– Baltimore's police department wrapped up its own investigation into Freddie Gray's death a day early and turned it over to the city's top prosecutor today, reports the Baltimore Sun. Now all eyes are on State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who is in her fourth month on the job and at 35 is the youngest lead prosecutor in any major US city, reports NBC News. Her supporters, though, say she's perfect for the case. Police work runs in her family, but she campaigned for office talking tough against police brutality. "She has a natural affinity for police officers and law enforcement types, and at the same time, she is aware of the incredible number of complaints against the Baltimore city police department," says an attorney who knows her. "It was important to have somebody who was willing to look at it from both sides, and Marilyn Mosby fits the bill." Mosby's office released a statement emphasizing that it will conduct its own investigation into Gray's death and not just rely on the police report. One new wrinkle: Police revealed that the van carrying Gray made an additional, previously undisclosed, stop on the way to the police station, though the reason and significance aren't clear. The AP says the van stopped at "a desolate intersection with three vacant lots and a corner store." (Earlier, another prisoner in the van suggested that Gray was trying to injure himself, at least according to a police document cited by the Washington Post.)

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BALTIMORE (AP) — Police completed their investigation into the death of Freddie Gray a day earlier than planned Thursday and delivered it to the chief prosecutor in Baltimore, who pleaded for patience and peace while she decides whether to bring charges.

 Members of the National Guard walk along North Avenue near where Monday's riots occurred following the funeral for Freddie Gray, after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore.... (Associated Press)

 Members of the National Guard pass through the area where Monday's riots occurred following the funeral for Freddie Gray, after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore.... (Associated Press)

 Members of the National Guard pass through the area where Monday's riots occurred following the funeral for Freddie Gray, after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore.... (Associated Press)

 Protestors walk through smoke Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. A line of police behind riot shields hurled smoke grenades and fired pepper balls at dozens of protesters to enforce a citywide curfew.... (Associated Press)

 Members of the National Guard patrol Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. A line of police behind riot shields hurled smoke grenades and fired pepper balls at dozens of protesters to enforce a citywide... (Associated Press)

 Police in riot gear line up near the scene of Monday's riots ahead of a 10 p.m. curfew Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. The curfew was imposed after unrest in Baltimore over the death of Freddie... (Associated Press)

 Protestors demonstrate outside the State Attorney's office calling for the continued investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. Activists stressed that they... (Associated Press)

 A store entrance is boarded up as a pedestrian walks through downtown, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. Schools reopened across the city and tensions seemed to ease Wednesday after Baltimore... (Associated Press)

 A woman walks past shuttered stores on North Avenue, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. Law enforcement presence in response to unrest has greatly diminished, as schools reopened across the city... (Associated Press)

 Police in riot gear walk past boarded up row homes after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect Wednesday, April 29, 2015, in Baltimore. The curfew was imposed after unrest in Baltimore over the death of Freddie... (Associated Press)

 The deputy commissioner also revealed a new detail that raises still more questions about what the officers involved have told investigators: The van carrying Gray to the police station made a previously undisclosed stop that was captured on a "privately owned camera."

 State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby must review the evidence, consider charges and decide how to move forward in the death of Gray, who suffered severe spinal injuries at some point after he tried to run from police on April 12, and died a week later.

 Police Commissioner Anthony Batts took no questions and provided no details about the report, which he said represents the work of more than 30 investigators.

 "I understand the frustration; I understand the sense of urgency," Batts said. "That is why we have finished it a day ahead of time."

 Batts said police would keep probing at the direction of the state's attorney, while Mosby stressed that her office is doing its own investigation.

 "We are not relying solely on their findings but rather the facts that we have gathered and verified. We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system," her statement said.

 Batts left it to Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis to release yet another official timeline of what happened to Gray after his arrest nearly three weeks ago.

 In all, the previously undisclosed stop now makes four stops between the time officers arrested Gray and his arrival at a police station, where he was found unresponsive. He was hospitalized in critical condition and died a week later.

 Batts and Davis said nothing more about when or how investigators obtained the previously undisclosed video or learned about the additional stop. However, five of the six officers gave statements to investigators the day Gray was injured, and as recently as a week ago, the stop was not part of the official timeline, suggesting investigators learned of it later.

 Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with an officer and ran. Officers chased him down and handcuffed him behind his back. Bystander videos recorded police loading him, dragging his legs, into one of two metal compartments in the back of the van.

 Police earlier said the van stopped once so that officers could put Gray in "leg irons" because he had become "irate;" stopped again because the driver asked for an additional unit to check on Gray's condition, and then again to put an additional prisoner in the van's other compartment before arriving at the station.

 Now police are saying an additional stop was made before the driver asked officers to check on his condition. They said nothing about this stop other than its location — at what appears to be a desolate intersection with three vacant lots and a corner store. Last week, Batts had said the second prisoner told investigators the driver did not speed, make sudden stops or "drive erratically" during the trip, and that Gray was "was still moving around, that he was kicking and making noises" up until the van arrived at the police station.

 Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake sought to dispel any notion that the police report would bring a swift and public conclusion to the case. "Whatever time the state's attorney's office needs to make that determination, the family wants to get it right," she said Wednesday after meeting with Gray's family and legal team.

 "This family wants justice and they want justice that comes at the right time and not too soon," said Hassan Murphy, one of the family's lawyers.

 Meanwhile, protests over Gray's death spread Wednesday night to other cities including Boston, New York and Washington, making it clear that tensions over the case are far from subsiding. The demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but police made many arrests, including at least 60 in New York.

 Gray's death was only the latest high-profile case of a black man dying as the result of a police encounter. Similar protests erupted over the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner in New York last year, and Walter Scott in South Carolina. Scott was shot in the back by a white officer who has since been charged with murder.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Ben Nuckols, Juliet Linderman, Matthew Barakat, Tom Foreman Jr., Jessica Gresko, Brian Witte and Jeff Horwitz contributed to this report. ||||| Baltimore police have found that Freddie Gray suffered a serious head injury inside a prisoner transport wagon, with one wound indicating that he struck a protruding bolt in the back of the vehicle, according to sources familiar with the probe.

 New details of the investigation emerged as police officially turned over the case to city prosecutors Thursday. Police said they have "exhausted every lead."

 In announcing an early conclusion to the first phase of their investigation, police also revealed a previously unknown stop by the transport van driver. Officials declined to comment further on what happened but said they had obtained private security footage depicting that event.

 While witnesses have said that police officers roughly handled Gray, who died a week after his arrest from injuries including a severed spine, police have said a focus of their investigation has been what occurred in the van.

 Police also have acknowledged that officers violated protocol by not buckling in Gray and providing medical help when he asked for it.

 The van made several stops before arriving at the Western District police station, where Gray was found unresponsive and taken to the hospital. At one stop, the van picked up another prisoner, who was taken to the station on the other side of a metal partition.

 CR Market surveillance video provided police with a missing piece of the Freddie Gray wagon ride. The owner let police copy the video, which was taken during the riots. (Catherine Rentz/Baltimore Sun video) CR Market surveillance video provided police with a missing piece of the Freddie Gray wagon ride. The owner let police copy the video, which was taken during the riots. (Catherine Rentz/Baltimore Sun video) SEE MORE VIDEOS

 The prisoner originally told police that Gray was thrashing about but later recanted part of his account that it sounded like he was trying to hurt himself, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

 "I heard a little banging like he was banging his head," Donta Allen, the second prisoner, told The Baltimore Sun's media partner WJZ-TV on Thursday.

 Gray's death has unleashed a maelstrom of unrest, with protests in Baltimore and around the nation, putting pressure on city and police officials to explain what happened.

 Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts noted that the investigation's first phase wrapped up a day before his self-imposed deadline of May 1, which he said demonstrated the agency's sense of urgency around the case.

 "I understand the frustration, I understand the sense of urgency, and so has the organization, and that is why we finished a day ahead of time," Batts said. "I also know that getting to the right answer is more important than speed."

 Police did not make all of its investigative findings public.

 State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby will ultimately determine whether to bring charges against any of the six officers involved in Gray's arrest, and she has not set a timetable for that decision. The officers have been suspended with pay.

 In a statement, Mosby confirmed that she had received the police investigative file but stressed that her investigation is independent. Gray's family and their lawyers were seen leaving the state's attorney's office Thursday evening.

 "While we have and will continue to leverage the information received by the department, we are not relying solely on their findings but rather the facts that we have gathered and verified," Mosby said. "We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system."

 Gray died April 19, a week after being arrested in West Baltimore. He suffered a spinal cord injury and crushed voicebox and had lapsed into a coma.

 Maryland's chief medical examiner, Dr. David R. Fowler, said his office has not completed an autopsy or turned any documents over to police or prosecutors. He said homicide detectives had observed the examination, a routine practice.

 "Our first report will be final, and will go directly to the state's attorney's office," Fowler said. He said his office was conducting one of its last examinations and anticipated results would be available "shortly."

 Investigative files include everything assembled by detectives — incident reports, crime lab reports, photos, witness interviews, the results of search warrants, and other items.

 Video of the tail end of Gray's arrest shows him groaning and his feet dragging underneath him. A witness said officers pulled back his legs and had him folded up like "origami." Video taken by citizens of Gray's arrest shows him yelling and dragging his feet as officers carry him to the van.

 But as protests erupted, police said they were focused on what happened inside the van and did not believe the catastrophic spinal injury occurred during his arrest. Police said earlier this month that a preliminary autopsy showed no indication that force was used.

 Video taken by citizens of Gray's arrest shows him yelling and dragging his feet as officers carry him to the van.

 Many residents and activists had been eyeing Friday as a day that findings of the police investigation might be released, but police and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had worked the previous day to dispel those expectations.

 "The family of Mr. Gray wants answers. I want answers. Our entire city deserves answers into Mr. Gray's death," Rawlings-Blake said Thursday. "I ask that everyone remain patient and vigilant on this path to justice."

 The attorney for Gray's family, William "Billy" Murphy Jr., said family members did not expect details to be released to them this week and are willing to wait for a thorough investigation to be conducted.

 "We want a correct investigation, an accurate investigation — not a rushed investigation," Murphy said told Sun columnist Dan Rodricks on WYPR 88.1 FM.

 One new piece of information did emerge Thursday: Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said police determined that the police wagon transporting Gray made a previously unknown stop, at North Fremont Avenue and Mosher Street.

 Investigators scoured that area for surveillance footage and found a private camera showing the van stopped in that area after picking up Gray, he said.

 "That's new to us," Davis said.

 He did not elaborate on what that tape shows or if it was relevant to the investigation.

 Jung Hwang, 43, owner of CR Market on the corner, said that police came and collected footage from his surveillance system sometime last week, but that he had not watched it himself.

 Rhonda Sneed, 64, who has lived across the street for 17 years, said she did not recall anything on the morning of April 12, but was not surprised the van had driven down her street at some point.

 "The police vans, the ones who lock up people, they ride through here all the time," she said.

 Police said that while they had turned over files to prosecutors, the department's investigation remains active and new leads would be followed as they arise.

 The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland said a double standard remains for police officers who are under investigation. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 Baltimore's state's attorney probably did not expect to be thrust into the national spotlight during her fourth month on the job. And yet Marilyn Mosby — the youngest top prosecutor of any major city in America — now finds herself playing a key role in a local drama that has gripped the country.

 The 35-year-old is tasked with determining whether charges are warranted in the controversial death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal cord injury in police custody. Gray's death has inspired protests in Baltimore and nationwide.

 On Thursday, the Baltimore police commissioner announced the department had handed confidential information on how Gray died over to prosecutors. The Justice Department is working on its own independent investigation.

 Mosby did not return a call from NBC News requesting comment, but her office confirmed it had received the police department's investigative file.

 "However, the results of their investigation is not new to us," the office said in a statement. " We have been briefed regularly throughout their process while simultaneously conducting our own independent investigation into the death of Freddie Gray. ... We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system."

 Mosby is a Democrat who comes from a long line of police officers — but she has been vocal about holding cops accountable in the past.

 "It was important to have somebody who was willing to look at it from both sides, and Marilyn Mosby fit the bill."

 "She has a natural affinity for police officers and law enforcement types, and at the same time, she is aware of the incredible number of complaints against the Baltimore City police department," said Richard Woods, a Baltimore-based attorney whose practice is primarily criminal defense work.

 Woods has known Mosby for years and supported her in her campaign for state's attorney. "It was important to have somebody who was willing to look at it from both sides, and Marilyn Mosby fit the bill." |||||


– After four decades of work, researchers published the origin of Big Bird (not that one) in Science this week—and it's scientifically unprecedented. The BBC reports that for the first time ever, researchers were able to watch the rise of a new species play out in nature. "It's an extreme case of something we're coming to realize," a speciation expert says. "Evolution in general can happen very quickly." According to a press release, in 1981 an interloper arrived on Daphne Major, a tiny island in the Galapagos archipelago where Peter and B. Rosemary Grant were studying Darwin's finches. The new bird, bigger than the three species living on the island, was a large cactus finch that had apparently flown from an island more than 60 miles away. Unable to return, it mated with a local medium ground finch. The resulting offspring, nicknamed the Big Bird lineage for their size, were unable to attract partners from the local finch population due to their weird song and unusual beak size and mated only among themselves. B. Rosemary Grant calls it a "terrifically inbred lineage," Science Alert reports. Within just two generations, the Big Birds were a distinct species, as confirmed by genomic sequencing and their own unique physical characteristics. An expert says if a naturalist came to the island today, they would simply believe there were four native finch species with nothing giving away the Big Bird as a recent addition. It was touch-and-go there for a minute—droughts in 2002 and 2003 killed all but two Big Birds—but there are now 30 or so members of the hybrid species living on Daphne Major. (The savior of the Galapagos tortoise is a dirty, dirty old man.)

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 Big Bird recites a poem about whistling.

 Sesame Street is a production of Sesame Workshop, a nonprofit educational organization which also produces Pinky Dinky Doo, The Electric Company, and other programs for children around the world. ||||| The arrival 36 years ago of a strange bird to a remote island in the Galapagos archipelago has provided direct genetic evidence of a novel way in which new species arise.

 In this week's issue of the journal Science, researchers from Princeton University and Uppsala University in Sweden report that the newcomer belonging to one species mated with a member of another species resident on the island, giving rise to a new species that today consists of roughly 30 individuals.

 The study comes from work conducted on Darwin's finches, which live on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The remote location has enabled researchers to study the evolution of biodiversity due to natural selection.

 The direct observation of the origin of this new species occurred during field work carried out over the last four decades by B. Rosemary and Peter Grant, two scientists from Princeton, on the small island of Daphne Major.

 "The novelty of this study is that we can follow the emergence of new species in the wild," said B. Rosemary Grant, a senior research biologist, emeritus, and a senior biologist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "Through our work on Daphne Major, we were able to observe the pairing up of two birds from different species and then follow what happened to see how speciation occurred."

 In 1981, a graduate student working with the Grants on Daphne Major noticed the newcomer, a male that sang an unusual song and was much larger in body and beak size than the three resident species of birds on the island.

 "We didn't see him fly in from over the sea, but we noticed him shortly after he arrived. He was so different from the other birds that we knew he did not hatch from an egg on Daphne Major," said Peter Grant, the Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, emeritus.

 The researchers took a blood sample and released the bird, which later bred with a resident medium ground finch of the species Geospiz fortis, initiating a new lineage. The Grants and their research team followed the new "Big Bird lineage" for six generations, taking blood samples for use in genetic analysis.

 In the current study, researchers from Uppsala University analyzed DNA collected from the parent birds and their offspring over the years. The investigators discovered that the original male parent was a large cactus finch of the species Geospiza conirostris from Española island, which is more than 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) to the southeast in the archipelago.

 The remarkable distance meant that the male finch was not able to return home to mate with a member of his own species and so chose a mate from among the three species already on Daphne Major. This reproductive isolation is considered a critical step in the development of a new species when two separate species interbreed.

 The offspring were also reproductively isolated because their song, which is used to attract mates, was unusual and failed to attract females from the resident species. The offspring also differed from the resident species in beak size and shape, which is a major cue for mate choice. As a result, the offspring mated with members of their own lineage, strengthening the development of the new species.

 Researchers previously assumed that the formation of a new species takes a very long time, but in the Big Bird lineage it happened in just two generations, according to observations made by the Grants in the field in combination with the genetic studies.

 All 18 species of Darwin's finches derived from a single ancestral species that colonized the Galápagos about one to two million years ago. The finches have since diversified into different species, and changes in beak shape and size have allowed different species to utilize different food sources on the Galápagos. A critical requirement for speciation to occur through hybridization of two distinct species is that the new lineage must be ecologically competitive -- that is, good at competing for food and other resources with the other species -- and this has been the case for the Big Bird lineage.

 "It is very striking that when we compare the size and shape of the Big Bird beaks with the beak morphologies of the other three species inhabiting Daphne Major, the Big Birds occupy their own niche in the beak morphology space," said Sangeet Lamichhaney, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and the first author on the study. "Thus, the combination of gene variants contributed from the two interbreeding species in combination with natural selection led to the evolution of a beak morphology that was competitive and unique."

 The definition of a species has traditionally included the inability to produce fully fertile progeny from interbreeding species, as is the case for the horse and the donkey, for example. However, in recent years it has become clear that some closely related species, which normally avoid breeding with each other, do indeed produce offspring that can pass genes to subsequent generations. The authors of the study have previously reported that there has been a considerable amount of gene flow among species of Darwin's finches over the last several thousands of years.

 One of the most striking aspects of this study is that hybridization between two distinct species led to the development of a new lineage that after only two generations behaved as any other species of Darwin's finches, explained Leif Andersson, a professor at Uppsala University who is also affiliated with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Texas A&M; University. "A naturalist who came to Daphne Major without knowing that this lineage arose very recently would have recognized this lineage as one of the four species on the island. This clearly demonstrates the value of long-running field studies," he said.

 It is likely that new lineages like the Big Birds have originated many times during the evolution of Darwin's finches, according to the authors. The majority of these lineages have gone extinct but some may have led to the evolution of contemporary species. "We have no indication about the long-term survival of the Big Bird lineage, but it has the potential to become a success, and it provides a beautiful example of one way in which speciation occurs," said Andersson. "Charles Darwin would have been excited to read this paper."

 ###

 The study was supported by the Galapagos National Parks Service, the Charles Darwin Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council.

 The study, "Rapid hybrid speciation in Darwin's finches," by Sangeet Lamichhaney, Fan Han, Matthew T. Webster, Leif Andersson, B. Rosemary Grant and Peter R. Grant, was published in the journal Science on Nov. 23, 2017.

 Uppsala University contributed to the content of this press release. ||||| For the first time, scientists have been able to observe something amazing: the evolution of a completely new species, in the wild, in real-time. And it took just two generations.

 Now, genomic sequencing and the analysis of physical characteristics have confirmed the new species of Darwin's finch, endemic to a small island called Daphne Major in the Galápagos. Its discoverers have nicknamed it Big Bird.

 There are at least 15 species of Darwin's finches, so named because their diversity helped famed naturalist Charles Darwin figure out his theory of evolution by natural selection - that is, mutations can help species become better adapted to their environment, and be passed down to subsequent generations.

 It's two of these species that came together in what is called species hybridisation to create an entirely new one.

 Here's what Big Bird looks like. (© P. R. Grant)

 While on expedition on the Daphne Major island, Peter and B. Rosemary Grant, biologists at Princeton University, noticed the presence of a non-native interloper, Geospiza conirostris.

 It's also known as the large cactus finch, and is native to other Galapagos islands, namely Española, Genovesa, Darwin, and Wolf.

 As one of the larger species of Darwin's finches, and with a different song than the three native Daphne Major species, the newcomer - a male - stood out.

 "We didn't see him fly in from over the sea, but we noticed him shortly after he arrived. He was so different from the other birds that we knew he did not hatch from an egg on Daphne Major," Peter Grant said.

 But then it mated with two females of one of those native species, Geospiza fortis, the medium ground finch. And the mating produced offspring.

 Mating between different species that results in offspring isn't that unusual - famous examples include mules, the product of mating between a male donkey and a mare. There are also ligers, a cross between a male lion and female tiger.

 G. conirostris (left) and G. fortis (right). (© K. T. Grant and B. R. Grant)

 But hybrid species are often sterile, or reproduce with difficulty - and that did not prove to be the case with these new chicks. A new lineage began - it had to.

 The birds had a different song from G. fortis, as well as different beak size and shape, and these are what the finches use to attract mates. Reproductively, the new species was completely isolated, and had to mate within its own kind to survive.

 But it was an uphill battle. During droughts on the island in 2002-2003, when the new lineage was in its fourth generation, all but two of the birds died.

 Then they rallied.

 "When the rains came again, the brother and sister mated with each other and produced 26 offspring," Rosemary Grant said in an interview last year.

 "All but nine survived to breed - a son bred with his mother, a daughter with her father, and the rest of the offspring with each other - producing a terrifically inbred lineage."

 Because the hybrid finches were bigger than the native populations, they were able to access previously unexploited food choices, and survive. At the Grants' most recent visit to the island in 2012, they counted 23 individuals and 8 breeding pairs of the birds.

 This success means, the researchers noted, that hybridisation could have occurred many times in Darwin's finches in the past, resulting in new species that either became extinct or evolved to become the species we know today.

 "A naturalist who came to Daphne Major without knowing that this lineage arose very recently would have recognised this lineage as one of the four species on the island," said Leif Andersson of Uppsala University in Sweden, who conducted the genetic analysis. "This clearly demonstrates the value of long-running field studies."

 Charles Darwin would have been delighted.

 If you want to read more about the Grants' work, you can't go past the Pulitzer-winning The Beak of the Finch.

 And you can find the new paper in the journal Science. ||||| Image caption This is an image of the Big Bird lineage, which arose through the breeding of two distinct parent species: G. fortis and G. conirostris

 A population of finches on the Galapagos has been discovered in the process of becoming a new species.

 This is the first example of speciation that scientists have been able to observe directly in the field.

 Researchers followed the entire population of finches on a tiny Galapagos island called Daphne Major, for many years, and so they were able to watch the speciation in progress.

 The research was published in the journal Science.

 The group of finch species to which the Big Bird population belongs are collectively known as Darwin's finches and helped Charles Darwin to uncover the process of evolution by natural selection.

 In 1981, the researchers noticed the arrival of a male of a non-native species, the large cactus finch.

 Professors Rosemary and Peter Grant noticed that this male proceeded to mate with a female of one of the local species, a medium ground finch, producing fertile young.

 Almost 40 years later, the progeny of that original mating are still being observed, and number around 30 individuals.

 "It's an extreme case of something we're coming to realise more generally over the years. Evolution in general can happen very quickly," said Prof Roger Butlin, a speciation expert who wasn't involved in the study.

 What makes a species?

 This new finch population is sufficiently different in form and habits to the native birds, as to be marked out as a new species, and individuals from the different populations don't interbreed.

 Prof Butlin told the BBC that people working on speciation credit the Grant professors with altering our understanding of rapid evolutionary change in the field.

 In the past, it was thought that two different species must be unable to produce fertile offspring in order to be defined as such. But in more recent years, it has been established that many birds and other animals that we consider to be unique species are in fact able to interbreed with others to produce fertile young.

 "We tend not to argue about what defines a species anymore, because that doesn't get you anywhere," said Prof Butlin. What he says is more interesting is understanding the role that hybridisation can have in the process of creating new species, which is why this observation of Galapagos finches is so important.

 The researchers think that the original male must have flown 65 miles from the large cactus finches' home island of Española. That's a very long way for a small finch to fly, and so it would be very unlikely for the bird to make a successful return flight.

 Image caption A member of the G. fortis species, one of two that interbred to give rise to the Big Bird lineage

 Image caption A finch belonging to the G. conirostris species. It's the other half of the pairing that gave rise to the Big Bird population

 By identifying one way that new species can arise, and following the entire population, the researchers state this as an example of speciation occurring in a timescale we can observe.

 In most cases, the offspring of cross-species matings are poorly adapted to their environment. But in this instance, the new finches on Daphne Major are larger than other species on the island, and have taken hold of new and unexploited food.

 For this reason, the researchers are calling the animals the "Big Bird population".

 To scientifically test whether the Big Bird population was genetically distinct from the three species of finch native to the island, Peter and Rosemary Grant collaborated with Prof Leif Andersson of Sweden's Uppsala University who analysed the population genetically for the new study.

 Prof Andersson told BBC News: "The surprise was that we would expect the hybrid would start to breed with one of the other species on the island and be absorbed… we have confirmed that they are a closed breeding group."

 Due to an inability to recognise the songs of the new males, native females won't pair with this new species.

 Image copyright FRANS LANTING, MINT IMAGES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Image caption The finches led Darwin to his theory of natural selection, as outlined in On The Origin of Species

 And in this paper, new genetic evidence shows that after two generations, there was complete reproductive isolation from the native birds. As a result, they are now reproductively - and genetically - isolated. So they have been breeding exclusively with each other over the years.

 "What we are saying is that this group of birds behave as a distinct species. If you didn't know anything about [Daphne Major's] history and a taxonomist arrived on this island they would say there are four species on this island," said Prof Andersson.

 There is no evidence that they will breed again with the native medium ground finch, but even if they did, they now have a larger size and can exploit new opportunities. Those advantageous traits may be maintained by natural selection.

 So hybridisation can lead to speciation, simply through the addition of one individual to a population. It may therefore be a way for new traits to evolve quickly.

 "If you just wait for mutations causing one change at a time, then it would make it more difficult to raise a new species that way. But hybridisation may be more effective than mutation," said Prof Butlin.

 Follow Rory on Twitter. |||||


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– How do the fish that thrive in the waters around Antarctica prevent their blood from turning to ice? Turns out at least some of them don't. Scientists have long known that the group of fish species known as notothenioids have an antifreeze protein in their blood that prevents them from being frozen to death, but new research has revealed that the same protein keeps ice crystals in their veins, apparently permanently, UPI reports. The crystals melted at a few degrees above freezing, but the fish may spend their whole lives without encountering temperatures that warm, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The antifreeze proteins that prevented the blood from completely freezing also bound itself to the ice crystals, keeping them from getting smaller, the scientists say. Lead researcher Paul Cziko tells the Christian Science Monitor that it's not clear whether the fish have evolved some way of dealing with the ice crystals in their bodies, or if the ice ends up killing them in the long term. "This shows that with every good evolutionary innovation, some potentially bad or unintended consequences come along with that," he says. "Evolution is a stepwise process. You take two steps forward, and take one step back." (Researchers recently solved the decades-old mystery of a quacking noise detected in Antarctic waters.)

Antarctic notothenioid fishes are protected from freezing by antifreeze proteins (AFPs) that bind to invading ice crystals and inhibit their growth. Paradoxically, accumulation of AFP-stabilized ice could be lethal. Whether and how fishes eliminate internal ice is unknown; one hypothesis is that it melts during summer warming episodes. However, prior in vitro evidence indicates that AFPs also inhibit melting. Our study establishes that pronounced melting inhibition occurs in vivo (i.e., superheated ice occurs inside notothenioid fishes). Our long-term temperature record of a high-latitude Antarctic fish habitat indicates that summer warming does not overcome AFP-induced superheating to reliably rid fishes of ice. Evolution of the life-saving AFPs exacts a cost: the risk of lifelong accumulation of damaging internal ice crystals.

 Abstract

 Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) of polar marine teleost fishes are widely recognized as an evolutionary innovation of vast adaptive value in that, by adsorbing to and inhibiting the growth of internalized environmental ice crystals, they prevent death by inoculative freezing. Paradoxically, systemic accumulation of AFP-stabilized ice could also be lethal. Whether or how fishes eliminate internal ice is unknown. To investigate if ice inside high-latitude Antarctic notothenioid fishes could melt seasonally, we measured its melting point and obtained a decadal temperature record from a shallow benthic fish habitat in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. We found that AFP-stabilized ice resists melting at temperatures above the expected equilibrium freezing/melting point (eqFMP), both in vitro and in vivo. Superheated ice was directly observed in notothenioid serum samples and in solutions of purified AFPs, and ice was found to persist inside live fishes at temperatures more than 1 °C above their eqFMP for at least 24 h, and at a lower temperature for at least several days. Field experiments confirmed that superheated ice occurs naturally inside wild fishes. Over the long-term record (1999–2012), seawater temperature surpassed the fish eqFMP in most summers, but never exceeded the highest temperature at which ice persisted inside experimental fishes. Thus, because of the effects of AFP-induced melting inhibition, summer warming may not reliably eliminate internal ice. Our results expose a potentially antagonistic pleiotropic effect of AFPs: beneficial freezing avoidance is accompanied by melting inhibition that may contribute to lifelong accumulation of detrimental internal ice crystals. ||||| EUGENE, Ore., Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Fish species that make their home in the frigid waters of Antarctica have developed special antifreeze proteins that keep their blood from icing over. But evolution is a strange game in which seemingly every adaptive trait comes with a trade-off, and for the fish of Antarctica that trade-off is quite the paradox.

 For the benefit of avoiding frozen blood, Antarctic notothenioid fish species must tolerate ice in their veins. That's right, the same antifreeze proteins that latch onto ice crystals and prevent them from growing also inhibit them from melting.

 A team of marine biologists discovered the odd trade-off while studying the coping mechanisms of notothenioid species living in supremely cold conditions. They discovered the antifreeze proteins' anti-melting properties after raising water temperatures slightly above the freezing point and still finding some ice in the blood of the fish specimens.

 "We discovered what appears to be an undesirable consequence of the evolution of antifreeze proteins in Antarctic notothenioid fishes," study author Paul Cziko, a doctoral student the University of Oregon's Institute of Ecology and Evolution, said in a press release.

 If water temperature rises more than two or three degrees above the freezing point, these ice crystals are likely to melt. But Cziko and his colleagues at the University of Illinois found that ocean temperatures in the Antarctic rarely ever rose high enough to help clean the species icy veins. That means these fish carry ice crystals around with them for most of their lives -- a risky proposition that could help them stay cool under pressure but could also cause a life-threatening traffic jam inside small capillaries.

 "Since much of the ice accumulates in the fishes' spleens, we think there may be a mechanism to clear the ice from the circulation," Cziko added. "This is just one more piece in the puzzle of how notothenioids came to dominate the ocean around Antarctica."

 The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. ||||| Scientists long have known that antifreeze proteins help a species of Antarctic fish survive in frigid waters. Now research has found that these proteins also prevent some fish from ever ridding themselves of the ice in their bodies.

 The notothenioid fish uses evolutionary mechanisms to survive in anchor ice that exists on the sea floors of the Antarctic region.

 Even after being studied for decades, the notothenioid, a bony fish that thrives in frigid waters, continues to hold surprises.

 Notothenioids own the waters circling Antarctica known as the Southern Ocean; one of the few species that can survive in seawater temperatures as low as 29 degrees Fahrenheit, it makes up more than 90 percent of the fish biomass in the region. It's no wonder, then, that scientists began to investigate how these animals thrive in this icy environment without freezing over.

 Scientists have been revealing startling facts about the notothenioid for more than four decades now, including the discovery, in the 1960s, of antifreeze proteins inside these fishes, a vital tool for their survival. But according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have revealed that these proteins may not be as helpful as they were once thought to be. The proteins do indeed help prevent water from freezing in the fish, but it turns out they also prevent ice from melting.

 "We've known for a long time that the antifreeze proteins are at the essence of how these fishes survive in their freezing environment. But we're still working out the details, and this is one of those details," Paul Cziko, lead author of the paper, told the Monitor.

 Mr. Cziko, a doctoral candidate at the University of Oregon, worked with Christina Cheng and Arthur DeVries, a husband-and-wife team of animal biologists at the University of Illinois. Devries revealed in the late 1960s that antifreeze proteins existed in the bodies of notothenioids. In the 1990s, he discovered that the fishes were also carrying ice crystals in various organs, such as the gills and the spleen.

 In this new study, Cziko's team tested fish in the lab by warming them to a point at which the ice in their bodies completely melted. These were temperatures, though, that the notothenioid never experiences in its own environment. They also examined temperature data logged continuously over the last 11 years in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

 The research group found that the ice crystals didn't melt at their expected melting point of about 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but instead remained intact. The fish continued to contain ice even after researchers raised the temperature further another 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, and this was primarily due to the antifreeze protein.

 Though the life-saving protein was given the name "antifreeze," it works differently from, say, the liquid you mix with your windshield wiper fluid, according to Cziko. Rather than acting like a salt and lowering the freezing point, the notothenioids' antifreeze proteins bind themselves to the ice crystals in their bodies and alter the surface of the crystals so that they have a hard time growing any larger.

 This mechanism doesn't just make it very hard for the ice crystals to grow, though. The proteins bind themselves so tightly that they also make it difficult for the ice to get any smaller, even in above-freezing temperatures.

 "When people are studying antifreeze proteins they're looking at the ability of the organisms to deal with cold temperatures and not warm temperatures," says Cziko. "All their focus is towards 'How much does it protect against freezing?' and people just kind of missed that there could also be an anti-melting effect that's important."

 In controlled settings, scientists have been able to heat ice above its melting point without having the ice melt. But Cziko says this may be the first example of "superheating" found in nature.

 So what does this superheated ice mean for the fish? Even in the slightly warmer summer months when the notothenioid has a chance to thaw out, some ice crystals linger.

 Whether or not there are any adverse effects on the fishes' bodies is still unknown. The long-term cost of having the protein, Cziko says, is a question for further research.

 "If they can tolerate it, maybe they've evolved some other mechanism to deal with these ice crystals inside their bodies," says Cziko. "And maybe in the long-term it does kill the fish and they're not that good at dealing with it."

 The highest concentration of ice crystals resided in the fishes' spleens. Cziko says it's possible that the spleen is trying to filter these ice crystals out of the blood to prevent their causing problems in other parts of the body.

 Cziko also says research on this particular evolutionary puzzle provides us with a better understanding of the progression of all species.

 "This shows that with every good evolutionary innovation, some potentially bad or unintended consequences come along with that," says Cziko "Evolution is a stepwise process. You take two steps forward, and take one step back." |||||


TAMPA, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney bowed to political pressure and gave the public a glimpse inside his personal fortune on Tuesday, releasing U.S. tax returns showing he pays a lower effective tax rate than many top wage-earners.

 Unlike Americans who rely on a paycheck, Romney earns most of his income from investment profits, dividends and interest. The returns for 2010 and estimates for 2011 showed that he will pay a total of $6.2 million in taxes on income of $42.5 million.

 Romney and his wife Ann paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010 and expect to pay a 15.4 percent effective tax rate when they file their returns for 2011.

 Those rates are far below the top income tax rate on wages, which is 35 percent, because the U.S. tax code in recent years has favored investment income over wage income.

 Targeting popular unease with rising U.S. income disparity, President Barack Obama on Tuesday night in his annual State of the Union speech at the Capitol will put efforts to make the tax code fairer at the center of his reelection campaign.

 Obama will renew his appeal for a “Buffett rule” to ensure that the ultra-wealthy pay their “fair share” of taxes. This idea is backed by multibillionaire Warren Buffett. His assistant Debbie Bosanek - whom he says pays a higher tax rate than he does - will sit with First Lady Michelle Obama for the speech.

 One of the wealthiest Americans ever to run for the White House, Romney did not release returns from the years 1984-1999, when he began making his fortune buying and selling companies as a private equity financier with Bain Capital, but those lucrative years did give him a special tax advantage.

 THE CARRIED INTEREST EDGE

 Romney got about $13 million in income over the past two years from “carried interest,” a form of earnings that is available to private equity partners and taxed at the 15-percent investment income tax rate, not the higher wage income rate.

 The “carried interest” provision of the U.S. tax code has repeatedly been targeted for elimination by Democrats who say it is unfair, while the private equity industry defends it. A campaign spokesman said that Romney “has not addressed carried interest specifically in this campaign.”

 The former governor of Massachusetts released his tax returns after a week when his chief Republican presidential nomination rival, former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, questioned whether Romney was hiding financial information and cast him as out of touch with most Americans.

 For 2011, about 46 percent of Americans will pay no federal individual income taxes, most of them because they are poor, according to the Tax Policy Center, a think tank.

 Counting all U.S. taxpayers, the average tax rate is 11 percent, according to The Tax Foundation, another think tank.

 Effective tax rates vary wildly from person to person due to the maze of deductions, exemptions and credits in the tax code, which has not been thoroughly overhauled in 25 years.

 Romney’s estimated net worth is $190 million to $250 million. “Governor Romney’s investments are reported and taxed in full compliance with U.S. tax laws,” said Romney campaign counsel Ben Ginsberg on a conference call with reporters.

 NEXT ON GOP FIGHT CARD: FLORIDA

 The Republican candidates are fighting for the nomination to face Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 general election. The next Republican state primary contest will be in Florida on January 31.

 Gingrich scored by attacking Romney’s finances and upset him in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. The release of Romney’s tax returns was meant to blunt Gingrich. But it could further inflame the debate about the tax code and income inequality, as reflected in the Occupy Wall Street protests.

 Romney campaign officials said his tax rate is based mostly on blind trust investment income. Returns for three blind trusts were released. The officials said Romney makes no decisions on how money is invested.

 They said that Romney’s holdings also include amounts in funds based in the Cayman Islands and other overseas entities.

 The first page of the 2010 U.S. 1040 tax return for Mitt Romney and his wife Ann showing a gross adjusted income of $21,646,507.00 is seen in this document released by the Romney campaign January 24, 2012. REUTERS/Handout

 The Cayman holdings and holdings in a Swiss bank account - closed in 2010 after an adviser decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney - were reported on tax returns and were not vehicles to avoid taxes, the advisers said.

 Brad Malt, who oversees the Romney blind trusts, said on the conference call that Romney’s wife’s trust had a $3 million bank account at UBS AG, the Swiss banking giant. Malt said he closed the bank account in late 2010.

 Malt said that “taxes were all fully paid” on the account, but that “it just wasn’t worth it; I closed the account.”

 The tax returns showed Romney and his wife contributed $7 million to charity over the two years covered, much of it going to the Mormon church. That represents more than 15 percent of the Romneys’ income for those years.

 COUNTDOWN TO CAPITAL GAINS SCRAP

 Romney had capital gains income of $12.5 million for 2010 and an estimated $10.7 million for 2011.

 The capital gains tax rate was slashed to 15 percent in 2003 under President George W. Bush. President Bill Clinton had cut it to 21 percent from the 28 percent level set under President Ronald Reagan, who raised it to match the tax rate on wages.

 The capital gains rate will jump to 20 percent in 2013 if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, an issue that is sure to prompt an intense political fight later this year.

 Asked why Romney was not releasing tax records for the years in the 1980s and 1990s in which he made his fortune at Bain, Ginsberg said the two years covered by the tax returns should give a broad picture of Romney’s financial situation.

 “We’re not going to get into the game of once you give them something, they demand more,” Ginsberg said. “This is a fulsome release and we’re proud of it.”

 Malt said Romney had not been audited by the Internal Revenue Service in the last 10 years.

 Slideshow (3 Images)

 FUZZY ANSWERS HURT

 The tax issue may have been a factor in Romney’s loss to Gingrich in the South Carolina primary last Saturday. It became a distraction to Romney’s campaign, and Romney’s fuzzy answers on releasing his records aggravated the problem.

 First he said he might release them, or might not. When the questions kept coming, he said he would put them out in April, after his 2011 forms were completed. Only after he was defeated in South Carolina did his aides say he would release them this week. Gingrich has released his returns for 2010, but has not released an estimate for last year, as Romney did.

 Long considered the front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Romney was staggered by Gingrich’s lopsided win in South Carolina, and is looking to regain enough momentum to defeat Gingrich in Florida. ||||| Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments.

 None came from wages, the primary source of income for most Americans. Instead, Romney and his wife, Ann, collected millions in capital gains from a profusion of investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments.

 The couple gave away $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including at least $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romney’s family has for generations been among the Mormon Church’s most prominent members.

 The Romneys sent somewhat less to Washington over that period, paying an estimated $6.2 million in federal income taxes. According to his 2010 return, Romney paid about $3 million to the IRS, for an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent.

 For 2011, Romney estimates that he will pay about $3.2 million, for an effective rate of 15.4 percent. That’s in line with his earlier estimates, but sharply lower than the rates paid by President Obama and Romney’s closest Republican rival, Newt Gingrich.

 “You’ll see my income, how much taxes I’ve paid, how much I’ve paid to charity,” Romney said at a debate Monday night in Tampa. “I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.”

 He said his tax bill is “entirely legal and fair,” adding: “I’m proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes.”

 Romney released his tax returns — nearly 550 pages, including the 2010 returns for three family trust funds and a foundation — in a bid to regain his footing in the Republican presidential campaign after stumbling badly in last weekend’s South Carolina primary.

 The Romney campaign planned to publicly release the tax documents Tuesday morning but gave a preview late Monday night to The Washington Post.

 In recent days, Romney’s GOP rivals have pressed him to make his returns public, arguing that it is critical for the public to vet his finances before the party settles on its nominee. The revelation that Romney pays a significantly lower tax rate than most wealthy Americans underscores his image as a multimillionaire financier, an image that some Republicans believe would hurt his chances in the general election.

 Economic inequality is emerging as a central theme in the battle for the White House, with Obama trying to harness populist anger at Wall Street and corporations against a backdrop of chronically high unemployment. He plans to call for higher taxes on millionaires in his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, embracing an idea advanced by billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Occupy Wall Street protesters.

 “The president believes that it is not fair — inherently not fair — that those who are millionaires and billionaires pay at a lower rate than average Americans who are struggling to get by,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday. “This theme about economic insecurity for the middle class . . . is what got this president into politics. So this is a foundational belief for him, and he’s happy to have that debate.”

 A lower rate

 Because the bulk of Romney’s income flows from investment profits, it is taxed at a flat 15 percent rate, far below the highest rates on ordinary wages.

 His 2010 returns show that he made $12.6 million in capital gains, $4.9 million in ordinary dividends and $3.3 million in taxable interest.

 Romney’s overall tax rate is in line with that of the average American taxpayer. However, it has drawn fire because the federal tax system is designed to be progressive — the more you earn, the more you are supposed to pay.

 Romney’s tax documents are voluminous and extraordinarily complex, and his opponents are sure to comb through them in the coming days. They reflect the far-flung finances of one of the richest men ever to run for president. His 2010 tax return alone runs to 203 pages, crammed with information about foreign holdings, contributions to family trusts — and even a Swiss bank account.

 In a conference call with reporters, Brad Malt, Romney’s trustee, called the Swiss account “fully legal, fully disclosed” but said it was closed in early 2010. He added: “The income earned on that account is taxed just as any other domestic or other bank account owned by the blind trust.”

 Pages and pages are devoted to foreign entities in which Romney is invested. Many are located in places like Luxembourg, Ireland and the Cayman Islands, all famous tax havens. None shows much income.

 “These entities are not evading one dime of taxes,” Malt said.

 Monday’s disclosure marked the first time the former Massachusetts governor has released his personal tax returns. Though Romney has relied on his wealth to finance his political career, he did not disclose his tax returns in his three prior campaigns — not even in the 1994 Senate race, when he blasted Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) for failing to release his own taxes.

 This time, Romney had hoped to keep the details of his finances under wraps until he won his party’s nomination. But over the past week, as even his Republican rivals raised questions about whether he had something to hide, he concluded that the political cost of secrecy had grown too great.

 The release of his taxes is unlikely to satisfy Democrats, who said they will continue to push for more transparency — particularly if Republicans select Romney to face Obama in November. Democratic strategist Paul Begala called on Romney to release 12 years of returns — just as his father did when he ran for president in 1968.

 “If you release one year, you can pretty it up,” Begala said. “He’s got to go back a dozen years and really show us — or a lot of fair-minded people are going to conclude that he probably skated with paying less, or maybe even zero, for some of those years.”

 Placating his rivals?

 It was unclear whether Romney’s disclosure would achieve the more immediate goal of silencing his GOP rivals as they barrel toward a critical showdown next week in Florida. Polls show him trailing Gingrich, who suggested Sunday on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” that he was ready to let the tax matter drop.

 “As far as I’m concerned, that issue is behind us,” Gingrich said.

 Among the details that may spur fresh debate: The returns show that Romney was able to cut his taxable income by $4.8 million because of losses carried over from previous years. Under the tax code, taxpayers who lose money from their investments can deduct those losses against their capital gains. If a taxpayer ends up losing so much that the losses outweigh the gains in a given year, the rest of those losses can be carried to the next year and subtracted from income.

 The returns confirm, however, that Romney continues to benefit from his association with Bain Capital, the private-equity firm he founded in 1984 and left in 1999. His earnings through Bain have drawn controversy because they are treated as capital gains rather than wages and thus benefit from being taxed at the lower rate of 15 percent.

 Critics say such income, known as “carried interest,” should not be counted as investment earnings because private-equity partners are mostly relying on the money of others rather than their own. The returns show that Romney earned more than $13 million in “carried interest” over the past two years.

 Complicated as they are, the tax returns provide only a partial picture of Romney’s wealth. They don’t show the full extent of his net assets, which are estimated to be worth between $190 million and $250 million. Romney has an individual retirement account worth between $20.7 million and $101.6 million, according to his 2011 financial disclosure. He also has a blind trust for his wife, Ann, containing $10 million. |||||

Write a summary.

– Just hours after debating tax rates during the GOP debate in Florida, Mitt Romney released his tax returns, revealing that he collected $20.9 million in income last year, and $21.7 million the previous year—nearly all of it in profits, dividends, or interest from investments. None came from wages, reports the Washington Post. He estimates he'll pay $3.2 million in federal taxes for a tax rate of 15.4% for last year's income. The previous year, he paid $3 million in taxes at a 13.9% rate. His tax rates are below most American wage earners because his income isn't from wages, notes Reuters. The Romneys gave away $7 million in charitable contributions the last two years, including $4.1 million to the Mormon church. Romney boasted during the debate that his tax bill is "entirely legal and fair," adding: "I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes." Newt Gingrich, who supports a 15% flat tax, quipped during the debate that he wants to bring Americans' tax rate "down" to Romney's. But Romney pointed out that Gingrich wants a 0% tax on capital gains, and that under such a strategy, he would pay "no taxes." Romney has released nearly 550 pages of tax documents, including the 2010 returns for three family trusts and a foundation, after criticism from rivals for failure to bare his income earlier and following a sound trouncing in South Carolina by Gingrich.


Write an article based on this summary:

– Recent news on the Ebola outbreak paints a bleak portrait of the disease by numbers: 70%: The current death rate from the disease, the World Health Organization again confirmed today. That's an increase from the initial 50% cited by WHO, the AP reports. 10,000: The number of new Ebola cases WHO says are possible each week, starting at some point in the next two months. In other words, the effort to grapple with the disease needs a big boost within 60 days, says an official. 9: The number of workers for another health organization, Doctors Without Borders, who have died fighting the outbreak, the AP reports. An additional seven have been infected. 70: The number of health workers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who took care of the first US Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of the virus. One of them is the nurse who's now suffering from the disease. $500,000: The potential cost of care for Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman who picked up Ebola in Liberia. His friends set up a crowdfunding campaign last week to help pay his bills, the Fiscal Times reports; you can contribute here. $32.6 billion: The possible economic toll the disease could take by the end of next year, the New York Times reports. The number comes from the World Bank and refers to a situation in which "the epidemic spreads into neighboring countries" around its center in West Africa. 4,447: The total number of deaths from the disease, per WHO, which says the total number of likely cases is 8,914. There's one non-grim number to add to the mix: $25 million, which is what Mark Zuckerberg and his wife are donating to the fight.

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $25 million to the CDC Foundation to help address the Ebola epidemic.

 The money will be used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Ebola response effort in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and elsewhere in the world where Ebola is a threat, the foundation said Tuesday.

 The grant follows a $9 million donation made by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen last month. Zuckerberg and Chan are making the grant from their fund at the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

 Also on Tuesday, the World Health Organization said West Africa could see up to 10,000 new Ebola cases a week within two months and confirmed that the death rate in the current outbreak is now 70 percent. The disease has killed more than 4,000 people, nearly all of them in West Africa. The WHO has called the outbreak "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times."

 "The most important step we can take is to stop Ebola at its source. The sooner the world comes together to help West Africa, the safer we all will be," said CDC Director Tom Frieden in a statement. ||||| DALLAS (AP) — They drew his blood, put tubes down his throat and wiped up his diarrhea. They analyzed his urine and wiped saliva from his lips, even after he had lost consciousness.

 The emergency entrance to Texas Health Presbyterian hospital, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, in Dallas, Texas. Hospital officials have said they are no longer accepting new patients at this time after a healthcare... (Associated Press)

 FILE - This undated file image made available by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows the Ebola virus. A Texas health care worker who provided hospital care for Thomas Eric Duncan, who later died... (Associated Press)

 Protect Environmental workers move disposal barrels to a staging area outside the apartment of a healthcare worker who treated Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan and tested positive for the disease, Monday,... (Associated Press)

 About 70 staff members at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital were involved in the care of Thomas Eric Duncan after he was hospitalized, including a nurse now being treated for the same Ebola virus that killed the Liberian man who was visiting Dallas, according to medical records his family provided to The Associated Press.

 The size of the medical team reflects the hospital's intense effort to save Duncan's life, but it also suggests that many other people could have been exposed to the virus during Duncan's time in an isolation unit.

 On Monday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the infection of the nurse means the agency must broaden the pool of people getting close monitoring. Authorities have said they do not know how 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham was infected, but they suspect some kind of breach in the hospital's protocol.

 The medical records given to the AP offer clues, both to what happened and who was involved, but the hospital said the CDC does not have them.

 A CDC spokeswoman said the agency reviewed the medical records with Duncan's care team and concluded that the documents were not helpful in identifying those who interacted directly with the patient.

 "This is not something we can afford to experiment with. We need to get this right," said Ruth McDermott-Levy, who directs the Center for Global and Public Health in Villanova University's College of Nursing.

 Until now, the CDC has been actively monitoring 48 people who might have had contact with Duncan after he fell ill with an infection but before he was put in isolation. The number included 10 people known to have contact and 38 who may have had contact, including people he was staying with and health care professionals who attended to him during an emergency room visit from which he was sent home. None is sick.

 The CDC has not yet established a firm number of health care workers who had contact with Duncan.

 "If this one individual was infected — and we don't know how — within the isolation unit, then it is possible that other individuals could have been infected as well," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC. "We do not today have a number of such exposed people or potentially exposed health care workers. It's a relatively large number, we think in the end."

 Caregivers who began treating Duncan after he tested positive for Ebola were following a "self-monitoring regimen" in which they were instructed to take their temperatures regularly and report any symptoms. But they were not considered at high risk. Pham went to the hospital Friday night after she took her temperature and found she had a fever.

 Typically, the nurses, doctors and technicians caring for a contagious patient in isolation would be treating other people as well, and going home to their families after decontaminating themselves. The hospital has refused to answer questions about their specific duties.

 The 1,400-plus pages of medical records show that nurses, doctors and other hospital employees wore face shields, double gowns, protective footwear and even hazmat suits to avoid touching any of Duncan's bodily fluids. Ebola spreads through direct contact with those fluids, usually blood, feces and vomit. The virus has also been detected in urine, semen and breast milk, and it may be in saliva and tears.

 CDC officials said there were chinks in that protection at Texas Presbyterian, but they have not identified them and are investigating.

 "Patient had large, extremely watery diarrhea," a nurse wrote in a report filed the day Duncan tested positive.

 Another nurse noted that Duncan's urine was "darker in color with noted blood streaks."

 It was unclear from the records released to the AP how many of the approximately 70 individuals involved in Duncan's care had direct contact with his body or fluids.

 Dr. Aileen Marty, a World Health Organization doctor who recently returned to Florida International University after a month fighting Ebola in Nigeria, said no amount of protection is going to help if hospital workers do not put on and take off their protective layers carefully.

 "The first thing in caring for someone with Ebola is to do everything in your power to never become a victim," she said.

 And tracking all contacts, even within the medical setting, is complicated.

 Generally, the first step in locating care providers for isolated infected patients is a personnel log on the door, "that should have everyone going in and out, signing in and out," said Dr. Lisa Esolen, Geisinger Health System's Medical Director of Health Services and Infection Prevention and Control. Medical records indicate the Dallas hospital had a log.

 On the day before Duncan died, records indicate that at least nine caregivers entered and exited the room.

 A spokesman for Texas Health Resources, the hospital's parent company, said the CDC probably has a log from the room door that would list everyone who got close to Duncan.

 Dr. Christopher Ohl, who heads Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's infectious-disease department and has worked with the CDC in the past, said the expanding monitoring "is an abundance of caution that's probably beyond what needs to be done" because medical caregivers will notice if they're getting a fever, and they're not contagious until that point.

 "You start to know when you get those body aches and headaches, most people know that," he said. "It's not like you're surprised by it. Most people can figure out what to do when that happens."

 ___

 Associated Press writers Maud Beelman and Jamie Stengle contributed to this report. ||||| The 33-year-old freelance cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia is fighting for his life at the University of Nebraska Medical Center this week. He’s also racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

 According to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday by his friends, Ashoka Mukpo’s medical bills could run in excess of $500,000.

 The cost of the evacuation flight from Liberia to Omaha alone cost $150,000, not including the 40-person medical team that accompanied him on the flight, according to the campaign. Mukpo did have travelers’ insurance, but the policy excludes “catastrophic events or outbreaks,” and won’t pay for the treatment, the GoFundMe campaign says.

 Related: 11 Ways to Fight Ebola and Other Diseases

 Doctors at the Texas hospital who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who became the first person to die of Ebola on U.S. soil, told Bloomberg that care can cost $1,000 per hour.

 “We know that our original goal of $500,000 will likely not cover all of [Mukpo's] expenses, but we are doing all that we can to show our love and support,” friend Stephanie Federico writes on the GoFundMe campaign page.

 So far, the campaign has received 206 donations, totaling just over $16,000.

 Mukpo is reportedly in stable condition since returning to the states. On Thursday, he received a blood transfusion from Kent Brantley, the American doctor who recovered from the disease after treatment in Atlanta.

 Update 10/15/2014: NBC has agreed to cover Mukpo's medical bills. Read more here.

 Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: ||||| JOHANNESBURG (AP) — International aid organization Doctors Without Borders said that 16 of its staff members have been infected with Ebola and nine of them have died.

 Speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg Tuesday, the head of Doctors Without Borders in South Africa Sharon Ekambaram said medical workers have received inadequate assistance from the international community. She said that while many pledges had been made publicly they have not improved the situation in the affected countries.

 Juli Switala, a doctor working for the international aid organization who just returned from Sierra Leone, said the number of those who have died from Ebola is probably an underestimate because many families hide their sick and dying loved ones. More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola so far, according to the World Health Organization. ||||| Ashoka Mukpo is a 33 year-old freelance journalist and human rights advocate who worked in Liberia for 2 years with a local NGO focused on land development and workers’ rights. Ashoka is also a son, brother, uncle, fiance, friend and an inspiration to many.

 While working in Liberia, Ashoka developed a strong connection to the people and their culture. Hearing of the Ebola crisis unfolding in this place where he was so warmly welcomed, he was compelled to return in order to report what was happening in Liberia.

 Ashoka contracted Ebola while covering the outbreak. Ashoka quickly self-quarantined after feeling weak and achy, and a short time later he tested positive for the Ebola virus. Ashoka received care with MSF in Monrovia until he was transported back to the United States, where he is now recieving world class care at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

 We, some of his close friends, wanted to help provide support and possibly relieve some worry by establishing this GoFundMe campaign. NBC has been incredibly kind and supportive of Ashoka and his family during this scary time. We have just learned that NBC has committed to covering Ashoka’s medical expenses, which is monumental, and will allow Ashoka and his family to focus on his recovery.

 In light of this excellent news, we are updating the amount being sought for Ashoka to reflect other expenses related to his recovery. There is also an option to refund donations that were already made, if you specifically wanted to contribute to his medical expenses.

 Donated funds will now be directed toward replacing all of Ashoka’s gear and possessions (which had to be destroyed due to Ebola contamination and include his Apple computers, Ipad, Iphone, Canon cameras, lenses and recording equipment, camping gear and clothing), covering his travel expenses and helping him to recover and rebuild his life. Due to the nature of the work he has chosen to do, he does not have any “back up” funds to help cover such expenses.

 We have every reason to believe that with time Ashoka will make a full recovery, and we want to support his ability to return to his great work bringing attention to people in need around the world.

 We also want to express our incredible gratitude for the concern, kindness, generosity and prayers that are being directed toward Ashoka and his family. Thank you so much.

  ||||| GENEVA (AP) — A World Health Organization official says the death rate in the current Ebola outbreak has increased to 70 percent.

 WHO assistant director-general Dr. Bruce Aylward gave the figure during a news conference Tuesday.

 Aylward said that the 70 percent death rate was "a high mortality disease" in any circumstance and that the U.N. health agency was still focused on trying to get sick people isolated and provide treatment as early as possible.

 Previously, WHO had said the death rate was around 50 percent.

 THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

 A World Health Organization official says there could be up to 10,000 new cases of Ebola per week within two months.

 WHO assistant director-general Dr. Bruce Aylward says if the response to the Ebola crisis isn't stepped up within 60 days, "a lot more people will die" and there will be a huge need on the ground to deal with the spiraling numbers of cases. He said WHO estimated there could up to 10,000 cases per week in two months.

 Aylward said for the last four weeks, there have been about 1,000 new cases per week, though that figure includes suspected, confirmed and probable cases. He said WHO is aiming to have 70 percent of cases isolated within two months to reverse the outbreak.

 WHO increased its Ebola death toll tally to 4,447, nearly all of them in West Africa, and the group said the number of probable and suspected cases was 8,914.

 Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia have been hardest hit. Aylward said WHO was very concerned about the continued spread of Ebola in the three countries' capital cities —Freetown, Conakry and Monrovia. He noted that while certain areas were seeing cases decline, "that doesn't mean they will get to zero."

 He said the agency was still focused on trying to treat Ebola patients, despite the huge demands on the broken health systems in West Africa.

 "It would be horrifically unethical to say that we're just going to isolate people," he said, noting that new strategies like handing out protective equipment to families and setting up very basic clinics — without much treatment — was a priority. |||||


News article:

QUINCY, Mass. - It seems this kid is destined for law enforcement.

 A 6-year-old boy from Quincy, Massachusetts, called 911 on his father, who he said ran through a red light, CBS Boston reported.

 A recording of the 911 call was shared Wednesday on the Quincy Police Department Facebook page.

 "Every day we answer numerous 911 calls," police said. "Often times, these calls are from individuals who are in need of immediate assistance. Sometimes, it's a simple misdial. Then there's Robert's 9-1-1 call. Robert is a six year old resident of Quincy."

 In the video, the dispatcher asks 6-year-old Robert what his emergency is.

 "My daddy went past a red light," Robert replies.

 The dispatcher asks him what happened next.

 "We had to go to the car wash and then he went past the red light," he adds.

 At that point in the call, the dispatcher asks Robert to get his father. Robert's father gets on the line and quickly realizes what the call is about.

 "Oh no, I apologize," he says with a laugh, before telling the dispatcher there is no emergency.

 Karen Barkas, a detective with Quincy police, told the Boston Globe that the call was "pretty unique." She said no ticket was issued to the father. ||||| QUINCY — Robbie Richardson wants to be a police officer when he grows up. During the Memorial Day weekend, the 6-year-old Quincy boy got a taste for what it’s like to be behind the badge.

 Robbie dialed 911 to get in touch with the police Saturday after his father, Michael Richardson, ran a red light while the two were out running errands.

 Michael said that after stopping at a light near Furnace Brook Parkway, he proceeded to take a right turn on red.

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 As he rolled through the intersection, Robbie belted out that his dad had broken the law.

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 Robbie wasn’t shy about it Wednesday. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen,” he said outside his family’s home.

 At the time, Michael tried to explain to his son that it was OK to take a right turn at a red under certain circumstances.

 Robbie wasn’t convinced. He knows his traffic laws.

 “When a green light says go, you go that way, or that way, or that way, or that way,” he said, motioning with his hands different directions a car can drive. “A yellow light makes you slow. And then a red light makes you stop.”

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 Mom taught him that, he said. Not Dad.

 Robbie warned his father — they were headed to the car wash in Robbie’s mother’s white Nissan Rogue — that as soon as they returned home, he was going to notify the police.

 Michael laughed, he said, and brushed off the comment.

 But Robbie wasn’t bluffing.

 “I called the police,” said Robbie, who enjoys sitting inside a toy police cruiser and propelling it around the driveway while making siren sounds. “I know how to call the police. Easy peasy.”

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 As Michael, his wife, Joleen, and their 18-month-old daughter enjoyed the sunny weather outside on Saturday, firing up the grill for a start-of-the-summer feast, Robbie headed with determination to the house.

 It was then he picked up the phone, unbeknownst to his parents, and dialed the emergency number.

 “Um, daddy went past a red light,” Robbie said during the 911 call, which was shared nearly 200 times on Facebook by Wednesday afternoon. “He was in a brand-new car, my mummy’s car.”

 When the dispatcher asked what happened next, Robbie told him that his father was headed to the car wash, but seemed to have been in a hurry to get there.

 “Then he went past the red light,” Robbie again explained.

 The dispatcher then asked to talk to the boy’s father.

 Michael said his son brought the phone outside, where the family was preparing their meal.

 “He has the cordless phone in his hand and he says, ‘Dad, somebody called, they want to talk to you,’ ” Michael said. “And I look at the number on there and I saw 911, and I kind of sank a little bit.”

 He knew the jig was up.

 Michael said he may have been shocked — so much so that he accidentally told the dispatcher his son was 5 years old — to learn there was a police official on the other end of the line.

 But he wasn’t surprised that his son had stuck to his word, and reported the alleged misdeed.

 “He’s a smart kid. When he says he’s going to do something, he does it,” Michael said. “He doesn’t bluff.”

 Michael apologized to the dispatcher for allegedly running the red light — and for his son’s calling 911 for a nonemergency. The family then turned the situation into a teachable moment for their son.

 “We talked to him, and told him you can only call in an emergency,” Joleen said. She said she had taught her son how to call 911, in the event that the family really does require immediate assistance from first responders. “But I didn’t think he was going to call like that.”

 Robbie, like his father, learned his lesson — next time his father runs a red light, he won’t call 911.

 “When my daddy goes past a red light again, I’ll call the eye doctor,” Robbie said. “So he can fix his eyes.”

 Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com . Follow him on Twitter @steveannear |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Michael Richardson says he was heading to the car wash with his son in Quincy, Mass., on Saturday when he turned right on a red light. "I told him to stop, but he didn't listen," says 6-year-old Robbie, who knows "a red light makes you stop." His dad tried to explain that turning right on a red light is sometimes allowed, but Robbie promised to call the police when they got home, reports the Boston Globe. He wasn't joking. "I know how to call the police," he tells the Globe. "Easy peasy." While his parents were outside, he dialed 911, telling the operator, "Um, Daddy went past a red light." The operator eventually asked to talk to Robbie's dad, who was so shocked that he couldn't properly remember his son's age. He then apologized for allegedly running the light and for his son calling in a non-emergency. Police say no ticket was issued to Richardson, per CBS News. And after his parents explained he should only call 911 in an emergency, Robbie says he won't make the same mistake again. "When my daddy goes past a red light again, I'll call the eye doctor so he can fix his eyes," he says.


Write an article based on this summary:

– It’s official: Mahmoud Abbas will demand full UN membership from the Security Council next week, despite an almost certain veto from the US. Abbas formally committed to the gambit for the first time in a speech today, the New York Times reports, saying that “We need a state, a seat at the United Nations, and nothing more.” The US had hoped it could talk Abbas out of the move. But the AP notes that Abbas downplayed expectations, saying the move wouldn’t grant Palestine its independence. “The occupation will not come to an end,” he said. “But we will at least have recognition that we are under occupation, and not a disputed territory as Israel says.” He also said that he wasn’t trying to isolate or delegitimize Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Israel is there, no one can isolate or take away its legal status,” he said, “but we need to isolate the policies of Israel.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

 Photo: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday he would demand full membership of the United Nations when he goes to the UN General Assembly next week, setting up a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States.

 "We are going to the United Nations to request our legitimate right, obtaining full membership for Palestine in this organization," Abbas said in a televised speech, indicating he would seek a vote on the issue in the UN Security Council.

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 "We are going to the Security Council," he added, to rapturous applause from his audience of Palestinian leaders. "As for other options, we have not yet taken a decision on them," he said.Abbas said that nobody should have any illusions that he will come back from New York with independence."If we succeed, and this is what we are working towards, then we must know that the day following the recognition of the state, the occupation will not end," Abbas said."But we will have obtained the world's recognition that our state is occupied and that our land is occupied and not disputed territory, as the Israeli government claims," he said.He added that the move is not intended to isolate Israel or delegitimize its legal status. "Israel is there, no one can isolate or take away its legal status, but we need to isolate the policies of Israel. We need to put an end to the occupation and take away the legal status of the occupation."The PA president said that recognition of statehood with pre-1967 borders is necessary for renewed negotiations with Israel. "We need to have full [UN] membership within [pre-1967] borders in order to go to negotiations on a basis adopted by the world so that we may discuss the permanent issues of Jerusalem, borders, refugees - and our prisoners in Israeli prisons.""We're not going there to bring independence, we will come back to negotiate the issues, but god willing, we need full membership in the UN."He stressed that any popular protests in support of his initiative should be peaceful. Jerusalem fears that the UN showdown could spark violence across the West Bank and is putting IDF forces on high alert in the area.Abbas is due to address the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23, when he said he would present Palestine's membership bid. ||||| “We need to have full membership at the U.N.,” Mr. Abbas said in the speech from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which was broadcast live on Al Jazeera and other outlets. “We need a state, a seat at the United Nations.”

 He added, “We are going to the Security Council,” as Palestinian dignitaries gave him rousing applause and a standing ovation. Mr. Abbas called it “our decision, which we have conveyed to everyone.”

 The borders Mr. Abbas seeks are those of 1967, meaning East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza would be included. More than 500,000 Israelis have settled beyond those lines.

 Israel, while officially accepting the idea of a Palestinian state, wants to leave nearly all of the settlers where they are and keep control of Jerusalem. It also fears militant groups and missiles would penetrate such a state unless Israel controls its borders, an approach rejected by the Palestinians.

 Photo

 One goal of the move is to gain admission to a range of international legal and diplomatic forums where complaints against Israeli occupation and settlement could be pursued. Mr. Abbas said he was not seeking to delegitimize Israel, only to advance negotiations between two equals.

 For the Obama administration, the move poses an acute dilemma. It has vowed to use its veto because it argues that the only viable way toward Palestinian statehood is through direct talks with Israel. But for the past eight months, Arab countries have risen in revolt against dictators and the Palestinian question has totemic significance for the entire region.

 The United States has struggled to place itself on the side of those seeking justice and freedom in the current revolts. But the Obama administration has supported uprisings in Libya and, less strongly, in Syria , while looking the other way during a crackdown by an ally, Bahrain . A veto of Palestinian membership would intensify Arab perceptions of American double standards.

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 Moreover, Republican lawmakers have vowed to end American aid to the Palestinian Authority if it seeks United Nations membership, something the administration opposes. That could create further chaos on the ground.

 The White House sent two senior diplomats, Dennis B. Ross and David M. Hale, on repeated trips to Jerusalem and Ramallah in recent weeks to try to work out an alternative to a United Nations campaign.

 In recent days, senior administration officials said, the United States was trying to get agreement on a statement, backed by the international community, affirming President Obama ’s proposal last May to negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state. That plan would use as a baseline the pre-1967 boundaries of Israel, with land swaps. But Palestinian officials said it was too little too late.

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 “We ask President Obama to face the moment of truth,” Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian official, said afterward. “This is a peaceful measure. There is no reason whatsoever for the United States not to support us on this step.”

 The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel issued a curt statement, saying, “Peace will not be achieved by a unilateral approach to the United Nations.”

 Mr. Netanyahu says that the Palestinians must not be rewarded for avoiding direct talks and tough sacrifices. Some of his ministers have called for a range of punitive responses, including annexing portions of the West Bank or removing travel privileges from Palestinian officials. He has not expressed himself publicly on those suggestions.

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 At the Arab League , which had strongly urged the Palestinians to take the less confrontational path of seeking limited statehood recognition via the General Assembly, an official said the group would now nonetheless stand firmly behind Mr. Abbas. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order not to upstage leaders of the league, who were traveling to New York for the United Nations annual meetings.

 Officials of Hamas , the militant Palestinian faction that controls Gaza, said Mr. Abbas’s declaration was a useless stunt aimed at continuing what it called fruitless negotiations with Israel, which Hamas does not recognize as a legitimate state.

 “The speech is an attempt to justify the negotiations,” said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader, reached by telephone. He argued that turning to the United Nations would get Mr. Abbas nothing.

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 Hamas has banned public demonstrations in Gaza to support Mr. Abbas’s move. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told reporters that Mr. Abbas had approached the United Nations unilaterally, without winning support from the group, despite what Mr. Barhoum called the Palestinian president’s rhetoric about reconciliation.

 Mr. Abbas’s speech was played live on the official channel Palestine TV with the “UN 194” logo of the statehood recognition bid in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Some Palestinians listened; others said it mattered little because the United States would veto it.

 Admission to the United Nations as a full member state requires a recommendation from the 15-member Security Council, with a majority of nine votes, and no veto from the five permanent members, which include the United States. Then the submission goes to the General Assembly, which must pass it by a two-thirds vote among the 193 members.

 The American vow to veto has already made it clear that the membership application will not make it out of the Council. But as in other matters involving the United Nations bureaucracy, procedural and legal tools can delay the application for weeks or months along the way. And the Palestinians could still subsequently seek less formal recognition of statehood through the General Assembly.

 Mr. Abbas is aware of the obstacles ahead, some diplomats said, and may not object to the uncertainty. He ended his speech, saying, “As for other options, we have not yet taken a decision on them.”

 The theory is that by going to the Council, Mr. Abbas makes his strongest political and symbolic act. And for Mr. Abbas, a man who is 76 and speaks frequently about retiring, that may be part of the point. In addition, the procedural delays at the Council could provide the time for an alternative negotiation framework to mature.

 But that is a distinctly minority view of how events are likely to proceed. Most analysts and officials fear the combination of Israeli and Palestinian intransigence, along with a roiling region, will create the conditions for confrontation rather than negotiation. |||||