The transitional government had asked the council’s committee monitoring sanctions against Libya to lift the asset freeze on the Central Bank of Libya and its subsidiary, the Libyan Foreign Bank. There were no objections from any of the 15 council nations who comprise the committee by the deadline Friday evening so the sanctions were immediately lifted.

Soon after, the U.S. government announced that it has rolled back most sanctions against Libya’s banks, unblocking more than $30 billion in assets. And British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his government is seeking swift European Union action to pass the regulation required to release about 6.5 billion pounds ($10 billion) in assets frozen in Britain.

Billions of dollars more in Libyan assets frozen elsewhere are also expected to be released.

The Security Council froze the assets of five key Libyan financial institutions in March following the uprising against Gadhafi’s 42-year rule and his deadly crackdown on protesters.

After Gadhafi’s death and the end of the eight-month civil war in October, the Security Council eased some financial restrictions to allow a resumption of trading. But the freeze on assets that the Central Bank and Foreign Bank held before March remained in place until Friday’s delisting.

Britain’s Hague welcomed the sanctions committee’s decision, saying “Libya’s government will now have full access to the significant funds needed to help rebuild the country, to underpin stability and to ensure that Libyans can make the transactions that are essential to everyday life.”

“The transitional government must now redouble its efforts to build a transparent and accountable financial system which will underpin a newly prosperous Libya,” Hague said.

The White House said unfreezing the assets will give the Libyan government access to most of its worldwide holdings “and will help the new government oversee the country’s transition and reconstruction in a responsible manner.” The United States is helping Libya with the technical steps to make the assets available as soon as possible, it said.

Libya is still subject to U.N. sanctions, including an arms embargo, and assets of the Gadhafi family and members of his regime remain frozen along with assets of several other financial institutions.

Hague said Britain will continue working with the Libyan government and other countries “to agree the steps required to remove remaining sanctions, so that Libya’s assets can be used for the benefit of its people.”

The sanctions committee previously ordered the unfreezing of $18 billion of assets, but U.N. officials and diplomats said only about $3 billion had gotten through to Libyan authorities because of a number of problems.

These include concerns over who the money should be released to in Libya and whether it will be used for humanitarian purposes as required in some cases, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions were private.

___

Associated Press writer Kenneth Thomas contributed to this report from Washington.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_re_us/un_un_libya_sanctions

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Steve Isaac felt the same way. A Seattle-based software designer who worked on an early tablet at computing startup Go in the `90s, Isaac was delighted when the iPad came out last year. He loved its svelteness, battery life and wireless connectivity.

“The iPad was amazing,” he says. “It just did everything super, super well.”

Well, almost everything. Though its touch-screen keyboard was miles ahead of what he’d seen on past tablets, he felt it still wasn’t great for typing. And wireless keyboards that work via Bluetooth seemed too bulky.

So Isaac got to work on a way to make the iPad easier to type on ? a stretchy silicone keyboard called the TouchFire that sits atop the tablet’s on-screen keyboard when the device is turned on its side.

Isaac isn’t unique in coming up with this type of device, but his invention has garnered an intense amount of support through Kickstarter ? a website where entrepreneurs and artists solicit funding for their projects and often give rewards in exchange, such as a limited-edition poster or first version of a product.

In Isaac’s case, he turned to the site to raise money to turn his prototype into a real device, offering the first run of TouchFires to Kickstarter backers. His effort raised $201,400 by the time it ended last week. That was more than 20 times the $10,000 that he and his business partner had hoped to snag.

The TouchFire’s birth as a consumer product shows the growing importance of sites such as Kickstarter. They offer a new way to finance bright ideas and usher them to the masses. Kickstarter visitors can search through a bevy of proposals for everything from graphic novels to consumer electronics, coming from creators who must meet their stated funding goal in a specified period of time in order to actually use the money.

About 45 percent of the projects meet or exceed their goals, Kickstarter said. This year, site visitors pledged about $79 million to projects that either succeeded, including Isaac’s, or were still in the process of soliciting funds.

The response to the TouchFire in particular indicates that, despite the tough economy, people are interested in shelling out for ideas they believe in ? something that benefits both consumers and entrepreneurs.

“It sure makes us feel very good about the potential for this project and the demand for this project,” Isaac says.

It’s validation for a year and a half’s worth of work. Not long after the iPad came out in April 2010, Isaac started fashioning prototypes by cutting up transparent silicone laptop keyboard covers (the kind you use to protect a laptop’s keyboard from dirt) and thin sheets of silicone.

He had a number of stipulations for the TouchFire: It should somehow work with the iPad’s existing on-screen keyboard and have springy “keys” that you could actually feel. It had to be small, light and unobtrusive. It needed to respond to your finger taps, but, as on a hardware keyboard, be insensitive enough that you could rest your fingers on the keys without triggering the typing of random letters.

Last September, he connected with Brad Melmon, an industrial designer who was also based in Seattle. The duo refined Isaac’s original idea and created the TouchFire company together.

A TouchFire prototype Isaac recently brought to The Associated Press’ San Francisco office looked deceptively simple. On the surface, it appeared to be just a flexible keyboard cover with some rigid plastic on the sides.

But a closer look revealed small bumps on the underside of the keypad’s silicone keys ? bumps that provide typing fingers with the proper amount of resistance. Magnets on the sides and the bottom adhere it to the magnetic portions of the face of the iPad 2, allowing it to sit right on top of the on-screen virtual keyboard without sliding around. If you use the original iPad, a non-slip layer on the bottom of the TouchFire helps keep it in place.

Typing with it was fairly comfortable, though it would take some getting used to its squishy feel (a more apt name might be SquishyType).

Creating a functional prototype like this was just the first step, though. Isaac and Melmon needed funding to make their idea into a consumer product. So after briefly looking for outside investors, they turned to Kickstarter in October.

Not every idea makes it through KickStarter’s application process, which is required before you can start seeking funds through the site. The TouchFire was initially rejected ? Isaac suspects their pitch wasn’t demonstrative enough. But after adding a video that showed it in action, KickStarter approved the application and added it to the site on Oct. 20.

Isaac and Melmon hoped to raise $10,000 by the campaign’s Dec. 13 deadline by offering a TouchFire to anyone who pledged at least $45 ? about the same price they eventually hope to sell them at in stores.

This wasn’t a problem. By the fifth day of their Kickstarter campaign, they reached their goal. In the final seven days, the project had snagged more than $167,000 in funding. Isaac says he now expects to ship more than 5,000 TouchFires to Kickstarter backers.

Marci Liroff is one of the excited buyers. Liroff, a Los Angeles-based casting director and producer who successfully funded one of her own films through Kickstarter, uses an iPad for nearly everything. But she turns to a laptop if she wants to write more than a simple email ? she finds it too difficult to do so on the iPad. Liroff hopes the TouchFire changes that (and she jokes that if it does, she’ll never have to leave the couch again).

“I just thought it was a really brilliant idea,” she says.

Not everyone is convinced, though. Gartner Research analyst Ken Dulaney is skeptical that the TouchFire will appeal to the masses, saying it doesn’t really seem different from the scads of wireless keyboards already available for the tablet.

“I can tell you, you just need to go down the Apple Store to see how littered the market is for keyboards for iPads,” he says.

Indeed, there are tons of options available to iPad users, from cases with built-in keyboards to stand-alone keyboards that sit next to the iPad.

Isaac is optimistic, though. He and Melmon are deciding on a manufacturer to make the device, and Isaac said they’re likely to ship the TouchFires to donors in January. After that, they hope to make the devices available for sale as soon as possible.

___

Rachel Metz can be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rachelmetz

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_a_better_ipad_keyboard

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“Administratively, you can’t block a court order,” Anibal Apari said after Berenson told The Associated Press that she and her son Salvador were prevented from boarding a flight Friday night despite being granted permission in court.

“They didn’t let me leave and they’re putting out this version that I arrived late,” she said in a brief phone conversation.

Local media had initially reported, citing unnamed airport officials, that Berenson arrived late for the flight. But video taken by a local TV channel showed her pacing nervously in front the Continental Airlines ticket counter and talking with an agent more than an hour before the flight left.

“An abuse of authority has been committed,” Apari told the AP. Apari, who is Salvador’s father but is separated from Berenson, blamed the Interior Ministry directly and said no official explanation had been provided.

The Interior Ministry’s communications chief, Zully Bismark, said she was not immediately able to address the issue when reached by the AP on Saturday afternoon.

Berenson, 42, was paroled last year after serving 15 years for aiding the Tupac Amaru leftist rebel group.

Arrested in 1995, the former Massachusetts Institute of Technology student was accused of helping the rebels plan an armed takeover of Congress, an attack that never happened.

A military court convicted her the following year and sentenced her to life in prison for sedition. After the U.S. government pressured Peruvian officials, she was retried in civil courts in 2001 and sentenced to 20 years for terrorist collaboration.

A three-judge appeals court had given her permission to leave the country beginning Friday with the stipulation she return by Jan. 11.

The panel had overturned a lower-court judge’s initial refusal in October.

Peru’s anti-terrorism prosecutor, Julio Galindo, told the AP he had asked the appeals court Friday to nullify the decision because it violated a law prohibiting paroled prisoners from leaving the country.

He said he did not know if the court had acted on his appeal and Peru’s courts spokesman, Guillermo Gonzalez, said he had no information on the matter.

Berenson’s parents, often outspoken on her behalf, did not respond Saturday to phone calls seeking comment.

Some Peruvians consider Berenson a terrorist and have publicly insulted her on the street.

The prosecutor, Galindo, had opposed letting Berenson out of prison before her 20-year sentence for aiding terrorism ends in 2015, saying it would set a bad precedent for the early release of others convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

Mark Berenson, who turns 70 on Dec. 29, told the AP on Friday that his daughter had every intention of returning to Peru.

“As Lori says, if she doesn’t come home, let Interpol arrest her,” he said.

Peru could seek her extradition and return her to prison if she doesn’t come back in the allotted time, Gonzalez said.

On Saturday, Berenson left her apartment around midday to take Salvador for a walk and did not comment to new crews other than to ask them to leave her in peace.

Her journey from prison inmate to parolee has been anguished, and Peruvian news media have repeatedly hounded and mobbed her and frightened young Salvador, said Mark Berenson.

Last month, a local TV channel obtained Berenson’s new address and showed video of her home. Her father complained that the act endangered his daughter and said the U.S. Embassy had complained.

Lori “just wants to be a low-profile person and get on with her life and be a good citizen,” Berenson said, adding that he planned to appeal to President Ollanta Humala to send his daughter home.

Humala could by law commute his daughter’s sentence but has not indicated whether he might do so.

Unrepentant when arrested, Berenson softened during years of sometimes harsh prison conditions, and was eventually praised as a model prisoner. Since her initial parole in May 2010, Berenson repeatedly expressed regret for aiding the rebel group.

Yet many Peruvians see her as a symbol of the 1980-2000 rebel conflict that claimed some 70,000 lives. The fanatical Maoist Shining Path movement did most of the killing; Tupac Amaru was a lesser player.

Berenson has acknowledged helping the rebels rent a safe house, where authorities seized a cache of weapons. But she insists she didn’t know guns were being stored there. She denies ever engaging in violence.

In an interview with the AP last year, Berenson said she was deeply troubled at having become Peru’s “face of terrorism” and felt she’d become a politically convenient scapegoat.

___

Associated Press writer Franklin Briceno contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_peru_lori_berenson

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All girls look for exclusive dresses for their wedding and if you have planned to go for the designer pieces, then look no further than the exotic creations by Alvina Valenta. The collection will surely hold you flabbergasted- the sophistication, the elegance and the ethereal charm of the dresses make every bride feel the princess on her wedding day. The ageless elegance, the classiness and the eternal charm that is captured in the dresses will have all eyes set on you on your special day. The detailed silhouettes with intricate details will compliment your natural female form and will flatter your body type.

The assortment is simply timeless and accentuates femininity and is available in soft complimenting colors that will complete your look. The intricate patterns and detailing make the dresses stand out. You will love the interplay of the rich fabrics, often overlapping each other to complete the look. Choose your pick from the A-Line, mermaid, ball gown, baby doll, princess, sheath and fit-n-flare the one that best accentuates your body type. The collection also offers interesting hemlines and necklines and you can pick from one shoulder, scoop neck, sweet heart, strapless, simple square, V-neck, halter, bateau, modest or the simple off shoulder ones. From these wide ranges, you are sure to find the perfect one- that is all you.

The Collection
The Alvino Valenta wedding dresses are popular for their timeless appeal coupled with minute attention to details. Signifying and emphasizing the feminine ?lan and grandiose spirit, the dresses are all about urbane elegance. The detailing that is found in the dresses is all handmade- with the signature beading and the handmade roses. Utmost care is taken to ensure that the hem finishes down right to your petticoat. The materials that you will find are luxurious silk, satin organza, satin shantung and the most delicate of lace. The popular choice remains the tulle circular skirt with a delicately beaded bodice. Needless to say, these dresses exude romance, sophistication and fun.

Pocket Pick for the Alvino Valenta
These dresses are a bit on the higher side. However, you surely would not mind spending anything from $1500 to $3500- depending on the design you choose for your designer wedding dress. They are available in plenty of sizes- from 2 to 24, so you will surely get the perfect fit for you. With customized bead work, that is hand sewn, they all come with lace facing. However, if you are planning to buy from the internet, you might strike a good deal.

By:Alice Posted in Wedding Dresses, Wedding Styles &Trends | No Comments ?

Source: http://www.artsyweddingblog.com/wedding-dress-by-alvina-valenta

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“The overall trade environment next year for China will be complicated, partly due to the economic uncertainties in the European countries, and I should say that the export situation in the first quarter of next year will be very severe,” Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told a news conference.

Growth in Chinese exports and imports slowed in November, fresh evidence of faltering demand abroad and at home that is pushing Beijing towards a more explicit pro-growth policy stance, according to data published on December 10.

Customs data showed exports at their most sluggish in two years — stripping out the volatile month of February.

(Reporting by Aileen Wang and Nick Edwards; Editing by Ken Wills)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/bs_nm/us_china_economy_trade

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Accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, the president was traveling Wednesday to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to address service members and their families as he brings the war to a close.

At a base that’s seen more than 200 deaths over nearly nine years of fighting in Iraq, Obama was to highlight the human side of the war, reflecting on the bravery and sacrifices of U.S. forces now on their way back home.

All U.S. troops are to be out of Iraq Dec. 31, though Obama has pledged the U.S. will continue to help Iraq as it faces an uncertain future in a volatile region of the world. Even as majorities in the U.S. public favor ending the war, some Republicans have criticized Obama’s withdrawal, arguing he’s leaving behind an unstable Iraq that could hurt U.S. interests and fall subject to influence from neighboring Iran.

Obama has on several occasions addressed his reasons for ending the war, casting it as a promise kept after he ran for president as an anti-war candidate and speaking of the need to refocus U.S. attention on rebuilding the troubled economy at home.

On Wednesday, his focus will be principally on the troops and their role and his commitment to ensuring veterans get the jobs and resources they need once they’re back home. His audience will be those people most personally affected, including troops back from Iraq and their families.

In a local television interview Tuesday, Obama previewed some of his likely themes.

“We must not forget the men and women who gave their lives, tens of thousands wounded, all those missed birthday parties, missed soccer games and missed dinners because folks were on their second or third deployment. We should not take that for granted,” the president told KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs, Colo. “It is an extraordinary testimony to the bravery, courage, dedication and patriotism of our soldiers.”

It’s the president’s first visit to Fort Bragg, which is home to Army Special Operations, the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne, among others. Special Forces troops from Fort Bragg were among the first soldiers in Iraq during the 2003 invasion and its paratroopers helped lead the 2007 troop increase.

North Carolina, which Obama narrowly won in 2008, also is an important state for the 2012 presidential election and will host the Democratic convention.

To underscore the political significance, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of the leading GOP presidential contenders, addressed an open letter to Obama and sent it to the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer decrying the unemployment rate for veterans.

Unemployment for veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, was 11.1 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Romney called such a statistic a “disgrace.”

“In the face of such economic hardship, fine words welcoming veterans home are insufficient,” he wrote. “It is time for a fundamental change of direction. If you won’t or can’t lead our country out of the economic morass you’ve deepened, then I would suggest that it’s time for you to go.”

___

Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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The overwhelming votes of 410-11 and 418-2 were largely symbolic, however, as the Senate was not expected to act on the legislation in the few remaining days of the congressional session.

Separately, Congress was poised to back a sweeping defense bill that already included crippling sanctions on foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran’s Central Bank, a provision that the Senate backed unanimously last week.

Determined to show their hawkish stand on Iran and pro-Israel credentials, House lawmakers voted for two bills that would strengthen current sanctions while expanding the list of companies and individuals subject to penalties.

The legislation builds on sanctions that Congress overwhelmingly passed ? and President Barack Obama signed ? last year. Those penalties targeted exports of gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran and banned U.S. banks from doing business with foreign banks providing services to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The United Nations and the European Union have also imposed sanctions on Iran.

“Our fundamental strategic objective must be to stop Iran before it obtains nuclear weapons capabilities and to compel it to permanently dismantle its pursuit of such weapons,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The United States has tried repeatedly to coax Iran into international negotiations with the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany over its nuclear program. Iran contends that its program is designed to generate electricity, not build weapons.

Among the new provisions, the House bills would restrict foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies from doing business with Iran. Bartering is included among the activities that could be sanctioned, and Americans would be prohibited from conducting commercial or financial transactions with the Revolutionary Guard.

Directing its ire at Syria and North Korea as well, one provision would strengthen the prohibition on granting landing rights in the United States to vessels that have visited Iran, North Korea or Syria in the last two years.

The defense bill would impose tough new penalties on Iran, targeting foreign financial institutions that do business with the Central Bank in Tehran. The legislation requires the president to prohibit or impose strict conditions on that financial institution and its ability to maintain corresponding accounts in the United States.

The sanctions appear to be taking a toll in Tehran. Last month, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad acknowledged that the current penalties were impeding Iran’s financial institutions, saying, “our banks cannot make international transactions anymore.”

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_go_co/us_iran_sanctions

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Campaigning for re-election, President Barack Obama dips into both worlds. On a recent trip, he joined the Festas in their tidy South Scranton home to discuss his jobs initiatives. Hours later, he was in Rosen’s spacious house, amid a trove of contemporary art, raising money from high-dollar donors.

As he focuses his message on income inequality, Obama’s policy and political goals find him spanning the gulf between the 1 percent and the 99.

The White House is increasingly relying on working-class Americans to put a face on the president’s economic policies, arranging kitchen table chats or cafe roundtables between Obama and representative beneficiaries of his initiatives. It’s an involved process, requiring advance vetting to get the most illustrative individual or family to reinforce the president’s agenda. It’s a blend of reality and stagecraft designed to convey a front-page image or a six-second video clip on the evening news that advances the president’s story line.

At the same time, with re-election in mind, the president is spending more and more time raising campaign money from wealthy donors. Intimate moments with contributors are rarely captured on camera, and while reporters get to hear the president’s opening remarks at fundraising events, the interaction with donors occurs after reporters have been ushered out.

The juxtaposition may seem stark ? from coffee mugs to wine crystals, from a middle-class neighborhood in Las Vegas to the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. But Obama’s message to both is a variation on what has become a common refrain of spending to create jobs, payroll tax cuts and higher taxes on the wealthy.

“We don’t just ask for sacrifices from seniors, we don’t just ask for sacrifices from union members, we don’t just ask for sacrifices from teachers, we ask for sacrifices from the people who are in the best position to sacrifice,” he told donors recently.

Still, the contrast can provide rich fodder for Republican attacks. After Obama in October attended one fundraiser hosted by actor Will Smith and producer James Lassiter and another by the star couple Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, the Republican National Committee pounced with a news release headlined, “As Americans Continue to Deal With the Effects of Obamanomics, Obama Connects With His Celebrity Friends.”

No doubt, all leading candidates for president raise money from wealthy donors, and fundraising by incumbent presidents is especially visible. For the White House, it’s a matter of sticking to the same message no matter who the audience is.

“Anyone who’s in the game has to be sensitive to the fact that he’s going to be appearing before well-dressed, deep-pocketed audiences in very fancy houses and penthouse suites,” said Chris Lehane, a Democratic operative and presidential campaign veteran. “You always have to be conscious and recognize the imperative of being consistent.”

When addressing donors, Obama says he is willing to cut spending but he also is asking “the most fortunate among us to do a little more to pay their fair share.”

“We’re not trying to sneak one by them,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “They understand, and they support the president because of it.”

Rosen, a developer and chairman of the American Council for World Jewry, said he’s had no problem recruiting donors because of the president’s stance on taxes. “For the most part, my friends and people I talk to say they don’t object to paying a higher tax,” he said in an interview. “Certainly in last week’s event, no one said they wouldn’t come because he’s trying to increase their taxes.”

When he does find reluctance from donors, he said, it tends to come from financial executives pushing back on Obama’s banking policies, not his calls for higher personal income taxes.

“I have a number of people I know on Wall Street who don’t like what they hear,” Rosen said.

As for creating clashing images with Obama’s outreach to the middle class, White House officials say that’s less a concern than showing the president being exposed to real-life examples of the economic struggles he wants his policies to address.

“Holding up a specific family or a specific business or a specific citizen and illustrating how they would tangibly benefit from the policy agenda that the president is promoting is one of the most effective ways to cut through what’s otherwise the jargon of the political process,” Earnest said.

People chosen for those set pieces often get word just days before an Obama visit. The Festas were notified on the Sunday evening before Obama’s trip to Scranton on a recent Wednesday.

Patrick Festa, an elementary school teacher, and Donna Festa, a graphic designer, fit the bill as the president promoted the advantages to the middle class of extending the current payroll tax cut. Their names were culled from a list provided by the White House Office of Public Engagement, and they were selected from three households that made a final list.

The Festas were sworn to secrecy. An advance team descended on their house to examine logistics. They removed glass from picture frames to eliminate camera glare, they relocated a Christmas tree, moved some furniture out of the way and arranged some Christmas decorations to make them more visually appealing. Eventually, the Secret Service let the neighbors in on the visit.

When reporters were finally ushered in, Obama was seated at the end of a dinner table adorned with Christmas balls. The cameras shuttered as Obama asked Donna Festa about her job. Within 40 seconds, the press was ushered away. Obama stayed about 10 more minutes.

“We told president we were fortunate that we had jobs,” Donna Festa said in an interview. “But that as for getting ahead, it’s very tight.”

The glass is back in the picture frames and the furniture has been relocated, but Donna Festa said the family liked where the Christmas tree ended up. It’s a mystery to her how they ended up on the White House short list.

“Our neighbors are still abuzz about it,” she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_stagecraft

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