Irish potato famine pest identified

20 May 2013 Last updated at 23:05 ET By Helen Briggs BBC News

Scientists have used plant samples collected in the mid-19th Century to identify the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.

A plant pest that causes potato blight spread to Ireland in 1845 triggering a famine that killed one million people.

DNA extracted from museum specimens shows the strain that changed history is different from modern day epidemics, and is probably now extinct.

Other strains continue to attack potato and tomato crops around the world.

The fungus-like infection causes annual losses of enough potatoes to feed hundreds of millions of people a year.

A team led by The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, traced the global spread of potato blight from the early 1800s to the present day.

Until now, it has been unclear how early strains of Phytophthora infestans are related to those present in the world today.

Continue reading the main story

The Irish Potato Famine

• Altogether, about a million people in Ireland are estimated to have died of starvation and epidemic disease between 1846 and 1851
• Some two million emigrated in a period of a little more than a decade from 1845
• Comparison with other famines suggests the Irish famine of the late 1840s, which killed nearly one-eighth of the entire population, was proportionally much more destructive of human life than the vast majority of famines in modern times
• The famine began as a natural disaster, but historians say its effects were worsened by the actions and inactions of the Whig government of the time

Researchers in the UK, Germany and the US analysed dried leaves kept in collections in museums at Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, UK, and Botanische Staatssammlung Munchen, Germany.

High-tech DNA sequencing techniques allowed them to decode ancient DNA from the pathogen in samples stored as early as 1845.

These were compared with modern-day genetic types from Europe, Africa and the Americas, giving an insight into the evolution of the pathogen.

"This strain was different from all the modern strains that we analysed - most likely it is new to science," Prof Sophien Kamoun of The Sainsbury Laboratory told BBC News.

"We can't be sure but most likely it's gone extinct."

Treasures of knowledge

The researchers believe the strain - HERB-1 - emerged in the early 1800s and continued to spread globally throughout the 19th Century.

Only in the 20th Century, after new potato varieties were introduced, was it replaced by another Phytophthora infestans strain, US-1, which is now dominant around the world.

The research, published in the new open-access scientific journal, eLife, suggests crop breeding methods may have an impact on the evolution of pathogens.

"Perhaps this strain became extinct when the first resistant potato varieties were bred at the beginning of the 20th Century," said Kentaro Yoshida from The Sainsbury Laboratory.

"What is certain is that these findings will greatly help us to understand the dynamics of emerging pathogens. This type of work paves the way for the discovery of many more treasures of knowledge hidden in herbaria."

Commenting on the study, Professor Sir David Baulcombe of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge said it shows how we can use herb specimens to track biodiversity.

"It might be a revival in the fortunes or relevance of dried plants," he said. "It illustrates very nicely the arms race over pathogens and their host."

Phytophthora infestans - which causes potato blight - emerged in the US in 1844, and spread to Europe the following year.

The summer of 1845 was mild but very wet in the UK and Ireland, giving the perfect conditions for the blight to spread.

The failure of the crop in Ireland - which relied heavily on potatoes as a food source - led to the deaths of about a million people from starvation and disease between 1846 and 1851.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22596561#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Jay-Z Clarifies Beyonce Pregnancy Rumors

Jay-Z reportedly tells Hot 97 host that his wife is not expecting a child.
By Jocelyn Vena

Beyonc? and Jay-Z
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707684/jayz-beyonce-pregnant-rumors.jhtml

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Here we come with Clean and Minimal Real Estate theme with lots of options and pages.

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Tea party looks to take advantage of moment

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement's leaders certainly think so.

They say the IRS acknowledgement that it had targeted their groups for extra scrutiny ? a claim that tea party activists had made for years ? is helping pump new energy into the coalition. And they are trying to use that development, along with the ongoing controversy over the Benghazi, Libya, terrorist attacks and the Justice Department's secret seizure of journalists' phone records, to recruit new activists incensed about government overreach.

"This is the defining moment to say 'I told you so,' " said Katrina Pierson, a Dallas-based tea party leader, who traveled to Washington last week as the three political headaches for President Barack Obama unfolded.

Luke Rogonjich, a tea party leader in Phoenix, called the trio of controversies a powerful confluence that bolsters the GOP's case against big government. "Suddenly, there are a lot of things pressing on the dam," said Rogonjich.

It's unclear whether a movement made up of disparate grassroots groups with no central body can take advantage of the moment and leverage it to grow stronger after a sub-par showing in last fall's election had called into question the movement's lasting impact. Republicans and Democrats alike say the tea party runs the risk of going too far in its criticism, which could once again open the door to Democratic efforts to paint it as an extreme arm of the GOP.

"Never underestimate the tea party's ability to overplay its hand," said Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee. "Just because there is universal agreement that the IRS went too far, that should not be misread as acceptance of the tea party's ideology of anger."

At the very least, furor over the IRS in particular is giving the tea party more visibility than it has had in months, and it's providing a new rallying cry for tea party organizers starting to plot how to influence the 2014 congressional elections.

The tax-agency scandal ? it has led to the acting IRS commissioner's ouster, a criminal investigation and Capitol Hill hearings ? seems to validate the tea party's long-held belief among supporters that government was trampling on them specifically, a claim dismissed by ousted commissioner Steven T. Miller. He has called the targeting "a mistake and not an act of partisanship."

Nevertheless, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., elected in 2010 with tea party backing, said the IRS scandal "confirms many of the feelings that led to the tea party movement in the first place."

"What's happened here is a reminder of, this is what happens when you expand government," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That and the disaster that is Obamacare is going to be a real catalyst in 2014 and beyond."

Tea party activists hope they also can drive support ahead of the elections by stoking widespread suspicions that the Obama administration and State Department are hiding key details about the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The seizure of Associated Press phone records also plays into their argument that government is too intrusive.

Tea party activists have tried to take advantage of the issues that have put some of their central tenets ? limited government and civil liberties ? in the spotlight.

From around the country last week, they headed Washington to hold a news conference on the Capitol steps and meet with members of Congress. Those who stayed home jammed House and Senate phone lines with calls urging congressional action as the IRS saga unfolded. An email from Teaparty.org that was sent to activists proclaimed: "We've worked so hard these past few years and it's paying off! We're witnessing the unraveling of a presidency at an unprecedented rate."

Freedomworks, a national tea party group, spent the week circulating petitions for congressional hearings and encouraging leaders of local groups who believe they have been targeted by the IRS to include their story on a national database to build the case against the agency.

"Perhaps all this attention will break something loose," said Jim Chiodo, an activist from Holland, Mich.

It wasn't long ago that the tea party was the hot new political kid on the block, bursting onto the national scene during the contentious summer debate over health care in 2009. Over the next few years, the loosely affiliated conservatives and civil libertarians would leave their mark on the 2010 elections by helping Republican candidates win Senate races in Florida, Kentucky, Utah and Wisconsin and scores of House races.

Those victories resulted in House and Senate Republican caucuses getting pushed to the right in legislative battles, making life difficult for Obama and his Democrats in an era of divided government.

But the movement's success was muted in 2012 when Republicans nominated the establishment-backed Mitt Romney for president, though he did little to inspire the tea party. He lost, and so did many tea party-backed House and Senate candidates.

Now, tea party activists say they are emboldened and won't be afraid to recruit candidates to run in Republican primaries against incumbents who appear to go easy on the Obama administration, particularly in light of the IRS scandal.

"It's one of those issues we should just raise hell about," said Nashville Tea Party leader Ben Cunningham.

Some say they're now even more suspicious of government than before.

"I personally feel so vindicated," said Mark Falzon, a New Jersey tea party leader. But he added: "What's scaring me now is what's going on below the water line that we're not seeing."

Republicans say that the tea party will have an opportunity come 2014 to make its mark again, particularly with Obama not at the top of the ticket. Also, they say that with Obama's health care law going into effect and with the slew of latest controversies, they now have concrete issues to point to when arguing against government overreach.

"Suddenly, this is a very real demonstration of too much power ceded to government bureaucrats," said Matt Kibbe, president of Freedomworks. "This is no longer theoretical."

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Boston and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Tom_Beaumont

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-looks-advantage-moment-131144429.html

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Lawmakers accuse IRS officials of lying in tax scandal

By Andy Sullivan and Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers accused leaders of the Internal Revenue Service of lying on Friday as they opened the first in a series of investigative hearings about the tax collection agency's targeting of conservative groups.

Republicans and Democrats said senior IRS officials should have alerted Congress last year when they found out that their examiners were singling out Tea Party groups for intense scrutiny when the groups applied for tax-exempt status.

"That isn't being misled. That's lying," said Republican Dave Camp, the chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.

The acting head of the agency, Steven Miller, apologized for the IRS's actions and said they stemmed from poor management, rather than a partisan desire to punish conservative groups.

"I did not mislead Congress or the American people," said Miller, who was fired by President Barack Obama on Wednesday. "I think what happened here is that foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient."

Obama, a Democrat, is racing to get in front of a scandal that threatens to eclipse his second-term agenda. He has twice appeared in public to condemn the IRS's actions and has promised to cooperate with three congressional investigations and a Justice Department probe. He has, however, resisted demands for a special prosecutor to look into the allegations.

Republicans have angrily accused Obama's administration of using government powers to target political foes. They say the IRS scandal is one example of a federal government that has grown too large and intrusive.

"Is this still America?" asked Republican Representative Kevin Brady of Texas.

AN EXPLOSION OF ADVOCACY GROUPS

An internal IRS watchdog reported this week that IRS investigators had singled out groups that had conservative-sounding phrases such as "Patriot" and "Tea Party" in their titles when they applied for a tax-exempt status.

Such status allows groups to keep their donor lists secret while engaging in limited political activity. Political campaigns, by contrast, must make their donors lists public.

Tea Party groups say they were asked for information such as what books they read. The questioning in some cases took nearly three years, preventing certain groups from participating in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

The IRS watchdog blamed the scandal on ineffective management and bureaucratic confusion.

The IRS has seen the number of groups applying for so-called 501(c)4 status double in the wake of a January 2010 Supreme Court decision that loosened campaign-finance rules at a time when it has struggled to monitor existing tax-exempt groups.

The top Democrat on the committee, Representative Sander Levin, warned Republicans not to turn the investigation into a partisan witch hunt.

However, he noted that Lois Lerner, the IRS official who made the scandal public last week, did not bring it up when she testified in front of the committee a few days earlier.

"That is wholly unacceptable and one of the reasons we believe Miss Lerner should be relieved of her duty," Levin said.

Two other committees, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, also will hold IRS hearings next week.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Temple-West and Susan Heavey; Editing by David Lindsey and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-picks-temporary-irs-head-tea-party-decries-003205741.html

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Zaki Hasan: Zaki's Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Read my review of 2009's Star Trek here

2009's hugely successful sequel/prequel/reboot Star Trek did a lot more than apply the paddles to the moribund Trek brand after a brief, apathy-induced interregnum. It also opened the franchise up to a wider, more diverse audience than it ever enjoyed in the previous four decades, through ten feature films, six TV series, and mountains of licensed memorabilia. Given that Star Trek practically invented the pejorative perception of geekdom, that's quite the feat, and given that considerable feather in his cap, it's understandable that director J.J. Abrams would leverage that success to go bigger and wider with his follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness.

What's less understandable is why, given the sky's-the-limit free rein offered by the time-twisting, alternate reality shenanigans of the previous film, which effectively took a phaser-beam to the Gordian Knot of accumulated Star Trek continuity and "canon," Team Abrams instead assembled a patchwork pastiche for their curtain call, one that gleefully scavenges familiar moments from prior iterations of the brand, but with none of the accrued emotional heft. If the previous film was your entr?e into the franchise, then you'll likely find this the perfect sequel. But for anyone with any knowledge of or fondness for Trek pre-Abrams, Into Darkness is a decidedly mixed bag that strives mightily to achieve a resonance it hasn't earned.

As the story begins, we're one year removed from the last go-round, with newly-minted Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) firmly ensconced (or so he thinks) in his role as commanding officer of the U.S.S.?Enterprise. When a routine survey mission on a primitive planet goes awry, Kirk ends up violating the Prime Directive (the Federation's most cherished principle) by exposing his ship to the planet's pre-industrial natives, thereby altering the course of their natural development in the process. Resulting from this oopsie, Kirk is demoted in rank, with his former captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), once more assuming command of the storied starship.

But before we can acclimate to this new status quo, the chairs are shuffled again thanks to the terrorist actions of one John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a disgruntled Starfleet crewman with designs on bringing the organization down in as violent (and visible) a way as possible. It's not too long before the Enterprise is dispatched by Starfleet honcho Admiral Marcus (RoboCop himself, Peter Weller) to bring the fugitive to justice, in a chase that takes them from Earth to the homeworld of the animalistic Klingons (making their first appearance in this series), and back again -- with one member of the crew paying the ultimate price. Maybe.

One thing you have to give Abrams credit for is that he knows how to keep things moving. Star Trek Into Darkness, like its predecessor, is rarely dull -- at least visually. It bounces from spectacular action set piece to spectacular action set piece with such hurtling rapidity that there's nary a beat to ponder the broader implications of just how unrelentingly dunderheaded it is. That, coupled with Abrams' taking full advantage of his IMAX and 3D enhancements, makes for a cinematic experience that's a feast for the eyes, if not the mind.

Unfortunately, give more than a moment's thought to the contortions of the script by returning writers Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (with an assist from Damon Lindelof), and your eyes are liable to roll back into your head. Again and again, internal logic is sacrificed on the altar of "bigger is better." And at every turn, a potentially interesting set-up for a compelling story direction is quickly abandoned for whatever new shining object gets the filmmakers' attention. Hey, it's the Klingons! Remember them? Oh, gone. Hmm, what's all this about a secret cabal inside Starfleet? Wait, never mind.

And then there's the big bad, Harrison. It seems like the problem that's plagued every Trek flick for the last thirty years is just how to live up to the considerable shadow cast by Ricardo Montalban as the villainous Khan, whose presence helped make 1982's The Wrath of Khan, written and directed by Nicholas Meyer, the unquestionable Best Trek Ever (true fact). Whether Malcolm McDowall's Soran in 1994's Star Trek Generations, Tom Hardy's Shinzon in 2002's Star Trek Nemesis, or Eric Bana's Nero in the 2009 movie, the refrain is always the same: "Yeah, he's fine and all, but he's no Khan!"

Sad to say, it's the same case here. Benedict Cumberbatch acts the hell out of the role, even when he's not given anything particularly worthwhile to work with by the writers, who allude to the character's backstory while leaving out the bits that would make him the most compelling. Cumberbatch has rightly garnered accolades as the title character of the BBC's Sherlock, and his menacing baritone of a voice coupled with his piercing eyes no doubt make him an imposing figure here. But despite the actor's very best efforts, and like so many Trek baddies before him, John Harrison is no Khan.

Part of that is because the filmmakers seem to be at cross-purposes as to how they want us to perceive him, going out of the way to portray him as conflicted and almost sympathetic (he sheds tears for his lost compatriots, he helps a sick little girl), while also taking pains to emphasize that yes, he's a very bad man (the latter assurance is delivered via an info dump from a beloved Trek figure whose presence feels perfunctory when it should be celebratory). That by itself wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but instead of trekking into new, heretofore unexplored story directions, the movie is so bound and determined to create parallels with The Wrath of Khan?that it's practically begging to be found wanting in the process.

How else to explain the out-of-the-blue inclusion of Alice Eve as scientist Carol Marcus, a character who fans will likely remember from her previous appearance in yep, you guessed it,?Wrath of Khan, as the mother of Captain Kirk's son, but who serves no necessary purpose here (other than a particularly egregious, "Here I am in my underwear" moment). How else to explain a third act development cribbed so ham handedly from Khan and reinterpreted so wrongheadedly that it not only lobs a photon torpedo through whatever remaining dramatic tension there is here, it has the added bonus of reaching back in time and cheapening the previous flick as well.

Also, for all the explosions and fisticuffs and laser beams (and there's a lot), Into Darkness is remarkably Earthbound for a movie with the phrase "Star Trek" in the title, with very little "boldly going" to be had. The watchword here is "revenge," whether via Harrison or Kirk. Often in the past (and as recently as this week) Abrams has protested-too-much how Trek held little interest for him as a child, and that disinterest is largely confirmed here. He's so intent on turning?Trek into Star Wars that I'm actually kind of glad?he'll be moving over to his first love?so he can stop making like Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo, dressing Kim Novak up in another woman's clothes.

I remember two summers ago when I reviewed Super 8, Abrams' homage to the Spielberg-esque fantasy pics of his childhood, I made the comment then that I'd probably have more appreciation for the film were I not so familiar with the cinematic tropes he was recycling (skillfully recycling, but recycling all the same). Well, in many ways the same problem applies with the director's approach to Star Trek Into Darkness. Were I coming in cold, with my first and only exposure to the brand via the 2009 reboot, than this would probably be impossibly gripping stuff. But I'm not, and so it isn't. Lest we forget, this isn't Star Trek 2, it's Star Trek 12.

With all that said, the biggest advantage of the previous movie was the cast, and that advantage is still in play. For all the mischaracterization of Kirk, Pine remains a compelling lead, for all the ways that Zachary Quinto's Spock has moved afield of the Leonard Nimoy model, he's still a great presence, as is Karl Urban's Dr. McCoy, etc. At the close of Star Trek Into Darkness, we're once more on the cusp of seeing the "strange new worlds" the end of the last film promised. Back then I was excited for what would come next, and while I'm disappointed in what we got, the optimism remains. I don't know who's taking the helm of the next entry, but here's hoping they can seize on the clean slate they have before them to truly, if you'll permit me to mix my Trek metaphors, "Make it so." C+

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Follow Zaki Hasan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/zakiscorner

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Brothers arrested in New Orleans parade shooting

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Two brothers with a history of drug arrests and suspected ties to a neighborhood gang each face 20 counts of attempted second-degree murder in a shooting spree that brought a sudden bloody end to a Mother's Day parade in a New Orleans neighborhood.

The arrests by city police and U.S. marshals came less than four days after gunfire scattered the crowd and wounded 20 people ? 19 hit by bullets and one while trying to flee.

Akein Scott, 19, was arrested without incident late Wednesday at an eastern New Orleans residence. His brother Shawn Scott, 24, was arrested Thursday morning as he tried to flee another residence in the city, police said.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu and police Chief Ronal Serpas hailed the police work as proof of officials' determination to end sporadic violence that mars the image of the tourism-dependent city.

"We will not let up," Landrieu said. "We are demanding that the shooting stop. And we will make sure that we do everything in our power, which I hope people now see is substantial, to make sure that we protect the citizens of New Orleans."

A magistrate judge on Thursday morning set bond for Akein Scott at $10 million in the attempted murder case. Another judge ordered him held without bond pending a later hearing on an unrelated gun and weapon charge.

Shawn Scott's court appearances were not yet scheduled. His Thursday morning arrest was announced by Serpas, Landrieu and District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro at a news conference in the middle of the intersection where the shooting took place, off the beaten path for most tourists but less than two miles from the popular French Quarter. Surrounding the officials were dozens of uniformed officers and onlookers from the neighborhood.

Police said Akein Scott had been identified by an unnamed witness as the person seen on a surveillance video, appearing to fire into a crowd that immediately scatters as some fall. Shawn Scott's role in the shootings remained unclear Thursday afternoon.

Police have yet to outline a motive, other than to say it appears related to gang activity, which Landrieu called a major factor in New Orleans street violence.

"This small number of people in gangs and groups are responsible for the overwhelming number of murders and shootings in this city. They are in fact terrorizing our streets," Landrieu said.

Police said the Scotts are members of a gang called the Frenchmen and Derbigny Boys. Frenchmen and North Derbigny streets intersect a few blocks from the shooting site. Court records show Shawn Scott has a history of at least three drug arrests on one block of Frenchmen Street.

In addition to the brothers, police said they arrested four people who are accused of helping Akein Scott elude capture. Justin Alexander, 19; Brandy George, 28; Bionca Hickerson, 22; and Nekia Youngblood, 32, are charged with being accessories after the fact to attempted second-degree murder and obstruction of justice, according to a police news release.

At Thursday's court appearance, Akein Scott, shackled and in an orange jumpsuit, stood calmly and silently as his court-appointed attorney handled proceedings in the shooting case.

Prosecutors said a witness picked out a photo of Akein Scott from a lineup. An arrest affidavit said the unidentified witness told investigators that Akein Scott was the person seen in a surveillance video that police released to the public as they searched for him. The witness also said Akein Scott was carrying a silver-and-black semi-automatic handgun at the shooting scene, according to the affidavit.

Magistrate Judge Gerard Hansen set Akein Scott's bond at $10 million ? $500,000 on each of the 20 counts in the Mother's Day shooting case.

Police had been searching for Akein Scott since identifying him as a suspect Monday from the video.

Courtney Moles, whose apartment overlooks the shooting site, said Thursday that she didn't feel her safety was in jeopardy while police searched the city.

"I didn't really think he would come back. It's more personal than that," she said. "He wasn't going to that second line to make national news. He was probably settling some kind of score."

Edward Buckner, president of the Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club, which sponsored Sunday's second-line parade, said he was ecstatic at the news of the arrests.

"That's the best thing that could ever have happened," he said.

Police publicized a $10,000 reward in the case, and investigators received tips after images from the surveillance camera were released.

Gun violence has flared at two other city celebrations this year. Five people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in January after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, and four were wounded in a shooting after an argument in the French Quarter in the days leading up to Mardi Gras. Two teens were arrested in connection with the MLK Day shootings; three men were arrested and charged in the Mardi Gras shootings.

Mark Hertsgaard, a freelance writer who was shot in the leg Sunday, said in a phone interview from his home in San Francisco that he wouldn't let the violence turn him against the city.

"I love New Orleans, and I love anything that helps to heal New Orleans from this event, including bringing justice to the perpetrators," said Hertsgaard, who was stopping in the city on his way home assignment.

Hertsgaard said he still loves the people of New Orleans.

"Yes, there are pockets of idiots, and the other day one of them put a bullet in my leg," he said.

"But let's not let a few idiots tarnish the reputation of a great city that has great people in it."

__

Associated Press writers Chevel Johnson and Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brothers-arrested-mothers-day-parade-shooting-213807064.html

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