by Luke Baker and)
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In this Feb. 13, 1996 file photo shows Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan rebel leader and chief of the insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. Anxious to accelerate peace moves, top-level U.S. officials have held talks with a representative of a major Afghan insurgent movement led by a former prime minister that Washington had branded as a terrorist. The meetings with the group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar show not only the degree of U.S. interest in pursuing a settlement but also the complexity of putting together an agreement acceptable to all sides in factious Afghanistan. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File)
In this Feb. 13, 1996 file photo shows Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan rebel leader and chief of the insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. Anxious to accelerate peace moves, top-level U.S. officials have held talks with a representative of a major Afghan insurgent movement led by a former prime minister that Washington had branded as a terrorist. The meetings with the group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar show not only the degree of U.S. interest in pursuing a settlement but also the complexity of putting together an agreement acceptable to all sides in factious Afghanistan. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File)
Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin, right, gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Marc Grossman the special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Ludin says the Afghan government supports having a Taliban political office opened in Qatar and would back an American decision to transfer some Taliban detainees from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Qatar. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Marc Grossman the special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan speaks during a joint press conference with Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin, unseen, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Marc Grossman, a top American diplomat visiting Afghanistan, says the United States wants the Taliban to issue statements disassociating themselves from international terrorism and saying they want to join a peace process to end the 10-year war. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
An Afghan man rides his bicycle during a snowstorm in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
In this Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 photo, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, top NATO Commander in Afghanistan, gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Anxious to accelerate peace moves, top-level U.S. officials have held talks with a representative of a major Afghan insurgent movement led by a former prime minister that Washington had branded as a terrorist. The meetings with the group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar show not only the degree of U.S. interest in pursuing a settlement but also the complexity of putting together an agreement acceptable to all sides in factious Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Anxious to accelerate peace moves, top-level U.S. officials have held talks with a representative of an insurgent movement led by a former Afghan prime minister who has been branded a terrorist by Washington, a relative of the rebel leader says.
Dr. Ghairat Baheer, a representative and son-in-law of longtime Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (Gul-bu-DEEN HEK-mah-tyar), told The Associated Press this week that he had met separately with David Petraeus, former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan who is now CIA director, and had face-to-face discussions earlier this month with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, currently the top commander in the country.
Baheer, who was released in 2008 after six years in U.S. detention at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, described his talks with U.S. officials as nascent and exploratory. Yet, Baheer says the discussions show that the U.S. knows that in addition to getting the blessing of Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar ? a bitter rival of Hekmatyar even though both are fighting international troops ? any peace deal would have to be supported by Hekmatyar, who has thousands of fighters and followers primarily in the north and east.
Hizb-i-Islami, which means Islamic party, has had ties to al-Qaida but in 2010 floated a 15-point peace plan during informal meetings with the Afghan government in Kabul. At the time, however, U.S. officials refused to see the party's delegation.
"Hizb-i-Islami is a reality that no one can ignore," Baheer said during an interview last week at his spacious home in a posh suburb of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. "For a while, the United States and the Kabul government tried not to give so much importance to Hizb-i-Islami, but now they have come to the conclusion that they cannot make it without Hizb-i-Islami."
In Washington, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden would not confirm that such meetings took place but said the U.S. was maintaining "a range of contacts in support of an Afghan-led reconciliation process."
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the high-level meetings, said Petraeus last met with Baheer in July 2011 when he was still commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan. Petraeus took over as CIA director in September.
On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he also had met recently with Hizb-i-Islami representatives. Baheer said he attended those meetings but added that the party considers the Afghan government corrupt and lacking legitimacy.
Karzai's announcement appeared intended to bolster his position as the key player in the search for peace. The U.S. repeatedly has said that formal negotiations must be Afghan-led, but Karzai has complained that his government has not been directly involved in recent preliminary talks with Taliban representatives and plans for setting up a Taliban political office in the Gulf state of Qatar.
Baheer said his meeting with Petraeus, whom he described as a "very humble, polite person," was marked by a few rounds of verbal sparring with each boasting a battlefield strength that the other dismissed as exaggerated.
"There was a psychological war in these first meetings," he said.
Baheer said Crocker and Allen tried to persuade Hizb-i-Islami to become part of Afghanistan's political network, accept the Afghan security forces and embrace the nation's current constitution. He said Hizb-i-Islami was ready to accept the security forces and the constitution, but wants a multiparty commission established to review and revise the charter.
"We are willing to make compromises," said Baheer. "We already have said we will accept the Afghan army and the police."
He said Hizb-i-Islami envisioned a multiparty government in postwar Afghanistan. At the same time, the group wants all U.S. and NATO forces, including military trainers, to leave Afghanistan, he said.
"The presence of any foreign forces will be not acceptable to us under any cover," he said. "Daily, there is another American killing of civilians. The longer they stay, the more they are hated by the Afghan people."
Overtures to Hekmatyar's group show not only the degree of U.S. interest in pursuing a settlement but also the complexity of putting together an agreement acceptable to all sides in factious Afghanistan. The U.S. formally declared Hekmatyar a "global terrorist" in 2003 because of alleged links to al-Qaida and froze all assets which he may have in the United States.
Hekmatyar, who is in his mid-60s, was among the major recipients of U.S. aid during the Afghan war against the Soviets in the 1980s. He and other anti-Soviet commanders swept into Kabul in 1992 and ousted the pro-Soviet government, only to turn against one another in a bitter and bloody power struggle that destroyed vast sections of the Afghan capital and killed an estimated 50,000 civilians before the Taliban seized the city.
A bitter rival of Mullah Omar, Hekmatyar fled to Iran and remained there until the Taliban were ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. He declared war on foreign troops in his country and rebuilt his military forces, which by 2008 had become a major threat to the U.S.-led coalition.
Contacts with Hekmatyar's group as well as parallel efforts to negotiate with the Taliban have taken on new urgency following the NATO decision to withdraw foreign combat forces, transfer security responsibility to the Afghans by the end of 2014 and bring an end to the unpopular war, which is increasingly seen as a drain on the financially strapped Western countries that provide most of the troops.
On Sunday, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, completed two days of meetings about the peace process with Karzai and other Afghan officials. Grossman, who was to travel to Qatar on Monday, urged the Taliban to issue a "clear statement" against international terrorism and affirm their commitment to the peace process "to end the armed conflict in Afghanistan."
U.S. officials also have reached out to the Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network to test its interest in peace talks. Haqqani fighters, the second largest insurgent group after the Taliban, have been blamed for most of the high-profile attacks in the heart of the Afghan capital.
___
Kathy Gannon is AP special regional correspondent covering Pakistan and Afghanistan. She can be reached at www.twitter.com/kathygannon
___
Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Kabul and Kimberly Dozier and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.
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