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The last 'wild' horses is the world are not truly wild, according to a shock DNA study. Przewalski's horses, a breed thought to be the last 'wild' species, are the descendants of escaped once-domesticated animals. The research turns the mysterious origin of domesticated horses 'upside down', experts claim.

The playwright Sir Peter Shaffer, whose critical and popular successes in the West End and Broadway included Equus, Amadeus, and The Royal Hunt of the Sun, has died aged 90. His agent, Rupert Lord, said: “He was simply at the end of his life but delighted to have been able to celebrate his 90th birthday with friends and then, I think, decided it was time.” The National Theatre, which staged the world premieres of many of his plays, and was already planning the first revival of Amadeus at the theatre since it opened there in 1979, described him as “an...

The frozen remains of a horse more than half a million years old have reluctantly given up their genetic secrets, providing scientists with the oldest DNA ever sequenced. The horse was discovered in 2003 in the ancient permafrost of Canada’s west-central Yukon Territory, not far from the Alaskan border.And although the animal was dated to between 560,000 and 780,000 years old, an international team of researchers was able to use a new combination of techniques to decipher its genetic code. Among the team’s findings is that the genus Equus — which includes all horses, donkeys, and zebras — dates back...

Samples from a horse leg bone more than 700,000 years old have yielded the oldest full genome known to date... The Pleistocene horse genome Orlando and colleagues pieced together helped them determine that the ancestor to the Equus lineage -- the group that gave rise to modern horses, zebras, and donkeys -- arose 4 to 4.5 million years ago, or about two million years earlier than previously thought... The team found that Przewalski's horses were an offshoot of the lineage that gave rise to domestic horses. The two groups diverged around 50,000 years ago... The six-inch (15-centimeter) horse leg bone...

From: "John Kerry" Date: 2005/08/08 Mon PM 02:19 EDT To: ___________@cox.net Subject: Rove Republicans on the run? Dear Friend, They tried to put a brave public face on. But, as they gathered in Pittsburgh this past weekend, GOP leaders and campaign strategists couldn't hide the fact that they've got their political backs to the wall. Yes, there was lots of energy at the meeting, but it was the nervous energy of panicked politicians and operatives who know their luck is running out. Last week, Democrat Paul Hackett, a political newcomer and Iraqi combat veteran, came within 4,600 votes of winning...