Eideard

Giving a first major public sign that they may be ready for formal talks with the American-led coalition in Afghanistan, the Taliban announced Tuesday that they had struck a deal to open a political office in Qatar that could allow for direct negotiations over the endgame in the Afghan war.

The step was a reversal of the Taliban’s longstanding public denials that they were involved in, or even willing to consider, talks related to their insurgency, and it had the potential to revive a reconciliation effort that stalled in September, with the assassination of the head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council…

American officials have said in recent months that the opening of a Taliban mission would be the single biggest step forward for peace efforts that have been plagued by false starts. The most embarrassing came in November 2010, when it emerged that an impostor had fooled Western officials into thinking he represented the Taliban and then had disappeared with hundreds of thousands of dollars used to woo him…

The opening of an office in Qatar is meant to give Afghan and Western peace negotiators an “address” where they can openly contact legitimate Taliban intermediaries. That would open the way for confidence-building measures that Washington hopes to press forward in the coming months. Chief among them, American officials said, is the possibility of transferring a number of “high-risk” detainees — including some with ties to Al Qaeda — to Afghan custody from Guantánamo Bay. The prisoners would then presumably be freed later…

The American officials said that another idea under consideration was the establishment of cease-fire zones within Afghanistan, although that prospect was more uncertain and distant. The officials asked not to be identified because of the delicacy of the talks.

Plus – they just may not have a clue of what they’re talking about.

RTFA. Longish with lots of detail. The most interesting part – to me – is that Qatar volunteered to host this potential peace process.

At the dawn of the millennium, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, who is today Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, set his sights on creating a practical everyday use production car with a fuel consumption of 1.0 liter per 100 km (235 mpg). In 2002 a prototype VW 1-Litre was unveiled, which was followed in 2009 by the second-generation model, dubbed the L1, which boasted a combined diesel fuel consumption figure of 1.38-liter/100 km (170 mpg). As impressive as that figure is, the company has now managed to squeeze a combined fuel consumption of just 0.9-liter/100 km (261 mpg) with its third-generation VW 1-Litre prototype – the XL1…

With the hybrid system engaged the prototype XL1 accelerates from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 11.9 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h)…In electric only mode the TDI is decoupled from the drivetrain by disengaging a clutch, and it is shut down. Meanwhile, the clutch on the gearbox side remains closed, so the DSG is fully engaged with the electric motor. Using what is known as “pulse starting”, VW says the restarting of the TDI while driving is very smooth. The electric motor’s rotor is sped up and quickly coupled to the engine clutch, which accelerates the TDI to the required speed and starts it.

Under certain conditions the load shared between the TDI engine and the electric motor can be shifted so that the turbodiesel is operating at its optimum efficiency level. Additionally, the gears of the automatically shifting 7-speed DSG are also always selected with the aim of minimizing energy usage with the engine controller taking into account parameters such as the accelerator pedal position and engine load, as well as the energy supply and mix of kinetic and electrical energy at any given time…

Viewed from above, the car is widest at the front and narrows towards the rear for an improved aerodynamic profile, which VW says resembles the aerodynamic lines of a dolphin. The dolphin-like looks continue to the side profile with the roofline tracing an arc from the A-pillars to the rear.

To prevent air turbulence the rear wheels are fully covered and the air flows have also been optimized by small spoilers in front of and behind the wheels, while the door mirrors have been replaced with digital cameras that send images to two displays inside the vehicle…

When the L1 was unveiled in 2009, Volkswagen indicated it would be entering production in 2013. We’ll be interested to see if this updated model is on track for that date or whether the company hopes to bring the XL1 into production before then.

Latest rumors say late 2012 for consumer purchases. And – yes – it will be expensive. Those goodies in materials and special shapes don’t come cheap. What is significant is there is little that is extraordinarily expensive or off-the-wall engineering. A great deal is off-the-shelf from VW’s production plants. We’re getting to where with proper scale, this can become affordable.

RTFA. Lots of dynamite photos.

A Qatari diplomat who was questioned by federal investigators after an in-flight disturbance has been released and will not face charges, officials said.

Mohammed Al-Madadi has “been given clearance to travel back to Washington,” said Alison Bradley, a spokeswoman for the Brown Lloyd James public relations firm, which represents the Qatari Embassy. A federal law enforcement official told CNN Al-Madadi will not face charges…

The passenger was in a lavatory for a long time and may have been smoking, a U.S. official told CNN. He also may have made an “unfortunate comment” referring to a shoe bomb when questioned on the plane, the official said.

Fran Townsend, a homeland security official in President George W. Bush’s administration, told CNN that the person involved was a Qatari diplomat and that her sources said the incident may have been a misunderstanding. She said law enforcement officials examined the man’s shoes and were satisfied there were no explosives.

Dealing with an uptight air marshal in the middle of a flight – and making a smart-ass joke about how “I couldn’t get my shoe to ignite” is not the brightest decision – even with a diplomatic passport.