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 devoting special attention to tea party groups claiming tax-exempt status 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 law allows tax-exempt organizations to lobby and dabble in politics as long as their primary purpose is social welfare.

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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Are tit-for-tat sectarian killings enough to tilt Iraq back to war?

Bouts of sectarian fighting have worried observers many times over the past few years, but so far the worst has not come to pass.

By Dan Murphy,?Staff writer / May 20, 2013

Iraqi security force members inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. Two car bombings in the southern city of Basra, killing and wounding dozens of people, police said. Iraq has seen a spike of attacks, including bombings hitting both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the last week.

Nabil al-Jurani/AP

Enlarge

After the death of more than 60 people in a series of car bombs today?targeting Iraq's majority Shiite community and weeks of escalating sectarian attacks, many are wondering if the country's simmering sectarian tensions will tumble once again into all-out civil war.

Skip to next paragraph Dan Murphy

Staff writer

Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Monitor's international desk, focused on the Middle East.?Murphy, who has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and more than a dozen other countries, writes and edits Backchannels. The focus? War and international relations, leaning toward things Middle East.

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The situation in Iraq is bad enough, as the attacks today make clear. Reuters reported there were two deadly blasts in the southern, largely Shiite city of Basra; 30 deaths in seven different blasts targeting Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad; and an attack on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims near the town of Balad.?

This kind of violence, almost certainly carried out by Sunni militants, has ebbed and flowed for years in Iraq, without ever leading to large-scale sectarian bloodletting like that which occurred between 2005 and 2008, when tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed in fighting that transformed many of the mixed neighborhoods of Baghdad and other cities into entirely Shiite or Sunni enclaves. An Al Qaeda in Iraq attack on an important Shiite shrine in Samarra in February 2006?touched off?reprisal killings across the country.

Many have long wondered what event could be Iraq's next Samarra. The good news, if any good news can be taken from a society still as divided and violent as Iraq today, is that the general population and political elites have consistently shied away from the worst. And while the current flare-up is almost certainly going to claim more lives, the odds of all-out war are probably low, going by the experience of the past few years.

To be sure, the current situation is bad. Last Friday, at least 76 people were killed in bombs targeting predominantly Sunni areas in Iraq. Those attacks followed close on the heels of attacks against Shiites earlier in the week. In April, more than 700 people were killed, one of the highest monthly death tolls since 2008.

The government of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line against Sunni protesters, with a deadly government raid on a protest encampment in the town of Hawija claiming at least 50 lives and infuriating the country's Sunni minority.

That protest encampment, like similar ones in Anbar province, was inspired by a widespread feeling among Iraqi Sunnis that they have been completely cut out of meaningful power by the country's Shiite majority, that Mr. Maliki is running the country in the interest of his sect rather than all citizens, and that the security forces commit human rights abuses with impunity.

While the worst of Iraq's fighting ended years ago, the national reconciliation that the US predicted would follow never occurred, leaving Iraq volatile and prone to violence. It has remained one of countries most beset by terrorism,?and added to that volatile mix is the civil war in Syria, with many members of Al Qaeda in Iraq joining the fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.?

What's more, powerful Sunni leaders in Anbar province ? which borders Syria and was the center of the insurgency during the US occupation ? are being hounded by the central government (fairly or unfairly it's hard to say). Joel Wing has a good roundup on Sunni leaders in Anbar province, and their various recent conflicts with the central government's security forces. Ominously, a number of the people he discusses had been involved in fighting Sunni insurgents on the side of the government and US forces just a few years ago.? ?

"The recent raids, kidnappings, and the end of the call for talks with the authorities can only add to this growing fire," Wing writes. "Even if the mainstream protest movement like the one in Ramadi attempts to remain peaceful, it is apparent that more and more people in the governorate are at least open to the passive if not active support for attacks upon the security forces."

With all this, it's pretty easy to predict the worst. But Iraqis were so badly scarred by the sectarian civil war, with so much lost on every side, that it's hard to imagine the wildfire catching again soon. While average Iraqis have suffered due to a weak economy, both Shiite and Sunni political leaders have profited handsomely from high oil prices in recent years, and have little to gain from all-out warfare that would almost certainly end in the same result as last time: with the country's majority Shiite population still in the driver seat.?

Make no mistake. Iraq's situation is grim. But the country has repeatedly pulled back from the brink in recent years. And there's a good chance that it will again.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/T58nIt3r_y8/Are-tit-for-tat-sectarian-killings-enough-to-tilt-Iraq-back-to-war

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Authorities: Hofstra student killed by police

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) ? A Hofstra University student being held in a headlock at gunpoint by an intruder was accidently shot and killed by a police officer who had responded to the home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.

Junior public relations major Andrea Rebello was shot once in the head early Friday morning by an officer who opened fire after the masked intruder pointed a gun at the officer while holding the 21-year-old student, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said.

In a tense confrontation with the officer, gunman Dalton Smith "menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer," Azzata said. The officer opened fire, killing Smith and his hostage.

Azzata said the Nassau County police officer fired eight shots at Smith, who police described as having an "extensive" criminal background. Smith was hit seven times and died. Rebello was shot once in the head.

"He kept saying, 'I'm going to kill her,' and then he pointed the gun at the police officer," Azzata said.

A loaded 9 mm handgun with a serial number scratched off was found at the scene, police said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello's Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello's parents what happened.

"I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed," Dale said.

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30, had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest history dating back nearly 15 years.

The shooting came just days before the school's commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled to take place Sunday.

A university spokeswoman said students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello. The shooting, which took place just steps from campus, has cast a pall over the university community as it geared up for commencement on Sunday.

"Today is the last day of finals and this should be a happy day on campus; but it's not," Hofstra freshman Scott Aharoni of Great Neck, said Friday as he passed through the area rife with yellow crime-scene tape. "It's really sad."

Rebello was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said. Smith demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.

Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.

The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.

Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello's twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

Rebello's family declined comment Saturday.

The Rev. Osvaldo Franklin, who gave Rebello and her sister Jessica their first communions, on Saturday night told The Associated Press their mother, Nella, couldn't even speak to him earlier in the day.

"She was so devastated," said Franklin. "She's just crying. We have to pray for Andrea, to pray for Jessica because she needs help."

Franklin said a funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and will be in Portuguese.

"The family's a very good family, they have very good values," he said. "I gave them first communion to Andrea and Jessica and they started to help me in the mass for many years. They are a very good, very devoted family."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-hofstra-student-killed-police-003456565.html

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Denmark's folksy ballad wins Eurovision

By Mia Shanley

MALMO, Sweden (Reuters) - Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won Eurovision on Saturday before an international TV audience of around 125 million, securing the coveted crown of euro-pop with a folksy ballad backed by flutes and drums.

The barefoot 20-year-old stole the show as predicted by bookmakers with "Only Teardrops" in a final that saw 26 countries battle it out in the southern Swedish city of Malmo for the top prize in glitzy European pop music.

"I could feel the fans and all the energy in the arena. ... It's a once in a lifetime experience. I'm just the happiest girl in the world," de Forest said after the event. She said she was proud to win in Sweden as her late father was Swedish and a Eurovision fan.

Denmark, which has won the contest twice before - most recently in 2000 with the Olsen Brothers' "Fly on the Wings of Love" - was clearly in the lead even after just half of the votes were cast.

The show's host, Swedish comedian Petra Mede, went ahead and announced the country's win before the final votes were read out, with the red and white Danish flag flashing on her gown in a classic over-the-top Eurovision moment.

Azerbaijan took second place in the competition with "Hold Me", followed by third place for Ukraine with "Gravity".

"How many times can we win and lose? How many times can we break the rules between us? Only teardrops?" the Danish performer sang, beaming ear-to-ear as she repeated her winning song to the audience against a fiery backdrop.

Denmark's victory means the contest will move just across the bridge between Sweden and Denmark next year, keeping the contest in the Nordics for a second year running after Loreen won last year's contest in Azerbaijan with her dance track "Euphoria".

"It's nice to give the prize to someone else. I have had such a fantastic year," Loreen told Reuters.

Singers from Russia to Romania competed as Eurovision returned to the homeland of ABBA, the Swedish band it propelled to global superstardom.

There was no shortage of ABBA nostalgia Saturday night.

Former ABBA members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus composed the opening act together with Swedish DJ Avicii, and the Swedish singer Sarah Dawn Finer belted out the ABBA classic "The Winner Takes It All" before votes were revealed.

Though Sweden opted to tighten the budget for this year's show after Azerbaijan spent lavishly last year, pop fans around the world still got their usual three-hour dose of heavy-duty kitsch.

Famed as much for the costumes and characters on stage as its - sometimes - catchy tunes, Eurovision's line-up included a 2.4 meter (7 foot 10 inch) tall Ukrainian who carried singer Zlata Ognevich, and a lesbian kiss in Finland's "Marry Me", which drew media controversy.

SPIRIT OF UNITY

Eurovision was started in the 1950s to help foster a spirit of unity after World War Two.

In an attempt to ensure that musical quality takes precedence over geographically motivated bloc voting from television viewers, professional judges now account for 50 percent of a performer's score.

The other half comes from the number of telephone and SMS votes each contestant receives, with fans unable to vote for their own country's entry.

Eurovision fans crowded into downtown Malmo's squares and parks on an unusually hot sunny day ahead of the contest, with music blaring and boats cruising the canals.

"It's the festival feel, the fun, the unity - everyone's out to have a bit of fun," said Eurovision fan David Sherrit, who flew in from Britain for the show. "The music is quite awful, but we really come here because it's great fun and you can have a laugh at yourself and each other."

In its nearly six-decade history, Eurovision has been a launching pad for the likes of Celine Dion, Julio Iglesias and Olivia Newton-John. ABBA won the contest with "Waterloo" in 1974.

(Additional reporting by Ilze Filks; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abba-air-26-countries-fight-eurovision-glory-192014797.html

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'Trek' does $70.6M but falls short of studio hopes

This undated publicity film image released by Paramount Pictures shows, Zachary Quinto, left, as Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk in a scene in the movie, "Star Trek Into Darkness," from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions. Since premiering Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in huge-screen IMAX theaters and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, "Into Darkness" has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount's initial forecast of $100 million. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Zade Rosenthal)

This undated publicity film image released by Paramount Pictures shows, Zachary Quinto, left, as Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk in a scene in the movie, "Star Trek Into Darkness," from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions. Since premiering Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in huge-screen IMAX theaters and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, "Into Darkness" has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount's initial forecast of $100 million. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Zade Rosenthal)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Star Trek: Into Darkness" has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it's not setting any light-speed records with a debut that's lower than the studio's expectations.

The latest voyage of the starship Enterprise fell short of its predecessor, 2009's "Star Trek," which opened with $75.2 million.

Since premiering Wednesday in huge-screen IMAX theaters and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, "Into Darkness" has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount's initial forecast of $100 million. The film added $40 million overseas, pushing its total to $80.5 million since it began rolling out internationally a week earlier.

The "Star Trek" sequel bumped "Iron Man 3" down to second place after two weekends on top. Robert Downey Jr.'s superhero saga took in $35.2 million domestically to lift its receipts to $337.1 million. Overseas, "Iron Man 3" added $40.2 million, raising its international total to $736.2 million and its worldwide tally to nearly $1.1 billion.

While "Iron Man 3" and "Into Darkness" did well overseas, they were outmatched by the debut of Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby," which followed its domestic debut a week earlier with a wide rollout internationally. "Gatsby" pulled in $42.1 million overseas, coming in a bit ahead of both "Iron Man 3" and "Into Darkness."

Domestically, "Gatsby" held up well at No. 3 with $23.4 million, lifting its total to $90.2 million.

In today's Hollywood of bigger, better sequels, follow-up films often outdo the box office of their predecessors, as each "Iron Man" sequel has done. While "Into Darkness" earned good reviews and is getting strong word-of-mouth from fans, the film did not quite measure up to the opening weekend of director J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot from four years ago, at least domestically.

"'Star Trek' remains a fan-boy movie. It doesn't seem to have the same kind of cross-over appeal as say an 'Iron Man' or some of these others," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "It's a very specific brand, but I think the general public would love this movie, because it's such an action movie. But to get a hundred-million-plus opening weekend, unless you're 'Twilight,' you really have to cross over to all audiences."

Paramount points out that overseas business is up in many markets, though, so worldwide, the sequel is off to a better start.

"Because of the nature of the franchise, because of how many movies have been made and the various forms of the TV shows, I'm not sure that 'Star Trek' goes by the rules of normal sequels. I think each movie stands on its own, because it's a unique franchise," said Don Harris, Paramount's head of distribution. "My goal was always that we grow the franchise. We're clearly seeing by today's numbers that the movie is being embraced on a worldwide basis in a way we've never seen before."

Harris said that domestically, "Into Darkness" finished its first weekend 6 percent ahead of revenues for 2009's "Star Trek," which got a head-start with $4 million in Thursday night previews to give it a $79.2 million haul through the first Sunday.

But "Into Darkness" had a full day of screenings Thursday plus its Wednesday IMAX business. Unlike the first movie, which played only in 2-D, the sequel also had the benefit of 3-D screenings that cost a few dollars more. Yet even with the 3-D upcharge and the earlier debut, it came away with just $4.9 million more than its predecessor through Sunday.

Still, it's a solid starting place for the movie to live long and prosper at theaters, with Paramount hoping "Into Darkness" can surpass the $385 million worldwide total of "Star Trek."

"I think we're well along on that road," Harris said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $70.6 million ($40 million international).

2. "Iron Man 3," $35.2 million ($40.2 million international).

3. "The Great Gatsby," $23.4 million ($42.1 million international)

4. "Pain & Gain," $3.1 million.

5. "The Croods," $2.75 million.

6. "42," $2.73 million.

7. "Oblivion," $2.2 million.

8. "Mud," $2.16 million.

9. "Peeples," $2.15 million.

10. "The Big Wedding," $1.1 million.

__

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "The Great Gatsby," $42.1 million.

2. "Iron Man 3," $40.2 million.

3. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $40 million.

4. "Epic," $14.5 million.

5. "Fast & Furious 6," $13.8 million.

6. "The Croods," $10.6 million.

7. "Evil Dead," $5.6 million.

8. "Oblivion," $4.7 million.

9. "Montage," $4.1 million.

10. "Mama," $1.7 million.

__

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-20-Box%20Office/id-5596bd999cd441e49395d381eb5c5040

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Malaria infected mosquitoes more attracted to human odor than uninfected mosquitoes

May 15, 2013 ? Scientists will attempt to find out how malaria parasites manipulate their mosquito hosts after discovering that smell could be a major factor.

In a study published in PLOS ONE today, a team of researchers led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine show for the first time that female mosquitoes infected with malaria parasites are significantly more attracted to human odour than uninfected mosquitoes.

This was demonstrated in a laboratory setting in which infected female Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto mosquitoes were attracted to human odours three times more than mosquitoes that were not infected with the malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite. The rate of landing and biting attempts for infected mosquitoes was around three times greater than uninfected mosquitoes.

The pilot study was conducted in collaboration with Wageningen University and Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

Dr James Logan's team has been awarded a three-year grant by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to investigate how being infected with malaria could cause the mosquitoes to behave differently. If the parasites are manipulating the mosquitoes' sense of smell, increasing the chance they will bite when the parasite is transmissible, then the malaria is more likely to spread.

The scientists, who will work collaboratively with Rothamsted Research, Wageningen University and Radboud University, hope their research will enable the identification of the chemical compounds in human odour to which mosquitoes are attracted and to determine whether infected mosquitoes respond differently to those compounds.

This will provide information that could be used to illuminate how malaria -- a disease which causes more than half a million deaths a year -- is spread from human to human by parasite-infected female mosquitoes which bite people to feed on blood they need in order to reproduce.

Significantly, the results could help identify new compounds which could be used to develop improved mosquito traps that could specifically target malaria-infected mosquitoes before they have the chance to pass on the parasite to the people they bite.

Building on the newly-published pilot study, the team will conduct experiments using a windtunnel which measures the behaviour of mosquitoes towards odours and electrodes which track the response of individual odour-detecting cells from within the antenna of the mosquito in specially-designed secure laboratories at the School to measure the responses of malaria-infected Anopheles gambiae s.s. females to human odours. The scientists also aim to determine whether the response depends on what stage in the lifecycle the parasites are in within insect hosts.

Dr Logan, Senior Lecturer in Medical Entomology and Chief Scientific Officer for arctec, at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "It has previously been shown that parasites are able to manipulate the behaviour of insects involved in their transmission and reproductive survival. For example, malaria-infected mosquitoes take larger blood meals than uninfected ones, and will take multiple blood meals.

"We have now shown for the first time that the sense of smell could hold the key to understanding how the parasite successfully manipulates the mosquito to ensure its spread."

"Exploring this further opens up the possibility that we could use this knowledge against the parasite by developing tools with crucial chemicals found in human odour."

Dr Renate Smallegange, a visiting researcher at the School who worked on the pilot study, said: "It is exciting that we are the first ones to prove this phenomenon in a biological relevant system of mosquito, parasite and blood host, and, moreover, in a system affecting millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/alDX-VsH0Yk/130515174404.htm

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Two mayors in South Florida set to face off in MMA bout for charity

Mayors in competing cities often place bets when there sports teams face off. Quite often, they offer the city's signature foods and gifts. For this year's Super Bowl, the San Francisco mayor spent a day in service in Baltimore after the Ravens won. But two mayors in south Florida are upending that tradition. They'll be the ones competing.

Carlos Hernandez, the mayor of Hialeah, and Michael Pizzi, the mayor of Miami Lakes, plan to square off for charity. It started as a discussion over dinner -- and a few drinks -- over who could beat each other up. It snowballed from there.

Hernandez, 52, says he has trained with the Gracies, one of MMA's most important families. Pizzi has another plan.

"Carlos is an athlete into aerobics," Pizzi said to MMA Junkie. "I'm of the Tank Abbott (and) Roy Nelson school of training, which is have a six-pack of beer, get off a bar stool and knock the guy out in the first three punches."

While Nelson does like to show off his belly, he's in a bit better shape than Pizzi says.

The two mayors haven't set a date for the bout yet as they are still looking for a promoter. The Miami Herald reports the fight will take place in Hernandez's home turf of Hialeah. Money they raise from the bout will go to programs benefiting children in each mayor's city.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/two-mayors-south-florida-set-face-off-mma-150241953.html

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