Junior high app developer is a pre-teen tycoon in training (Yahoo! News)

He might not be ready to submit a college application, but Thomas Suarez of Manhattan Beach, California is already releasing apps for iOS devices. The sixth grader recently gave a talk at TEDxManhattanBeach in which he discussed his love of computers (he got into them in kindergarten), his plans for the future, and the inspiration he got from the late Steve Jobs.

Suarez has released several apps on the Apple App Store since launching his first, a fortune-telling title called Earth Fortune, in late 2010. His most popular app has been?Bustin Jieber, a Whack-a-Mole style game where players squish the disembodied head of Justin Bieber. "I created it because a lot of people at school disliked Justin Bieber a little bit," he told the TEDx crowd.

After teaching himself programming basics in Python, C, and Java, Suarez says he took up Apple's SDK and Xcode. "I've gotten a lot of inspiration from Steve Jobs," he says. Inspired, he started an App Club at his school, because "not many kids know where to go to find out how to make a program." As he sees it, "for soccer, you could go to a soccer team, and for violin, you could get a lesson from a violinist." But even parents might not be a resource, since as he rightly points out, "not many of them have written apps."

The club is working with its teacher sponsor to create iPad apps for education, which will eventually be distributed to local school districts free of charge, and sold to others. Oh, and he's even created his own company, CarrotCorp. It sounds like Suarez picked up a little entrepreneurial spirit from Jobs, as well.

(Source)

This article was written by Randy Nelson and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111111/tc_yblog_technews/junior-high-app-developer-is-a-pre-teen-tycoon-in-training

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FOR KIDS: The ups and downs of a teenage brain

New research shows IQ, brain can change during adolescence

Web edition : Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

One thing is certain about teenagers: Things change, inside and out. That includes teen brains and mental abilities, according to a team of neuroscientists from London. The brain researchers recently reported that a person?s IQ may rise or fall and regions of the brain may change during the teenage years.

Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website?to read the full story:?The ups and downs of a teenage brain


Found in: Science News For Kids

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/335973/title/FOR_KIDS_The_ups_and_downs_of_a_teenage_brain

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Work at a Different Speed Mix [Video]

Work at a Different Speed Mix Instead of featuring one artist today, we're going to feature eight in this Work at a Different Speed Mix. The 99% says:

When it's time to focus on your creative labors, you don't want to feel rushed. Wordless, immersive, and ambient, this latest 99% music mix - Work at a Different Speed - is about as un-hurried as you can get. Lilting electronic pulses, abstract synth tones, and acoustic solo instruments downshift your brain for productive focus.

And while all eight tracks share the quality of being unobtrusive, they differ tonally and thematically. You'll see what I mean when you experience the 50-minute mix for yourself. The whole thing is below, with the above video being just one of the tracks.

Work at a Different Speed | The 99%

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/n_HUkT3UwRs/work-at-a-different-speed-mix

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Why We?d Be Miserable in a World Without Religion

DD: Yeah, that's happened many times. Normally the undergraduate atheist is an extremely self-satisfied and arrogant guy. There?s not a lot of new material, but sometimes a question will throw you off in that you have to think about what's behind the question. One time, a guy shouts at me from the audience, ?Why does God hate amputees?? And I was like, ?Excuse me?? And he says, ?In the Bible, Jesus heals the blind man, but there's no account of a miracle where an amputee is healed.? That was a little bit out of the blue. I subsequently discovered a whole website called ?why God hates amputees? or something like that. It got me go to back and think through what the guy was really getting at. To heal an amputee and make his limb re-grow is a kind of obvious miracle, [whereas] anybody can claim an internal miracle, like, ?I was diagnosed with cancer and now I don't have it.? His point was, show us a miracle that is objectively verifiable. At the time, I didn't get all that out of the question. I was a little bit baffled.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=1efd3fdc9e875dc18a8e6cfd19fe9649

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Testimony ends in Jackson doctor trial

Michael Jackson's doctor finally made a decision he had long delayed, telling a judge Tuesday he would not testify in his involuntary manslaughter trial.

Minutes later, the defense rested its case and the prosecution, after presenting brief rebuttal testimony, closed its presentation of evidence in the six-week trial. That set the stage for closing arguments to begin Thursday.

Dr. Conrad Murray's announcement came while jurors were out of the room and he was not asked to repeat it for them.

Story: Tito Jackson: Security kept family from Michael
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Spectators, including Jackson's mother, father, brother Randy and sister LaToya, seemed to hold their breath before Murray answered one of the biggest remaining questions of his trial, saying he would stay away from the witness stand.

The doctor held his hands together over his mouth in a prayerful pose before Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor asked the cardiologist whether he intended to take the stand.

The judge lectured Murray as he had before on how the decision to testify was his alone and that he also had the right to remain silent.

"Have you made up your mind?" Pastor asked.

Murray paused, looked at all his lawyers, seemed to sigh and said, "My decision is I will not testify in this matter."

Video: Jackson's doctor didn't follow protocol, says witness (on this page)

The judge asked lead attorney Ed Chernoff if he had conferred with Murray about his rights and Chernoff said "yes."

"The court finds the defendant has knowingly, freely and explicitly waived his right to testify," the judge said. "I certainly will respect that decision."

Murray had left open the possibility of testifying on Monday, when he told the judge that he had not made a final decision.

The judge had warned him that testifying brought with it the prospect of tough cross-examination by the prosecution. That may have swayed him along with the fact that the jury already had a chance to hear him tell his story on a recording of a police interview.

When jurors returned to the courtroom, Chernoff announced that the defense had no further witnesses after calling 16 people to testify. A total of 49 witnesses testified for both sides over 22 days of trial.

Prosecutors contend Murray gave Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol in the bedroom of the singer's mansion. Defense attorneys claim Jackson self-administered the dose when Murray left the room.

Slideshow: Michael Jackson's changing looks (on this page)

The last witness was propofol expert Dr. Steven Shafer, who was re-called by prosecutors as a rebuttal witness to address a few points raised by his former colleague Dr. Paul White.

In the final moments of testimony by White, he was asked by defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan to differentiate between the "standard of care" and the "standard of practice" by physicians. Prosecution expert witnesses have said Murray's treatment of Jackson was an extreme deviation from the accepted standard of care.

"The standard of care is the ideal," White said. "It is what we would look for for every patient."

But he suggested there are unique situations in which the standard must be adjusted to circumstances and may not reach the highest level.

Video: Defense witness in Murray trial gets fined (on this page)

White has testified for the defense that Jackson caused his own death. But White also said he would not have followed the same procedures that Murray did.

Addressing the standard of care issue, Shafer said that in special cases such as that of Jackson, where a patient is treated in a remote location, the precautions should be above the standard of care, not below.

Noting that Jackson was given the drug propofol in his bedroom, he said, "If there was such a thing as bedroom-based anesthesia, the standard guidelines would be a minimum. There's no tolerance for error because you have no backup."

Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death on June 25, 2009. He could face up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if convicted.

Should Dr. Murray have testified, or is there nothing he could say to clear himself? Tell us on Facebook.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45115099/ns/today-entertainment/

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November 9th Communications Shutdown: A System Reboot ...

By John Boering?

My take on the communications shutdown:

In what is obviously a muscle flexing exercise meant to show the public just how much power and control the federal government really has, all communications will be cut off for an estimated three minutes on November 9th, 2011.

Claiming this is a test of the emergency response system, the terror alert system, and any other excuse they can come up with, Fema (that would be the same FEMA in charge of those camps they deny exist) will conduct a complete communications shutdown: all TV, radio, internet, and phone systems will be disabled simultaneously. This will be at 1:00 CST.

I am trying to figure out what kind of national emergency would require cutting all communications, broadcasts and internet use???Maybe an emergency in which the government itself feels threatened by ??.the people?? If this were a test to make sure the system was intact in the event of an emergency I could understand it.? But that isn?t what this is.? This is a test meant to ensure that the apparatus is in place and operational in the event the government wants to prevent communication between citizens: this is a test to make sure they CAN shut it all down if they choose to.

Think Egypt here.? As the protest crowds grew in Egypt, what did the government do? They shut down all cell phones and internet access in an effort to halt communications. It didn?t stop anything, the crowds still grew, but the idea behind this action was clear.

I believe what is actually behind this might be the downloading of some kind of code needed to make the shut-down apparatus work efficiently.? Think about your cable system if you have one or even an upgrade to many computer programs.? A new code must be downloaded and installed, then the system shutdown and re-booted for the changes to take effect.? And, just like these coded program changes in computers and cable, once you re-boot, whatever was newly installed is activated and just runs silently behind the scenes.? In fact, in almost every case, you are not even aware of what changes were made. I have a strange feeling this is what is happening here.? I also think this is somehow attached to the all-digital system they forced everyone onto a few years back.

Being a rather rational and logical person, the idea of shutting off communications of all kinds during a national emergency just doesn?t make any sense to me.? Why would anyone want to do that? ?Wouldn?t your first reaction be to make sure communications were all intact and operational? ?Unless of course, their definition of an emergency is something other than say extreme weather, floods or things of that kind.

In what kind of emergency situation would it benefit the public to have all communications shut down?? I can?t even think of one.

If I were the government I could see where it could be really handy especially in light of the steady growing unrest across the country. Of course their phones, computers and broadcast systems would all be working just fine as their communications systems are independent of the system the public uses.

We have long since passed the point where we can trust government on any level.? This impending communications shut down is only a test run for something far more serious.? This is not about public safety, emergency response or any of the other fluff and hype put out to try and explain why the government would engage in such a test.? In my opinion, this is merely a test run for a future event which could be catastrophic as far as the general public is concerned.

?Keep your eyes and ears open??.something is afoot here and it doesn?t look good for most of us.

Source: http://www.pakalertpress.com/2011/10/30/11-9-fema-test-system-reboot-needed-for-new-code/

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Python study may have implications for human heart health

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that huge amounts of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstreams of feeding pythons promote healthy heart growth, results that may have implications for treating human heart disease.

CU-Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand and her research team found the amount of triglycerides -- the main constituent of natural fats and oils -- in the blood of Burmese pythons one day after eating increased by more than fifty-fold. Despite the massive amount of fatty acids in the python bloodstream there was no evidence of fat deposition in the heart, and the researchers also saw an increase in the activity of a key enzyme known to protect the heart from damage.

After identifying the chemical make-up of blood plasma in fed pythons, the CU-Boulder researchers injected fasting pythons with either "fed python" blood plasma or a reconstituted fatty acid mixture they developed to mimic such plasma. In both cases, the pythons showed increased heart growth and indicators of cardiac health. The team took the experiments a step further by injecting mice with either fed python plasma or the fatty acid mixture, with the same results.

"We found that a combination of fatty acids can induce beneficial heart growth in living organisms," said CU-Boulder postdoctoral researcher Cecilia Riquelme, first author on the Science paper. "Now we are trying to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the process in hopes that the results might lead to new therapies to improve heart disease conditions in humans."

The paper is being published in the Oct. 28 issue of the journal Science. In addition to Leinwand and Riquelme, the authors include CU postdoctoral researcher Brooke Harrison, CU graduate student Jason Magida, CU undergraduate Christopher Wall, Hiberna Corp. researcher Thomas Marr and University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Professor Stephen Secor.

Previous studies have shown that the hearts of Burmese pythons can grow in mass by 40 percent within 24 to 72 hours after a large meal, and that metabolism immediately after swallowing prey can shoot up by forty-fold. As big around as telephone poles, adult Burmese pythons can swallow prey as large as deer, have been known to reach a length of 27 feet and are able to fast for up to a year with few ill effects.

There are good and bad types of heart growth, said Leinwand, who is an expert in genetic heart diseases including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause of sudden death in young athletes. While cardiac diseases can cause human heart muscle to thicken and decrease the size of heart chambers and heart function because the organ is working harder to pump blood, heart enlargement from exercise is beneficial.

"Well-conditioned athletes like Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and cyclist Lance Armstrong have huge hearts," said Leinwand, a professor in the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department and chief scientific officer of CU's Biofrontiers Institute. "But there are many people who are unable to exercise because of existing heart disease, so it would be nice to develop some kind of a treatment to promote the beneficial growth of heart cells."

Riquelme said once the CU team confirmed that something in the blood plasma of pythons was inducing positive cardiac growth, they began looking for the right "signal" by analyzing proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and peptides present in the fed plasma. The team used a technique known as gas chromatography to analyze both fasted and fed python plasma blood, eventually identifying a highly complex composition of circulating fatty acids with distinct patterns of abundance over the course of the digestive process.

In the mouse experiments led by Harrison, the animals were hooked up to "mini-pumps" that delivered low doses of the fatty acid mixture over a period of a week. Not only did the mouse hearts show significant growth in the major part of the heart that pumps blood, the heart muscle cell size increased, there was no increase in heart fibrosis -- which makes the heart muscle more stiff and can be a sign of disease -- and there were no alterations in the liver or in the skeletal muscles, he said.

"It was remarkable that the fatty acids identified in the plasma-fed pythons could actually stimulate healthy heart growth in mice," said Harrison. The team also tested the fed python plasma and the fatty acid mixture on cultured rat heart cells, with the same positive results, Harrison said.

The CU-led team also identified the activation of signaling pathways in the cells of fed python plasma, which serve as traffic lights of sorts, said Leinwand. "We are trying to understand how to make those signals tell individual heart cells whether they are going down a road that has pathological consequences, like disease, or beneficial consequences, like exercise," she said.

The prey of Burmese pythons can be up to 100 percent of the constricting snake's body mass, said Leinwand, who holds a Marsico Endowed Chair of Excellence at CU-Boulder. "When a python eats, something extraordinary happens. Its metabolism increases by more than forty-fold and the size of its organs increase significantly in mass by building new tissue, which is broken back down during the digestion process."

The three key fatty acids in the fed python plasma turned out to be myristic acid, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid. The enzyme that showed increased activity in the python hearts during feeding episodes, known as superoxide dismutase, is a well-known "cardio-protective" enzyme in many organisms, including humans, said Leinwand.

The new Science study grew out of a project Leinwand began in 2006 when she was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and awarded a four-year, $1 million undergraduate education grant from the Chevy Chase, Md.-based institute. As part of the award Leinwand initiated the Python Project, an undergraduate laboratory research program designed to focus on the heart biology of constricting snakes like pythons thought to have relevance to human disease.

Undergraduates contributed substantially to the underpinnings of the new python study both by their genetic studies and by caring for the lab pythons, said Leinwand. While scientists know a great deal about the genomes of standard lab animal models like fruit flies, worms and mice, relatively little was known about pythons. "We have had to do a lot of difficult groundwork using molecular genetics tools in order to undertake this research," said Leinwand.

CU-Boulder already had a laboratory snake facility in place, which contributed to the success of the project, she said.

"The fact that the python study involved faculty, postdoctoral researchers, a graduate student and an undergraduate, Christopher Wall, shows the project was a team effort," said Leinwand. "Chris is a good example of how the University of Colorado provides an incredible educational research environment for undergraduates." Wall is now a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego.

###

University of Colorado at Boulder: http://www.colorado.edu/news

Thanks to University of Colorado at Boulder for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114699/Python_study_may_have_implications_for_human_heart_health

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Superstars invade Ringside Fest in NYC this weekend

NEW YORK? CM Punk, Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan all invade the eighth annual Ringside Fest in midtown Manhattan this Saturday. Right beside them will be WWE.com, who will have you covered if you?re not in the Big Apple this weekend.

The Straight Edge Superstar, Internet Champion and Mr. Money in the Bank will be in attendance to meet WWE Universe members in Manhattan, while also getting a sneak peek at Mattel?s upcoming WWE action figures. Along with the Superstars live at Ringside Collectibles, Inc.?s event, Mattel will unveil all-new, never-before-seen products coming soon from the world champion toymaker.

Follow @WWEUniverse on Twitter on Saturday (Oct. 29) to get exclusive news, pics of all-new, freshly unveiled Mattel figures and Superstar comments, live from Ringside Fest. Then, check back with WWE.com later in the week for full coverage, including an exclusive photo gallery and more.

For tickets to Ringside Fest and additional information, visit www.ringsidefest.com.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/mattel/ringside-fest-2011-preview

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European debt deal lifts Dow by almost 340 points

Specialist James Denaro, right, directs trading at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist James Denaro, right, directs trading at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Edward Curran, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Christopher Culhane works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

(AP) ? An agreement to contain the European debt crisis electrified the stock market Thursday, driving the Dow Jones Industrial average up nearly 340 points and putting the Standard & Poor's 500 index on track for its best month since 1974.

Investors were relieved after European leaders crafted a deal to slash Greece's debt load and prevent the crisis there from engulfing larger countries like Italy. The package is aimed at preventing another financial disaster like the one that happened in September 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

But some analysts cautioned that Europe's problems remained unsolved.

"The market keeps on thinking that it's put Europe's problems to bed, but it's like putting a three-year old to bed: You might put it there but it won't stay there," said David Kelly, chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds.

Kelly said Europe's debt problems will remain an issue until the economies of struggling nations like Greece and Portugal grow again.

Commodities and Treasury yields soared as investors took on more risk. The euro rose sharply against the dollar.

Stronger U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings also contributed to the surge. The government reported that the American economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from July through September on stronger consumer spending and business investment. That was nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Banks agreed to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds they hold. Europe will also strengthen a financial rescue fund to protect the region's banks and other struggling European countries such as Italy and Portugal.

"This seems to set aside the worries that there would be a massive contagion over there that would have brought everything down with it," said Mark Lamkin, head of Lamkin Wealth Management.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 339.51 points, or 2.9 percent, to 12,208.55. That was its largest jump since Aug. 11, when it rose 423.

All 30 stocks in the Dow rose, led by Bank of America Corp. with a 9.6 percent gain. It was the first time the Dow closed above 12,000 since Aug. 1.

Even with Thursday's gains, the Dow remains 4.7 percent below the high for the year it reached April 29. The Dow has fallen every month since then due to a combination of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, a worldwide parts shortage after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and concerns about the European debt crisis. The Dow is now at approximately the same level it traded at on July 28.

Stocks fell for much of August in the wake of a last-minute deal to prevent the U.S. government from defaulting on its debt.

But anticipations of a solution to Europe's debt problems and signs that the U.S. economy is not in another recession have lifted stocks higher throughout October.

The Dow is up 11.9 percent for the month so far. With only two full days of trading left in the month, the Dow could have its biggest monthly gain since January 1987.

The S&P 500 rose 42.59, or 3.7 percent, to 1,284.59. Those gains turned the S&P positive for the year for the first time since Aug. 3, just before the U.S. government's debt was downgraded. The index is up 13.5 percent for the month, its best performance since a 16.3 percent gain in October 1974.

The Nasdaq composite leaped up 87.96, or 3.3 percent, to 2,738.63.

Small-company stocks rose more than the broader market. That's a sign investors were more comfortable holding assets perceived as being risky but also more likely to appreciate in a strong economy. The Russell 2000 index jumped 5.3 percent.

Raw materials producers, banks and stocks in other industries that depend on a strong economy for profit growth led the way. Copper jumped 5.8 percent to $3.69 a pound and crude oil jumped 4.2 percent to $93.96 a barrel.

The euro rose sharply, to $1.42, as confidence in Europe's financial system grew. The euro was worth $1.39 late Wednesday and had been as low as $1.32 on Oct. 3. European stock indexes also soared. France's CAC-40 rose 6.3 percent and Germany's DAX jumped 6.1 percent.

Investors sold U.S. Treasury notes and bonds, an indication they were moving away from safer investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, rose to 2.39 percent from 2.21 percent late Wednesday.

European leaders still have to finalize the details of their latest plan. French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke with Chinese President Hu Jintao amid hopes that countries with lots of cash like China can contribute to the European rescue.

Past attempts to contain Europe's two-year debt crisis have proved insufficient. Greece has been surviving on rescue loans since May 2010. In July, creditors agreed to take some losses on their Greek bonds, but that wasn't enough to fix the problem.

Worries about Europe's debt crisis and a weak U.S. economy dragged the S&P 500 down 19.4 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3. That put it on the cusp of what's called a bear market, which is a 20 percent decline.

Since then, there have been a number of more encouraging signs on the U.S. economy. Despite the jitters over Europe, many large American companies have been reporting strong profit growth in the third quarter.

Dow Chemical rose 8.2 percent after its profit last quarter rose 59 percent on strong sales growth from Latin America. Occidental Petroleum Corp. jumped 9.7 percent after reporting a 50 percent surge in income.

Citrix Systems Inc. rose 17.3 percent. The technology company's revenue rose 20 percent last quarter, and it forecast growth of up to 13 percent for 2012. Akamai Technologies Inc., whose products help speed the delivery of online content, jumped 15.4 percent after the company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations.

Avon Products Inc. fell 18 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its contacts with financial analysts and Avon's own probe into bribery in China and other countries.

Nine stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavy at 6.5 billion shares.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-10-27-Wall%20Street/id-b257ed0ab4994b5d91a491e42cce30ac

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U.N. council plans swift end to Libya mandate (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? The Security Council plans to end U.N. authorization for a no-fly zone and NATO intervention in Libya this week despite calls from Libya's government for it to wait, council envoys said on Wednesday.

Libyan Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told the 15-nation council that Libya's people were "looking forward to terminating the no-fly zone over Libya as well as terminating the mandate accorded by Security Council resolution 1973 to protect civilians as soon as possible."

"In accordance with the initial assessments, the date of October 31 is a logical date to terminate this mandate," he said.

But he added that Libya's National Transitional Council, or NTC, had not yet made an official decision on whether to request termination of the U.N. mandate under resolution 1973, which authorized members of NATO and other U.N. member states to take "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians.

That was why the Libyan government wanted the council to hold off on ending NATO's U.N. mandate, Dabbashi said.

"We request the council to give a chance to the NTC to take a resolution on this," he said. "This requires some days. Perhaps this will take place before the 31st of this month."

Dabbashi said the government needed more time to assess the security situation in its country and its ability to monitor its borders.

Western diplomats on the Security Council told reporters after closed-door discussions on Libya that council members planned to go ahead and terminate the U.N. mandate, thereby withdrawing NATO's authorization in Libya.

They said issues the NTC had suggested it would like NATO to help with, including border security, fell outside the U.N. mandate to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly zone.

"The job was to protect civilians and from NATO's point of view, that mission has been accomplished," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "There's no point in delaying termination of the mandate."

DABBASHI: GADDAFI WASN'T EXECUTED

France's U.N. ambassador, Gerard Araud, said an arms embargo and other sanctions on Libya still in place would not be affected by the council's move to end the no-fly zone and terminate the U.N. mandate for outside military intervention.

He added that all council members believed there would be no need for the U.N. mandate for military operations in Libya beyond Monday and planned to adopt a resolution that would formally cancel that mandate on Thursday or Friday.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who has repeatedly accused NATO of exceeding its U.N. mandate in Libya, said extending the U.N. authorization beyond Monday would be "unrealistic."

The Security Council in March authorized a no-fly zone and foreign military intervention to protect Libyans from security forces that then-leader Muammar Gaddafi had deployed to suppress pro-democracy uprisings across the country.

The council is also expected in the coming days to approve a Russian-drafted resolution voicing concern about the proliferation of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles across Libya and beyond its borders, diplomats said.

Apparently responding to calls from various senior U.N. officials for an investigation into the circumstances of the death of Gaddafi after his capture last Thursday, Dabbashi denied NTC soldiers had summarily executed him.

Gaddafi died of wounds he sustained prior to his capture, he said.

"Gaddafi was injured in the course of the clashes between his loyalists and the revolutionaries," Dabbashi said. "When he was arrested, he was bleeding from his abdomen and head and he passed away (on) his arrival to the hospital in Misrata."

"According to initial reports, none of the revolutionaries fired at him after arresting him," he said.

He added the Libyans were conducting an investigation.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/wl_nm/us_libya_un

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