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So Se Pyong (R), North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, shakes hands with India's Sujata Mehta, president of the conference, at the end of a session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva February 27, 2013.

 So Se Pyong, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, addresses the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva February 27, 2013. North Korea accused the United States on Wednesday of contributing to an 'unpredictable' situation on the divided Korean...

 GENEVA North Korea accused the United States on Wednesday of contributing to an "unpredictable" situation on the divided Korean peninsula and abusing its power in the U.N. Security Council to impose its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang.

 North Korea is facing further United Nations sanctions for its underground nuclear test explosion two weeks ago, its biggest and most powerful to date which drew warnings from Washington and international condemnation.

 In December it launched a long-range rocket in a move that critics said was designed to test technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile, leading to tighter U.N. sanctions being imposed last month.

 "The U.S. is to blame for the situation on the Korean peninsula which is inching close to an unpredictable phase now," So Se Pyong, North Korea's ambassador in Geneva, told the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament.

 A week ago, North Korea's delegation threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a heated debate at the talks, the main U.N. disarmament negotiating forum.

 U.S. ambassador Laura Kennedy did not respond to the verbal assault on Wednesday.

 But South Korea's disarmament ambassador Kwon Haeryong took the floor to urge its isolated neighbor to "abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay and embark on the path to peace".

 "North Korea's nuclear test is a challenge to the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia and beyond. There should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself," Kwon said.

 PANDORA'S BOX

 So, a former ambassador to Iran, retorted: "I'd like to give you objective advice that it will be much better for South Korea to keep quiet, pay more attention to your own concerns of internal affairs and demonstrate at least a little patience instead of making troubles and opening Pandora's boxes".

 North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

 So said he wanted to draw attention to the "intensified U.S. hostile policy" toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which has a right to launch satellites for peaceful purposes.

 "The U.S. should no longer be allowed to seriously infringe upon the independent right of the DPRK to use space for peaceful purposes nor should it be allowed to abuse the U.N. Security Council as a tool for executing its hostile policy toward the DPRK," he declared.

 The United States has launched the most military satellites and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles in the world, he said, making it "the biggest threat to world peace".

 North Korea's latest nuclear test, its third since 2006, had been a resolute step in self-defense, So said.

 "The third nuclear test was carried out as part of the practical countermeasures for defending the country's sovereignty and security to cope with ruthless hostile behaviors of the U.S., which wantonly infringed upon the DPRK's legitimate right to satellite launch for peaceful purposes."

 Ireland's foreign minister Eamon Gilmore said that North Korea, by defying U.N. resolutions, shunning its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and refusing to cooperate with the IAEA nuclear watchdog, "only isolates itself further from the international community".

 In a speech at the forum, he called on North Korea to cease immediately nuclear testing and ballistic missile activities and re-engage in stalled six-party talks on denuclearization.

 The talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia are aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

 (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jon Hemming) ||||| North Korea says its nuclear weapons can reach the U.S.

 By Agence France-Presse

 Wednesday, February 27, 2013 5:35 EDT

 North Korea warned Wednesday that the US mainland was “well within” the range of its nuclear weapons, as Pyongyang continued to ramp up the bellicose rhetoric after its recent nuclear test.

 In an article posted on the official Uriminzokkiri website, a member of the Korean National Peace Committee — a propaganda body — said the North was now a “fully-independent rocket and nuclear weapons state”.

 “The United States should be acutely aware that the US mainland is now well within the range of our strategic rockets and nuclear weapons,” the signed commentary said.

 North Korea made a similar claim in October last year, saying it possessed rockets capable of striking the continental United States.

 That was largely dismissed as bluster, but that was before Pyongyang conducted a successful long-range rocket launch in December, followed by its third nuclear test on February 12.

 Although most experts believe the North has a long way to go to developing a dependable inter-continental ballistic missile, the December launch was a strong step in the right direction.

 And this month’s nuclear test also fuelled concerns that North Korea is refining the technical ability to place a miniaturised nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.

 After analysing debris from the rocket launch in December, the South Korean military estimated its possible range at around 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles), bringing in the west coast of the United States.

 In a separate commentary Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) slammed upcoming US-South joint military drills, and warned that the Korean peninsula was “an inch away from explosion”. |||||

– Pyongyang has a message for the US: North Korea has become a "fully-independent rocket and nuclear weapons state," according to an official website—and America "should be acutely aware that the US mainland is now well within the range of our strategic rockets and nuclear weapons." How credible is the warning? Experts say it could be awhile before the North actually has an intercontinental ballistic missile ready, AFP notes. But debris from December's rocket launch suggested its possible range included the US West Coast, according to South Korea. Closer to home, Pyongyang is fuming over planned US-South Korea military drills. The Korean peninsula is "an inch away from explosion," official news warns. "The US is to blame for the situation on the Korean peninsula, which is inching close to an unpredictable phase now," said Pyongyang's UN ambassador, according to Reuters. Washington is pushing a "hostile policy" against the North via the UN Security Council, the official said.


– Expecting parents wondering which company offers the best maternity and paternity leave in the US need look no further. Netflix announced yesterday that it is upping the ante, offering new parents unlimited, fully-paid maternity and paternity leave for the first year after having or adopting a child. The streaming video company based in Los Gatos, Calif., also offers unlimited paid vacation, and it's all toward fostering "a 'freedom and responsibility' culture that gives our employees context about our business and the freedom to make their own decisions along with the accompanying responsibility," writes Tawni Cranz, chief talent officer. The new policy "deserves high marks for extending leave to fathers," reports Fortune, "as well as understanding that the entire first year after childbirth can be challenging." It's a "landmark perk," reports TechCrunch, noting that Yahoo doubled its maternity and paternity leave in 2013 (to 16 paid weeks for moms and eight paid weeks for dads) to compete with packages offered by Facebook and Google because "the talent is growing up." A decade ago big company perks included free lunch and ping pong tables, but now the major moves are about helping employees balance work and home life because "experience shows people perform better at work when they’re not worrying about home," Cranz adds. Of course, employees will have to plan their leave with managers and coworkers in advance to make sure their absence isn't disruptive—behaving, you know, like adults. (See who beat Netflix to the punch.)

Expand this summary.

A few hours after hitting its all-time stock price high today, Netflix has announced a new program for all employees.

 In a blog post, the company outlined its unlimited maternity and paternity leave program. Its Chief Talent Office, Tawni Cranz, said:

 At Netflix, we work hard to foster a “freedom and responsibility” culture that gives our employees context about our business and the freedom to make their own decisions along with the accompanying responsibility. With this in mind, today we’re introducing an unlimited leave policy for new moms and dads that allows them to take off as much time as they want during the first year after a child’s birth or adoption. We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed. We’ll just keep paying them normally, eliminating the headache of switching to state or disability pay. Each employee gets to figure out what’s best for them and their family, and then works with their managers for coverage during their absences. Netflix’s continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most talented individuals in their field. Experience shows people perform better at work when they’re not worrying about home. This new policy, combined with our unlimited time off, allows employees to be supported during the changes in their lives and return to work more focused and dedicated.

 This is a pretty landmark perk, with the company showing both current and potential employees how much it cares. The company suggests parents can come back to the office either part or full time, then go back out as necessary during the first year. All paid of course.

 Yahoo doubled its maternity and paternity leave in 2013 to make it more competitive with Facebook and Google, and it has shown to be an important perk for all three companies.

 The talent is growing up.

 Back in the earlier-2000’s perks were ping pong tables, an XBox, snacks and free lunch (all to keep you in the office working hard). Now people want a better work-life balance and Netflix is stepping up in the pursuit of that. It’s smart. Companies aren’t going to get the best out of folks when they’re super stressed out and have their minds at home.

 Mind you, Netflix has an unlimited time-off policy, but today’s policy update is a clear reminder that the company wants the best talent. Especially when and after they become new parents. ||||| At Netflix, we work hard to foster a “freedom and responsibility” culture that gives our employees context about our business and the freedom to make their own decisions along with the accompanying responsibility. With this in mind, today we’re introducing an unlimited leave policy for new moms and dads that allows them to take off as much time as they want during the first year after a child’s birth or adoption.

 We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed. We’ll just keep paying them normally, eliminating the headache of switching to state or disability pay. Each employee gets to figure out what’s best for them and their family, and then works with their managers for coverage during their absences.

 Netflix’s continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most talented individuals in their field. Experience shows people perform better at work when they’re not worrying about home. This new policy, combined with our unlimited time off, allows employees to be supported during the changes in their lives and return to work more focused and dedicated.

 --Tawni Cranz

 Tawni Cranz is Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer ||||| Netflix announced Tuesday that it’s now allowing employees to take unlimited maternity or paternity leave during the first year after their child’s birth or adoption.

 During that first year, Netflix employees will be able to take off however long they feel they need to. They can return on a full- or part-time basis, and even take subsequent time off later in the year if needed. Netflix will “keep paying them normally,” eliminating the hassle of having to switch to disability leave, the company says.

 Netflix’s policy deserves high marks for extending leave to fathers, as well as understanding that the entire first year after childbirth can be challenging for new parents. But it should be noted that unlimited time off policies can have their pitfalls. Many tech companies, including Netflix, offer unlimited paid vacation time. That can be great for employees taking long trips, but it also means employees have to work with their managers and teams ahead of time to make sure their absence won’t jeopardize a project or deadline. Extended absences can also strain workplace relations. |||||


Article:

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Archaeologists have uncovered a stone tool at an ancient rock shelter in the high desert of eastern Oregon that could turn out to be older than any known site of human occupation in western North America.

 The find was announced Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which controls the land on which the site was found.

 University of Oregon archaeologist Patrick O'Grady, who supervises the dig, says the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside Riley has not been fully excavated. But the tool, a hand-held scraper chipped from a piece of orange agate not normally found in eastern Oregon, was found about 8 inches below a layer of volcanic ash from an eruption of Mount St. Helens that has been dated to 15,800 years ago. The depth was about 12 feet below the surface.

 Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Scott Thomas said that if the age of the site holds up to scrutiny, it would be the oldest west of the Rockies, and another predating the so-called Clovis culture, once generally believed to be the first people to migrate from Asia into North America. The earliest Clovis artifacts, known for distinctive and elegant stone points, are dated to about 13,000 years ago.

 O'Grady called the find "tantalizing," but he added that they want to continue digging this summer to see whether the volcanic ash covers the entire area.

 Donald K. Grayson, professor of archaeology at the University of Washington, said the scientific community would be skeptical.

 "No one is going to believe this until it is shown there was no break in that ash layer, that the artifact could not have worked its way down from higher up, and until it is published in a convincing way," he said. "Until then, extreme skepticism is all they are going to get."

 Two pre-Clovis sites are well documented and generally accepted by scientists, Grayson said. One is Paisley Cave, located about 60 miles southwest of the Rimrock site. The other is Monte Verde in Chile. Both are dated about 1,000 years before the oldest Clovis sites.

 If the date of Rimrock holds up, it would put people at the site about 1,500 years earlier, at the end of the Pleistocene era, when mastodons, mammoths, camels, horses and bison roamed the area.

 The find has yet to be submitted to a scientific journal for publication, but it has been reported in newsletters and at conferences, Thomas said.

 Thomas found the site several years ago, while taking a break from carrying supplies to a session of the University of Oregon Archaeological Field School nearby that O'Grady was overseeing.

 Thomas said he noticed an outcropping of an ancient lava flow, with some very tall sage brush growing in front of it, indicating very deep sediment deposits. The soil was black in front of the rock, indicating someone regularly built cooking fires there for a long time. An ancient streambed ran by, which would have given people more reason to stay there. And on the surface, he found a stone point of the stemmed type, found at sites both older and younger than Clovis. Similar points have been found at Paisley Cave

 Volunteers looking around the surface found some 30 stemmed points, and the field school started excavations in 2011, O'Grady said. Uncovered above and below the volcanic ash layer were fragments of teeth believed to be from ancient camels.

 Tests by Archaeological Investigations Northwest Inc. of Portland on blood residue on the agate scraper were consistent with the bovid family of animals, Thomas said. The most likely bovine animal living in Oregon at that time would have been an ancestor of the buffalo. ||||| PORTLAND, Ore. -

 Near the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside of Riley in southeast Oregon, archaeologists recently discovered evidence suggesting one of the oldest known human occupations in the western United States, officials said Thursday.

 Archaeologists with the Bureau of Land Management and the University of Oregon Archaeological Field School have been excavating at the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter since 2011.

 Their discoveries have included a number of stone projectile points and tooth enamel fragments likely belonging to a prehistoric camel (Camelops sp.) that became extinct approximately 13,000 years ago.

 But what has the archaeological community most excited is a small stone tool found below a layer of volcanic ash.

 Near the bottom of a 12-foot deposit, archaeologists discovered a layer of ash that was identified as volcanic ash from a Mt. St. Helens eruption about 15,800 years ago.

 Beneath the layer of volcanic ash, archaeologists discovered a small orange agate tool believed to have been used for scraping animal hides, butchering, and possibly carving wood.

 A blood residue analysis of the tool revealed animal proteins consistent with bison, the most likely species being Bison antiquus, an extinct ancestor of the modern buffalo.

 “The discovery of this tool below a layer of undisturbed ash that dates to 15,800 years old means that this tool is likely more than 15,800 years old, which would suggest the oldest human occupation west of the Rockies,” said Scott Thomas, BLM Burns District archaeologist.

 Presently, Oregon’s Paisley Cave, also managed by the BLM, is considered home to the earliest known residents of North America based on human physical evidence.

 In 2008, a team of archaeologists, led by Dr. Dennis Jenkins with the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History, discovered coprolites - dried feces - containing human DNA dated over 14,000 years old.

 Dr. Patrick O’Grady, with the University of Oregon Archaeological Field School, has been directing the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter excavations since they began.

 “When we had the volcanic ash identified, we were stunned, because that would make this stone tool one of the oldest artifacts in North America. Given those circumstances and the laws of stratigraphy, this object should be older than the ash,” said O’Grady.

 "While we need more evidence before we can make an irrefutable claim, we plan to expand our excavation this summer and hopefully provide further evidence of artifacts found consistently underneath that layer of volcanic ash. That’s the next step,” he added,

 The University of Oregon Archaeological Field School, in partnership with the BLM and volunteers from the Oregon Archaeological Society, will begin its fifth season this summer, offering students, researchers and volunteers invaluable field experience.

 Stan McDonald, BLM Oregon/Washington lead archaeologist, explained the potential this discovery has for the archaeological community.

 “For years, many in the archaeological field assumed that the first humans in the western hemisphere were the Clovis people – dating to around 13,000 years ago," McDonald said. "While a handful of archaeological sites older than Clovis cultures have been discovered in the past few decades, there is still considerable scrutiny of any finding that appears older.”

 “With the recent findings at Rimrock Draw Shelter, we want to assemble indisputable evidence, because these claims will be scrutinized by researchers," he said. "That said, the early discoveries are tantalizing.”

 Flickr photo album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmoregon/sets/72157651118216896/ |||||
What is a summary?

– A small stone tool unearthed in eastern Oregon appears to be so ancient that the history of humans in the area may have to be rewritten, archaeologists say. The agate scraper found at a rock shelter was below a 15,800-year-old layer of ash from Mount St. Helens, making it potentially older than any other evidence of human occupation west of the Rocky Mountains, reports the AP. Analysis of the tool—which is made from orange agate not usually found in the area—revealed it had been used to butcher an animal believed to be the extinct buffalo species Bison antiquus, KTVZ reports. University of Oregon archaeologist Patrick O'Grady says the team plans to keep excavating the site after the "tantalizing" find, which may be older than any other find predating the Clovis people once thought to be the first in North America, NBC News reports. University of Washington professor of archaeology Donald K. Grayson, however, predicts there will be a lot of skepticism about the find. "No one is going to believe this until it is shown there was no break in that ash layer, that the artifact could not have worked its way down from higher up, and until it is published in a convincing way," he tells the AP. "Until then, extreme skepticism is all they are going to get." (Experts believe they have found evidence of a long-lost civilization in the Honduran rainforest.)


Here is a news article: WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A volcanic eruption in Tonga has created a new island — although one scientist said Wednesday it could soon disappear.

 CORRECTS SOURCE - In this photo, taken Jan. 14, 2015 and released by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a volcano erupts near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. A volcano that has been... (Associated Press)

 CORRECTS SOURCE - In this photo, taken Jan. 14, 2015 and released by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a volcano erupts near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. A volcano that has been... (Associated Press)

 The volcano has been erupting for a month in the ocean about 65 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the capital, Nuku'alofa. Last week it disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.

 New Zealand volcanologist Nico Fournier said he traveled by boat to within about a mile of the new island on Saturday to take a closer look.

 He said it's made mainly of loose scoria and its dimensions are about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) by 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles), and that it rises about 100 meters (109 yards) above the sea.

 "It's quite an exciting site, you get to see the birth of an island," he said. "Visually it was quite spectacular, but there was no big sound coming with it, no boom. It was a bit eerie."

 He said that once the volcano stops erupting, it will likely take the ocean no more than a few months to erode the island entirely. He said it would need to be made of lava or something more durable to survive.

 Fournier, who works for New Zealand agency GNS Science, said he was able to establish that the volcano was mainly belching steam into the atmosphere, and that the small amount of ash it was sending out was rising no more than about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).

 That will come as a relief to airlines, as it is the ash that can be dangerous to planes.

 Fournier said the ocean around the island is likely fairly shallow, perhaps only about 100-200 meters (328-656 feet) deep. He said there is no name yet for the new island, and he has been told that any naming rights will fall to Tonga's king. ||||| Volcanic eruption creates new island in Tonga

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 Digital Reporter Cheryl Santa Maria

 Wednesday, January 21, 2015, 2:28 PM - A volcano that began erupting last month in Tonga has created a large new island, officials announced Friday.

 The volcano is located 65 kilometres northwest of the nation's capital. According to the Land and National Resource Ministry, the volcano has been quiet for the past five years.

 It began rumbling on December 20.

 Officials say the volcano is erupting from two vents. One is spewing ash and rock onto the uninhabited island Hunga Ha'apai while the other is underwater, about 100 metres offshore.

 Ministry officials toured the area last Thursday and confirmed the presence of a new island.

 RELATED: Amazing drone video of Icelandic volcano

 "The new island is more than one kilometer ... wide, two kilometers ... long and about 100 meters... high," the ministry writes in a statement.

 "During our observations the volcano was erupting about every five minutes to a height of about 400 meters ... accompanied by some large rocks... as the ash is very wet, most is being deposited close to the vent, building up the new island."

 Foliage near the volcano appears to be dying off, likely due to ash and gases in the atmosphere.

 Tonga is located some 2,000 kilometres northeast of New Zealand. It is situated on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', an area known for frequent seismic activity. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Mother Earth has given birth to new land. An island has formed in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where a volcano has been erupting since Dec. 20. Tonga's Ministry of Lands, Survey, and Natural Resources tells the Weather Network the volcano is erupting from two vents. One is spewing ash and rock onto an uninhabited island; the other is underwater. An expert who came within a mile of the new island, 40 miles northwest of the capital, says it's roughly a square mile in size. But as it's made of loose scoria—a dark volcanic rock—he says it should erode away within a few months once the volcano quiets, the AP reports. If it were formed from lava, it might be more durable. Still, "it's quite an exciting site, you get to see the birth of an island," the expert says. Ministry officials say rocks are being thrown some 1,300 feet into the air, while the volcano is sending steam into the atmosphere. Bits of ash are now climbing about 6,000 feet, down from 30,000 feet last week. That means planes diverted from the area can now pass over safely. However, ash and acidic rain are still showering anything in a 6-mile radius, killing tree leaves on neighboring islands, ABC Australia reports. The volcano last erupted over five years ago.


Article:

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 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Fernando Colon watched with keen interest as three missing women were found alive on Monday, after reportedly being held captive for years by 52-year-old Ariel Castro.

 Colon, 49, had been questioned by the FBI in 2004 about the disappearance of Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry. He worked as a security guard in the neighborhood at the time, and he and his step-daughter were the last people to see DeJesus before she vanished.

 "For something like this to come up, you know for everybody to think that I had something to do with the disappearance of these girls, it was just devastating to me," said Colon.

 Colon also had a close connection to Ariel Castro. He was married to Castro's ex-wife and was step-father to Castro's four children. In 2004, Colon was convicted of two counts of gross sexual imposition and classified as a sex offender for molesting two of Castro's daughters.

 Colon said Castro orchestrated the case, even served as a witness at Colon's trial, to divert attention away from his own crimes.

 "Actually, that was something brilliant because if you come to think about it, he's got these girls prisoner in there, and put an accusation as such to me, makes him look like an angel, like he is such a proud father, such a trustworthy person," said Colon.

 Colon maintains that when he talked to the FBI in 2004, he identified Ariel Castro as a more likely suspect in the abductions of the young girls. Veteran Cleveland private investigator Chris Giannini worked for Colon's defense team in the molestation case.

 Giannini said Ariel Castro was known to spend time after school with his daughters and their friends, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus. He said Castro was also careful to keep people away from visiting his house.

 When asked if authorities should have taken a closer look at Castro, Giannini said, “absolutely… they should have gone and checked out his house and talked to him and interviewed him and thought about something. On top of that, he was a school bus driver, he drove that route down Lorain Road from Wilbur Wright Junior High every day at 2:40 in the afternoon."

 "If people would have listened, when I told them to look into this individual, these girls would not have been missing so long," said Colon.

 Colon said he now plans to appeal his molestation conviction based on the evidence now emerging against Ariel Castro.

 The FBI has not yet returned Fox 8's calls about the allegations made by Fernando Colon.

 For extended coverage on this story, click here. ||||| CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The daughter of kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro told America's Most Wanted in 2004 that she was the last person to see Gina DeJesus alive.

 Arlene Castro was a friend and classmate of Gina DeJesus at Wilbur Wright Middle School in Cleveland. She told the show -- which profiles missing-persons cases to draw attention to them -- that she was walking with DeJesus and borrowed 50 cents from the then-14-year-old to call her mother to ask if the two could hang out at Gina's.

 When her mother said no, Castro said they parted ways.

 According to past media reports, police dogs tracked DeJesus' scent to the payphone Castro said she used.

 This is an interview with Arlene Castro on "America's Most Wanted" in 2004.

 Here's a transcript from the show:

 This is Tom Morris with one of our most mysterious missing child cases:

 It started at this Cleveland middle school one year ago today. 14 year old Gina DeJesus left school and started walking done this busy Cleveland street.

 She never made it home.

 Gina vanished in broad daylight.

 Nancy Ruiz: When I came home and I got on the phone from 4 o'clock i started calling friends and they said they did not see her.

 Morris: I talked to the last person who did see Gina that day; her best friend and classmate, Arlene Castro. The two girls were walking home together hoping to spend the rest of the afternoon at Gina's house.

 Castro: I decided to call my mom and ask her and so she gave me .50 to call my mom and so my mom said no that I can't go over her house. and so I told her I couldn't and she said well okay I'll talk to you later and she just walked.

 Morris: Normally Gina would have taken the bus but after she gave Arlene .50 for the pay phone she didn't have enough money for left bus fare. So she headed home on foot.

 Police canines tracked Gina's scent from the pay phone on the corner to right down the street half way up the block to this no street sign right here. This is where the trail went cold.

 The disappearance of Gina DeJesus on busy Lorain Avenue has sent a familiar chill through this Cleveland community.

 The cops working to bring her home are the same cops working to solve the disappearance of another teenaged girl. almost exactly a year earlier just a few blocks away.

 Amanda Berry vanished on April 21, 2003 as she walked home from her job at this fast food restaurant.

 And when she disappeared which direction was she walking?

 She was last observed to be walking northbound on west 110th which is the street right here.

 Two attractive teenaged girls, they disappear in similar circumstances along the same busy avenue.

 What does it mean?

 A lot of the local people around here are you know are talking about it as well and how they are getting a little bit scared for their children as well.

 Whether or not these cases are connected police and the families of these two girls need your help.

 Gina DeJesus was last seen wearing a tan shirt light blue jacket and black pants.

 Amanda Berry has slick sandy blond hair and multiple piercings in each ear.

 If you have any information about either of these missing children Please give our hotline a call right now at 1-800-crime tv. |||||
What is a summary?

– If you thought the twisted details of the Cleveland case ended with yesterday's news of reported sightings of naked women in Ariel Castro's backyard, well, steel yourself: New reports reveal Castro bizarrely and brazenly inserted himself into the search for one of the missing girls. The latest: The AP reports that Castro physically aided in the search for Gina DeJesus, going so far as to hand out fliers with the 14-year-old's photo and perform at a musical fundraiser held in her honor. (DeJesus' uncle played in bands with Castro over the last two decades.) As previously reported, Castro attended a 2012 vigil for DeJesus; the AP now reports that a witness saw him comforting the girl's mother. A neighbor tells the AP he was with Castro the day investigators dug up a yard looking for remains. Castro reportedly told him, "They're not going to find anyone there." Brother Pedro reportedly took things even further: He spoke to Fox 8 in 2012 after the crews excavating a lot in search of a body found nothing. The line from its report at the time: "Cleveland resident Pedro Castro said, 'That’s a waste of money.'" But Fox 8 also reports on Ariel Castro's bizarre connection with another one-time suspect: Fernando Colon, who the FBI questioned in 2004 about DeJesus' disappearance, after it was determined that he and his stepdaughter were the last ones to see her. And here's where it gets weirder: His stepdaughter, Arlene, is Castro's daughter. Colon was convicted that same year of molesting two of Castro's daughters; Castro himself testified for the prosecution, and Colon now says he plans to appeal his conviction, asserting that Castro was attempting to keep the spotlight off his own crimes. Further, he says he told the FBI to look into Castro in connection with the missing girls. Odder still, Arlene actually appeared on America's Most Wanted to discuss the case in 2004. She says that she was with DeJesus on the day she went missing, and borrowed 50 cents from her to call her mom to ask for permission to go to DeJesus' home, reports the Plain Dealer. Her mom said no and the two went in different directions; but DeJesus no longer had enough money for bus fare, so she began to walk, then vanished.


– Three female Ukrainian activists drove into Crimea just before its referendum and ended up kidnapped, beaten, and tossed in the same jail, they tell the Daily Beast. They were driving into Crimea—one on her own, and two together—to spread their views when Cossacks, Russian militia, and Ukrainian "Berkut" riot police dragged them onto a road near Armyansk. "I could not believe that Berkut was beating us, humiliating us, cutting our hair off and threatening to kill us in broad daylight," said Kateryna Butko, 25. It was bad for their male friends, too, who were stripped down to their underwear and had guns fired beside their heads. All were taken to a Russian navy base in Sevastopol, where Russian military questioned them about their activities. "I was having long political discussions with my polite interrogators," said Butko. The Russians even let her go out with Russian journalists, hoping she would speak well of Russia later, but the trio seemed unconvinced after being freed: "I would not advise any activists to go to Crimea these days," said one. Makes sense, considering that Crimea has seen more than 20 kidnappings lately, the Guardian reports, and KyivPost says kidnappings and assaults of Ukrainian activists and journalists "have become the norm" since Russia invaded.

Expand this summary.

SIMFEROPOL, Crimea – Kidnappings, threats and assaults of Ukrainian activists and journalists have become the norm in Crimea since the Russian military invasion of the Black Sea peninsula on Feb. 27

 On March 9, while Ukraine was celebrating the 200th anniversary of poet Taras Shevchenko’s birth, two activists from the EuroMaidan Revolution -- Anatoliy Kovalsky and Andriy Shchekun -- arrived at the Simferopol train station to pick up a parcel decorated in Ukrainian blue-and-yellow.

 Local pro-Kremlin militia promptly beat the two men and took them to a police station. Now they are believed to be members of the Russian Unity party, but have not been seen since.

 Sevastopol activist Igor Kiriushchenko, who is helping Ukrainian soldiers at military bases, had to urgently leave Crimea on March 10 when dozens of men with white armbands from the Russian Bloc militia broke into his apartment and threatened the lives of him and his wife. “Get out of Crimea, otherwise we will kill you,” they said, Kiriushchenko reported.

 On March 18, Ibraim Umerov, a journalist at ATR, a Crimean Tatar channel, was brought to a hospital with a broken knee after he and a cameraman tried to film the seizure of an auto repair shop in Simferopol by a group of masked men. The men severely beat him on the spot.

 This is the everyday terror that Crimeans are facing under Russia’s control, an invasion condemned as illegal by most of the world.

 “This is real terror, when people are getting abducted, when armed men are walking the streets, when journalists are getting beaten,” said Sergiy Mokrushin, a Simferopol investigative journalist, adding there are as many as 10 activists missing in Crimea right now.

 These cases of kidnappings and abuse are disturbingly reminiscent to those in Kyiv during the EuroMaidan Revolution that toppled Viktor Yanukovych as president on Feb. 22. Dozens of anti-government activists were reportedly taken and tortured in the three months before victory, and at least one was killed, aside from the 100 protesters and police officers shot and killed.

 After the new government took power, Berkut riot police officers sought shelter in Crimea and got welcomed as local heroes and victims of what many of the peninsula’s two million residents believe was a violent, fascist takeover by nationalists in Kyiv. Many of the riot police officers can now be spotted alongside police officers on the streets and checkpoints of the peninsula.

 Near the front gate of the Berkut base in Simferopol is a small tent camp adorned with the words “Crimean Front” that was set up in late February. Some 50 men who call themselves Crimean Self-Defense, a Russian-backed outfit, spend their nights guarding the barracks of the Berkut riot police officers.

 “Almost all of the former Berkut police officers are now here,” Mokrushin said. “Moreover, very many “titushkas” (thugs hired by the ousted Yanukovych regime) were also brought to Kyiv from Crimea.”

 These people have become the backbone of pro-Kremlin Crimean self-defense groups and often apply the brutal methods they were using towards activists in Kyiv to those here. “They like to be scot-free here, to feel their strength, when they may check people’s documents and bags wherever they want,” Mokrushin added.

 The Russian military takeover has already prompted more than 500 people, including Ukrainian activists and Crimean Tatars, to seek shelter outside the peninsula in recent weeks, according to Ukrainian Border Guard Service statistics. Ukrainian border guards and their families are also being harassed by the pro-Kremlin Crimean self-defense groups, they say.

 Iryna Brunova-Kalisetska, a Simferopol psychologist, said that despite the fact that pro-Russian activists in Crimea openly hate EuroMaidan in Kyiv, they have adopted some attributes of the revolution. Apart from self-defense groups that are reminiscent to those representing EuroMaidan, there are also some local tent camps, widespread wearing of black-and-yellow St. George ribbons on the streets of Crimean cities. “This is a mirror effect of EuroMaidan,” Brunova-Kalisetska said.

 The pro-Russian camp is also experiencing euphoria, which could be witnessed in Crimea in recent days with numerous street celebrations attended by thousands of people showing off Russian and Soviet symbols, after the March 16 referendum which led to Putin to order the transfer of Ukraine’s Crimea to Russia. “But this euphoria obviously will not last for long,” the psychologist added.

 Given the danger to people’s lives and their personal safety if they oppose the Russian takeover, Brunova-Kalisetska said that many residents are simply too frightened to protest.

 “They don’t care about violence until it touches their relatives or friends,” she said.

 Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at grytsenko@kyivpost.com.

 Editor’s Note: This article has been produced with support from the project www.mymedia.org.ua, financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and implemented by a joint venture between NIRAS and BBC Media Action.The content in this article may not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish government, NIRAS and BBC Action Media. ||||| Two young women talk about their abduction and brutalization at the hands of Russia’s thugs in what used to be Ukraine

 KIEV, Ukraine -- Before the revolution in Ukraine, Olena Maksymenko devoted herself to writing short stories and fairy tales, modeling for fashion agencies and hitchhiking around Mongolia, Siberia and Europe. But months of protests on the Maidan Square in Kiev changed the lissome 28-year-old’s way of thinking, made her more interested in Ukrainian and international politics. After she saw reports of Russian troops occupying Crimea, Maksymenko genuinely believed it would be patriotic to become personally involved by traveling to the peninsula and sharing her views of the Euromaidan goals with local people. She had her ideals, like so many in the Maidan. But she had no idea what waited for her near the shores of the Black Sea.

 A few days before the referendum in which the people of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, Maksymenko decided to take the trip. Without telling the truth to her parents about her real destination, she joined up with a group of her male friends, some of them reporters and some of them, like her, young professionals-turned-activists sympathizing with the revolution. On March 9th, they packed an SUV with a few laptops, cameras and sleeping bags and drove from Kiev towards the peninsula some 800 kilometers (500 miles) away.

 As they approached a checkpoint near Armyansk, just after entering Crimean territory, Maksymenko and her friends Oles Kromples and Eugene Rakhno came across armed men next to a white Citroen with a pink roof. Maksymenko recognized the uniforms of the Berkut, the Ukrainian riot police defeated in battles against protesters in Kiev last month and disbanded by the new government. There also appeared to be a few Cossacks and Russian-speaking militia. The men had machine-guns trained on two young women whose hands had been tied and who’d been forced to kneel on the ground. “It was too late for us to turn around,” Maksymenko told The Daily Beast. “A few minutes later we were detained and also forced to our knees.”

 The other two women were Oleksandra Riazantseva, 29, and Kateryna Butko, 25, activists from a movement called AutoMaydan that began last December with a car procession to then-President Victor Yanukovych’s residence to protest against his refusal to sign the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement. They, too, had decided they needed to see pro–Russian Crimea with their own eyes.

 That evening, Riazantseva’s parents, who are residents of Crimea, expected her and her friend for dinner. Instead they began three long nights and days searching for the disappeared detainees.

 In the past few weeks, armed men in Crimea have picked up several Ukrainian activists. Earlier this week, seven more people from AutoMaydan were released after being held the better part of a week. Amnesty International (PDF) and other human rights groups have urged the new administration in Crimea and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to stop the practice of abductions and disappearances, which are a new phenomenon for Ukraine.

 In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, the young women detained near Armyansk described in detail what was done to them. The treatment was brutal, though not as savage as they feared, and it revealed a lot about what might be called the organized disorganization of the security forces in newly Russianized Crimea.

 “I realized we were going to die. In my mind I was saying goodbye to everybody I loved”

 Butko, who normally works in public relations and wears her fiery red hair in thick curls, said she was shocked when she was forced to the ground. “Cars were passing by. I could not believe that Berkut was beating us, humiliating us, cutting our hair off and threatening to kill us in broad daylight, right next to a public place.” She pointed to Maksymenko, whose delicate, gamine features make her seem especially frail. Her head was all but shaved. “You lost more hair than any of us,” said Butko. But the men held with them suffered far worse: a series of mock executions.

 Maksymenko and Butko said it was terrifying to see their male friends stripped to their underwear and forced to lie on the ground as guns were fired next to their heads. At one point, one of the men whispered the address of his girlfriend to Maksymenko so she could find her and tell her if he got killed. “That was when I realized we were going to die,” said Maksymenko. “In my mind I was saying goodbye to everybody I loved, telling myself that if I survived I would always tell my parents the truth about my whereabouts.”

 In fact, none of the five detainees were hurt seriously. They lost cameras, cell phones, laptops, tents and sleeping bags but all their limbs were in place. “I was still happy to have my ears, after all the threats about cutting them off,” said Maksymenko.

 That same night they were picked up they were taken to a Russian navy base in Sevastopol and each was put in a separate cell. The women recalled loud arguments in the hall. The Berkut arrived demanding the five “Maidanovtsy,” but the Russian officers, to the enormous relief of the detainees, did not turn them over. The former cops from a former force appear to be under nobody’s control. “There are about 3,000 Berkut feeling betrayed by president Yanukovych right now,” said Maksymenko. “Some of them might be following us even in Kiev.”

 Every day the Russian military questioned the detainees about their involvement in Euromaidan protests. “Unlike Berkut and the Cossacks, the Russian military treated us with almost exaggerated respect and care,” Butko pointed out. “I was having long political discussions with my polite interrogators,” she added.

 On the third day of detention, the Russian military commanders went so far as to let the AutoMaydan activist Butko walk freely around Sevastopol together with two Russian journalists. Their calculated idea was that later, on her return to Kiev, the activist could tell her friends about Sevastopol’s genuine willingness to become a part of Russia.

 “I thought about running away,” said Butko, “but after three days in jail, I was too dirty and unkempt, and besides, I did not have any documents or money with me.” By then the Russian military had already read her cell phone contacts, studied her text messages and searched out details of her life online.

 The women told The Daily Beast that by the third day a Russian colonel and two young draftee soldiers armed with machineguns escorted all five detainees back to the checkpoint and convinced the Berkut to allow the Ukrainian activists to leave in their cars. Looking back on the lessons she had learned from her experience, Maksymenko said, “I would not advise any activists to go to Crimea these days.” |||||


– The height and weight of a newborn baby is largely governed by his or her own genes, but it's the height of the mother that's giving researchers a telltale sign, reports the Telegraph. Specifically, shorter women have shorter pregnancies and thus more premature babies, report investigators at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center Ohio Collaborative in the journal PLOS Medicine. The team analyzed 3,485 Nordic women and their babies, and found that a woman's height actually shapes the fetal environment, thereby influencing the length of her pregnancy. This has broad health implications around the world, where 15 million babies are born prematurely every year and more than 1 million of them die due to complications of early birth—which include breathing problems, vision loss, and intellectual delays, report researchers in a press release. "That a woman's height influences gestational length, independent of the genes she passes on that determine fetal size, is a major finding by our research networks, and the first of what we expect to be many genetic contributions," one researcher says. (Premature birth is now the world's top killer of children under 5.)

Expand this summary.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2015 - Shorter mothers have shorter pregnancies, smaller babies, and higher risk for a preterm birth. New research has found that a mother's height directly influences her risk for preterm birth.

 Investigators at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center Ohio Collaborative looked at 3,485 Nordic women and their babies, and found that maternal height, which is determined by genetic factors, helped shape the fetal environment, influencing the length of pregnancy and frequency of prematurity. In contrast, birth length and birth weight are mainly influenced by transmitted genes. Preterm birth is the number one killer of newborns in the United States and serious gaps exist between racial and ethnic groups.

 More than 450,000 babies are born too soon in the U.S. and the national preterm birth rate is worse than many other high-resource countries, the March of Dimes says. Worldwide, 15 million babies are born preterm, and more than one million die due to complications of an early birth. Babies who survive an early birth face serious and lifelong health problems, including breathing problems, jaundice, vision loss, cerebral palsy and intellectual delays.

 "A major goal of the nationwide network of March of Dimes prematurity research centers is identifying genes that govern fetal growth and length of pregnancy. That a woman's height influences gestational length, independent of the genes she passes on that determine fetal size, is a major finding by our research networks, and the first of what we expect to be many genetic contributions," said Joe Leigh Simpson, MD, March of Dimes senior vice president for Research and Global Programs.

 "The innovative, team-based model of our prematurity research centers is critical to understanding the unknown causes or preterm birth. This new finding adds one small piece toward solving the much larger puzzle of preterm birth," says Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.

 The March of Dimes is raising $75 million to support its five prematurity research centers. These unique, transdisciplinary centers bring together the brightest minds from many diverse disciplines -- geneticists, molecular biologists, epidemiologists, engineers, computer scientists, and others -- to work together to find answers to prevent premature birth. In addition to the Ohio Collaborative, the March of Dimes has established research centers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, at the University of Pennsylvania, at Washington University in St. Louis, and at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and Duke University.

 "Our finding shows that a mother's height has a direct impact on how long her pregnancy lasts," said Louis Muglia, MD, PhD, the primary investigator of the Ohio Collaborative, and co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "The explanation for why this happens is unclear but could depend not only on unknown genes but also on woman's lifetime of nutrition and her environment."

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 The research paper, "Assessing the Causal Relationship of Maternal Height on Birth Size and Gestational Age at Birth: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis," was published online Aug. 18 by PLoS Medicine.

 The March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org. Visit prematurityresearch.org for more information about the research centers. Find us on Facebook and Twitter. ||||| Summary of Major Findings

 While the extremes of birth size, particularly birth weight, and gestational age at birth are important global contributors to infant mortality, more modest deviations in these parameters have been repeatedly linked to risk for adult disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease [58–60]. Thus, understanding the determinants of fetal growth and the duration of pregnancy are essential to improve both newborn and later-in-life health. Epidemiological evidence has suggested that these birth outcomes are shaped by intrauterine environment, but the relative contribution of maternal genetic, fetal genetic, and nongenetic factors that may drive epigenetic physiological adaptations remains incompletely understood. Moreover, should fetal genetics shape these outcomes, their direct involvement in the risk for the adult diseases, as well, is an intriguing possibility. Recently, to better understand normal fetal growth in healthy pregnancy, a multinational longitudinal assessment has been reported [61]. These data demonstrate similar average growth profiles across geographic populations but do not define the mechanisms for variability within a given population.

 In this study, we observed the consistent associations between maternal height and birth length, birth weight, and gestational age in each of the three study cohorts. The estimated effect sizes of the observed associations were respectively ~0.05 cm/cm for birth length, ~10 g/cm for birth weight, and ~0.34 d/cm for gestational age per 1 cm change in maternal height, which are in the same range as previous reports for fetal growth [20] and gestational age [15]. We then disentangled causal relationships underlying these observational associations.

 Based on an extensive list of height-associated SNPs (n = 697) reported by a recent large GWA meta-analysis [40], we constructed a height genetic score as a powerful genetic instrument for maternal height. In our study samples, the genotype-based genetic score explained a substantial fraction (~20%) of variance in maternal height. This percentage was even larger than that (~16%) reported in the original study [40], which is likely due to the homogeneity of our samples (i.e., all females with northern European origin and a more restricted age distribution). Our previous studies have shown that the height genetic score explained larger variance in females than males [62,63].

 We observed significant associations of maternal height genetic score with birth length, with birth weight, and, to a lesser extent, with gestational age. As the genetic score captures the genetic variation in maternal height, these significant associations suggested either direct causal influence (Fig 1A) of maternal height or fetal genetic effect (Fig 1C) rather than confounding effects (Fig 1B), although the latter mechanism could not be excluded. It should be emphasized that maternal genetic score is not a valid instrument for maternal height, unless adjusted for fetal genotype; thus, it cannot be used to differentiate the causal effect of maternal height (Fig 1A) from fetal genetic effect (Fig 1C).

 We further probed the causal impacts of maternal height using genetic instruments either based on maternal genetic score without or with adjustment for fetal genetic score (method 1 and 2) and maternal nontransmitted haplotype score (method 3). The results strongly suggested that the observed correlations between maternal height and birth length or birth weight were mainly due to fetal genetic effects but not due to nongenetic intrauterine effect (i.e., maternal height as an environmental factor that casually influences fetal growth). Multiple lines of evidence consistently supported this conclusion.

 First, we observed significant association of fetal genetic score with birth length and birth weight, and after controlling for fetal genetic score, the associations between maternal genetic score with birth length and weight were no longer significant, which suggests substantial fetal genetic influence. This observation was in line with previous studies, which showed that the magnitudes of associations between paternal height with either birth length or birth weight were comparable to maternal height [20,21,64]. Genetic analyses of parent-offspring data [6,11] also suggested fetal genetics explain more variation in birth size.

 Second, our haplotype-based genetic score analysis showed that both maternal transmitted genetic score and paternal transmitted genetic score were highly significantly associated with birth length and birth weight, but the nontransmitted score was not (particularly for birth weight), which again indicated that maternal height has relatively minimal effect on birth length or birth weight if not transmitted genetically. The nontransmitted score was marginally associated with birth length, which suggests some direct causal effect of maternal height on birth length, and the estimated causal effect size was similar to the observational effect (~0.05 cm change in birth length per 1 cm change in maternal height).

 Thirdly, our single marker analysis indicated that those adult height-associated SNPs were excessively associated with birth length and birth weight in fetus, but the estimated effect sizes of these SNPs on birth length and birth weight were not well correlated with their effect on maternal height, which indicated direct but different functional effects of these SNPs on fetal growth rather than a common causal effect mediated through maternal height. The inference of the parental transmission in mother-child pairs also allows us to examine parent-of-origin effects of those height-associated SNPs on birth length and weight. Our results showed excessive differences between the maternal and paternal transmitted alleles. For birth weight, the effect sizes of the maternal transmitted alleles were generally larger than paternal transmitted ones.

 We also performed the analysis using gestation-adjusted birthweight percentiles (converted to z-scores) as the outcome and obtained similar results (S8 Table). This evidence collectively suggests that birth weight and birth length are mainly defined by fetal genetics. Therefore, it is difficult to define abnormality of fetal growth in a general term (e.g., by deviation from population mean) without taking genetic variance into account. It should be noted that the samples of the current study were collected from high-resource northern European countries, with presumably good nutrition throughout childhood, adolescence, and pregnancy, enabling the mothers and their infants to grow to their full genetic potential. This fact might account for why we observed a predominant influence of genetic factors on birth size in this study. The conclusion may not be directly transferrable to low- or middle-income countries, where malnutrition may substantially constrain one’s growth and significantly change the association between maternal height and fetal growth [24,25].

 In contrast with the findings in birth length and birth weight, we observed evidence that suggested gestational age at birth might be causally influenced by maternal height, in which case maternal height might operate as an important factor that shapes the intrauterine environment and influence the gestational age. Again, this conclusion was supported by multiple lines of evidence: (i) gestational age was (marginally) associated with maternal height genetic score but not with fetal height genetic score, and after adjustment for fetal genetics, the association between gestational age and maternal height genetic score were still significant; (ii) gestational age was associated with maternal nontransmitted haplotype genetic score, which indicated the effect of maternal height on gestational age was transmitted through phenotypic causal mechanism rather than genetic inheritance (i.e., transmission of alleles); (iii) the estimated causal effect of 0.4 d/cm of maternal height on gestational age was similar to the size from observational association; and (iv) single-marker analysis indicated that those adult height SNPs were excessively associated with gestational age, and the estimated effect sizes of these SNPs (in mothers) on gestational age, although relatively low, were correlated with their effect on maternal height, which suggested the effect of these SNPs is projected through a common intermediate (i.e., maternal height) rather than through SNP-specific pathways (biological pleiotropy).

 We also performed analysis using preterm status as a dichotomous outcome, and the results (S9 Table) indicated that shorter maternal height is a risk factor for preterm birth (observational association p = 3.77 × 10−6, with an estimated 3% increase in risk if the mothers are 1 cm shorter). This result was consistent with a recent epidemiology study [18]. Genetic score analysis also showed significant association between preterm birth risk and the nontransmitted haplotype score (p = 0.0456), which suggests that maternal height causally influences preterm birth risk.

 We recognize that the association between maternal non-transmitted haplotype score and gestational age was only modestly significant (meta p = 0.0424), and it was mainly driven by the DNBC cohort (p = 0.018) and was not significant in the other two cohorts. Also, gestational age in the DNBC cohort was estimated by combining information from self-reported data and gestational age reported in birth registry, while it was estimated by ultrasound in the other two cohorts. However, our meta-analysis did not reveal any sign of inconsistency—the confidence intervals of the estimates from different cohorts overlap and the p-value for the heterogeneity test was not significant. Nevertheless, the error-free validity of this association needs to be confirmed by further replication studies in independent cohorts. |||||


Article:
A serial killer of rabbits has struck fear into the hearts of the people of a picturesque French village on the north Brittany coast.

 More than 100 animals have fallen victim to the mystery killer since he or she began their murderous spree in and around the village of Minihy-Tréguier, a pretty spot popular with tourists and home to a handful of British expats.

 "The village is gripped by fear," Jean-Yves Fenvarc'h, the mayor of the village of 1,300 people, told the Telegraph.

 The killer sneaks into people's gardens, removes the rabbits from their hutches, kills them with a sharp object or by simply crushing them with his foot, and then leaves their dead bodies where they died.

 The rabbits he kills are often kept by elderly people who house them in their gardens, sometimes alongside chickens or geese.

 “He (the killer) never touches the chickens or the geese,” said Mr Fenvarc'h.

 The mayor said the attacks, which now number 15 in total, began in March, then eased off before starting again in August, and then, after another lull, resumed earlier this month.

 What makes the situation particularly scary, he said, was the fact that the killer sometimes returns to the scene of a crime to kill again. ||||| Detectives are hunting a serial killer who is believed to be responsible for beating to death about a hundred pet rabbits in a small town in Brittany.

 Officers believe that the culprit, whom they describe as cold-blooded, is human rather than a fox or another wild animal and have issued an appeal for witnesses.

 The killer strikes when owners leave home, raising fears that properties are being watched. Local residents believe that the killer must know the area to be able to identify people with rabbit hutches that are not visible from the road.

 Police in the Côtes-d’Armor region denounced a “series of acts of cruelty against domestic rabbits” in and around the town of Minihy-Tréguier. “The cages are opened then the animals are killed… |||||Summary:

– A French town is being terrorized by a serial killer—but humans aren't the target. The Telegraph reports that someone in the village of Minihy-Treguier has so far slaughtered more than 100 rabbits, slipping into residents' yards, yanking rabbits out of their hutches, and either stomping them to death by foot or murdering them with a sharp tool of some kind. "The cages are opened, then the animals are killed in cold blood and left at the scene," a police statement notes, per the Sunday Times. The town's mayor says there've been 15 attacks in all, starting in March, with some homes getting hit more than once. "He returned to one home four times, killing 20 rabbits there in all," the mayor notes. One woman who lost six adult rabbits—as well as some of their babies, which died after the mothers were killed—tells local media she once surprised a man she though was the rabbit murderer, wearing a black hat and a long raincoat, one morning, "but he had the time to make his escape." Oddly left alone in these murderous rampages: chickens and geese that often cohabitate with the bunnies. (Authorities don't think foxes or other animals are killing the rabbits, as was the case with a slew of mysterious cat deaths in the UK.)


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Video

 When and how long a baby looks at other people’s eyes offers the earliest behavioral sign to date of whether a child is likely to develop autism, scientists are reporting.

 In a study published Wednesday, researchers using eye-tracking technology found that children who were found to have autism at age 3 looked less at people’s eyes when they were babies than children who did not develop autism. But contrary to what the researchers expected, the difference was not apparent at birth. It emerged in the next few months and autism experts said that might suggest a window during which the progression toward autism can be halted or slowed.

 The study, published online in the journal Nature, found that infants who later developed autism began spending less time looking at people’s eyes between 2 and 6 months of age and paid less attention to eyes as they grew older. By contrast, babies who did not develop autism looked increasingly at people’s eyes until about 9 months old, and then kept their attention to eyes fairly constant into toddlerhood.

 “This paper is a major leap forward,” said Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, a pediatrician and autism researcher at the University of Alberta, who was not involved in the study. “Documenting that there’s a developmental difference between 2 and 6 months is a major, major finding.”

 The authors, Warren R. Jones and Ami Klin, both of the Marcus Autism Center and Emory University, also found that babies who showed the steepest decline in looking at people’s eyes over time developed the most severe autism.

 “Kids whose eye fixation falls off most rapidly are the ones who later on are the most socially disabled and show the most symptoms,” said Dr. Jones, director of research at the autism center. “These are the earliest known signs of social disability, and they are associated with outcome and with symptom severity. Our ultimate goal is to translate this discovery into a tool for early identification” of children with autism.

 The eye-tracking differences are not something parents and pediatricians would be able to perceive without the technology and expertise of an autism clinic, Dr. Jones said. “We don’t want to create concern in parents that if a child isn’t looking them in the eyes all the time, it’s a problem,” he said. “It’s not. Children are looking all over the place.”

 Autism therapies have not yet been developed for young babies, but there are efforts to adapt intensive behavioral therapy for use with children as young as 12 months, Dr. Jones said.

 Diagnoses of autism have increased, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from one child in 150 in 2002 to one in 88 in 2008. The reasons are unclear, although some factors could be greater awareness of the disorder and a growing number of older fathers.

 Dr. Jones and Dr. Klin, who directs the autism center, studied two groups of babies. One group was at high risk for autism, with a 20 times greater likelihood of developing it because they had siblings with the disorder. The other group was at low risk, with no relatives with autism.

 The researchers assessed 110 children, from 2 months to 2 years of age, 10 times while watching videos of friendly women acting like playful caregivers. Eye-tracking technology traced when the babies looked at the women’s eyes, mouths and bodies, as well as toys or other objects in the background. At age 3, the children were evaluated for autism. Ultimately, researchers used data from 36 boys, 11 of whom developed autism. (They excluded data from girls because only two developed autism.)

 While the number of children studied was small — and the researchers are now studying more children — experts not involved in the study said the results were significant because of the careful and repeated measurements that were not just snapshots, but showed change over time.

 “It’s well done and very important,” said Dr. Geraldine Dawson, director of the Center for Autism Diagnosis and Treatment at Duke University. She said it was notable that “early on these babies look quite normal; this really gives us a clue to brain development.”

 She said a possible explanation was that early in life, activities like looking at faces are essentially reflexes “controlled by lower cortical regions of the brain that are likely intact” in children with autism. But “as the brain develops, babies begin to use these behaviors in a more intentional way. They can look at what they want to look at. We think that these higher cortical regions are the ones that are not working the same” as in typical children.

 Dr. John N. Constantino, a child psychiatrist and pediatrician at Washington University in St. Louis, said the study showed that “babies who develop autism are for the most part doing an awful lot of things right for the first few months.” Perhaps the genes that drive autism begin to derail typical development after that, so that “what you are looking at moment by moment, day by day, second by second, is completely different from what other children are looking at, and the cumulative experience is what sends you off into the trajectory of autism.”

 The researchers found that children who developed autism paid somewhat more attention to mouths and sustained attention to bodies past the age when typical children became less interested. Even more noticeable was that children who developed autism looked more at objects after the first year, while typical children’s interest in objects declined.

 “We’re measuring what babies see, but more importantly we’re measuring what they don’t see,” Dr. Jones said.

 Dr. Dawson said that looking at people teaches babies about “facial expressions and language and gesture. If the baby who’s developing autism is paying attention to objects, they’re really losing out on those opportunities.”

 Before this study, experts said, research found that potential signs of autism — including differences in temperament, eye contact and pointing out objects — could be detected late in a child’s first year. Most cases of autism in children are diagnosed between ages 3 and 5, although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening children at between 18 and 24 months.

 But the new study suggests the need to develop therapies that begin even earlier. “The train has long left the station if you don’t start intervention until 18 months,” Dr. Constantino said.

 Dr. Jones said eye contact was “just one very important channel.”

 He continued, “I think we’d see the same things if we were measuring a child’s social reciprocity via touch or auditory listening preferences, but those are harder to measure.”

 He and Dr. Klin advocate the eventual use of eye tracking and other measures in social development growth charts, similar to height and weight charts. Still, the authors and other experts cautioned that the results required confirmation in many more children.

 Autism is so complex and varied that eye-tracking is unlikely to be able to identify every condition on the autism spectrum, Dr. Zwaigenbaum and others said. But they said the study helped illustrate the need for therapies to increase social engagement among very young infants, “either by intensifying the experience for them or making it pleasurable in other ways,” Dr. Constantino said.

 “It really does present an opportunity for seeing if we could do some preventative interventions,” said Dr. Sally Ozonoff, vice chairwoman for research in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the MIND Institute of the University of California, Davis. “Maybe you could keep the child from heading into that decline, so it doesn’t turn into autism.” ||||| Image copyright Kay Hinton/Emory University Image caption Eye tracking experiments were used to detect signs of autism

 An early indication of autism can be identified in babies under six months old, a study suggests.

 US researchers, writing in Nature, analysed how infants looked at faces from birth to the age of three.

 They found children later diagnosed with autism initially developed normally but showed diminished eye contact - a hallmark of autism - between two and six months of age.

 A UK expert said the findings raise hope for early interventions.

 In the study, researchers led by Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta used eye-tracking technology to measure the way babies looked at and responded to social clues.

 These early markers are extremely important for us to identify - the earlier we can diagnose a child who has one of these disorders - such as autism - the earlier we can provide intervention and development Dr Deborah Riby, Durham University

 They found infants later diagnosed with autism had shown a steady decline in attention to the eyes of other people from the age of two months onwards, when watching videos of natural human interactions.

 Lead researcher Dr Warren Jones told BBC News: "It tells us for the first time that it's possible to detect some signs of autism in the first months of life.

 "These are the earliest signs of autism that we've ever observed."

 The study, in collaboration with the Marcus Autism Center and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, followed 59 infants who had a high risk of autism because they had siblings with the life-long condition, and 51 infants at low risk.

 Dr Jones and colleague Dr Ami Klin followed them to the age of three, when the children were formally assessed for autism.

 Thirteen of the children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders - a range of disorders that includes autism and Asperger's syndrome - 11 boys and two girls.

 The researchers then went back to look at the eye-tracking data, and what they found was surprising.

 "In infants with autism, eye contact is declining already in the first six months of life," said Dr Jones.

 But he added this could be seen only with sophisticated technology and would not be visible to parents.

 "It's not something that parents would be able to see by themselves at all. If parents have concerns they should talk to their paediatrician."

 Dr Deborah Riby, of the department of psychology at Durham University, said the study provided an insight into the timing of atypical social attention in children who might go on to develop autism.

 Autism spectrum disorders Autism and Asperger's syndrome are part of a range of related developmental disorders known as autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)

 They begin in childhood and last through adulthood.

 ASD can cause a wide range of symptoms, which are grouped into three categories including problems with social interaction, impaired communication skills and unusual patterns of thought and behaviour Source: NHS Choices

 "These early markers are extremely important for us to identify - the earlier we can diagnose a child who has one of these disorders - such as autism - the earlier we can provide intervention and development," she said.

 Caroline Hattersley, head of information, advice and advocacy at the National Autistic Society, said the research was "based on a very small sample and needs to be replicated on a far larger scale before any concrete conclusions can be drawn".

 "Autism is a very complex condition," she said.

 "No two people with autism are the same, and so a holistic approach to diagnosis is required that takes into account all aspects of an individual's behaviour. A more comprehensive approach allows all of a person's support needs to be identified.

 "It's vital that everyone with autism can access a diagnosis, as it can be key to unlocking the right support which can enable people with the condition to reach their full potential."

 The research is published in the journal Nature. ||||| By Serena Gordon

 HealthDay Reporter

 WEDNESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- At least one sign of autism may begin as early as 2 months of life, new research suggests.

 The study of 110 babies found that infants later diagnosed with autism showed a decline in the amount of attention they paid to other people's eyes beginning at 2 months and continuing until 24 months.

 "We found that signs of autism are measurable and observable within the first months of life," said study author Warren Jones, director of research at the Marcus Autism Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

 "These are the earliest signs of autism ever observed," Jones said, noting they may be associated with symptom severity.

 Children with autism have impaired communication and social skills and often exhibit repetitive behaviors. Symptoms may be mild, as in Asperger syndrome, or severe, as in full-blown autism. It's estimated that one in 88 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder.

 Despite the observed decline in eye attention, the researchers said infants later diagnosed with autism did pay more attention to people's eyes than was expected.

 "This insight, the preservation of some early eye-looking, is important because, in the future, if we were able to use similar technologies to identify early signs of social disability, we could then consider interventions to build on that early eye-looking and help reduce some of the associated disabilities that often accompany autism," said Jones.

 Autism therapies work best when begun while the brain is still developing. "This early developmental window may be an opportunity to intervene that we didn't know we had before," Jones added.

 The findings, released online Nov. 6 as a letter in the journal Nature, need to be confirmed in larger studies before they can lead to changes in clinical practice.

 Deficits in eye contact are a key sign of autism spectrum disorders, according to background information in the study. But it wasn't clear when such deficits begin.

 Currently, autism is often diagnosed using a scientifically validated checklist designed for youngsters between 16 months and 30 months old, according to Autism Speaks.

 For the study, the researchers enrolled 59 babies considered to be at high risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder because they had a sibling with autism. Another 51 babies were enrolled who were considered low-risk.

 To see if they could pinpoint when lack of interest in other people's eyes begins, the research team used eye-tracking technology to measure the babies' focus when shown videos of caregivers engaged in normal behaviors.

 The babies were shown the videos at 10 time points between 2 months and 2 years of age.

 By age 3, just one child from the low-risk group was later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, compared to 12 youngsters in the high-risk group. Because just two of these children were female, the researchers limited their analysis to the 11 male children diagnosed with autism. They compared them to 25 typically developing children from the low-risk group.

 The researchers noted that the decline in interest in other people's eyes began at 2 months and continued declining until 2 years.

 One expert called the findings a significant advance.

 "This was a very well-done, very revealing study documenting in a precise and systematic way that children who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders have demonstrable and progressive differences in visual regard in infancy. It's a breakthrough finding," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

 "Whether this might permit accurate and reliable diagnosis earlier is still very unclear. But if it does lead to earlier identification, it may lead to the development of earlier interventions," he said.

 Jones pointed out that these deficits aren't something that parents would be able to see on their own. "This is not something a parent can see by just holding a baby. We collected many measurements over time," he explained.

 "Parents shouldn't be concerned if their babies aren't looking at them 100 percent of the time, but if they do have persistent concerns, they should talk to their child's pediatrician," advised Jones. |||||

– A new autism study makes what looks to be a significant discovery: The first signs show up as early as two months of age in the form of reduced eye contact by babies, reports the New York Times. If the findings hold up, they could provide doctors with the earliest warning yet that a child is developing the disorder—a big deal because research suggests that the earlier treatment begins, the more effective it is. The study "tells us for the first time that it's possible to detect some signs of autism in the first months of life," one of the Emory University researchers tells the BBC. "These are the earliest signs of autism that we've ever observed." The researchers studied two groups of kids from birth to age 2 with sophisticated eye-tracking technology. One of the groups was deemed high risk because of a sibling with autism. The researchers then went back when the kids were 3 and found a clear correlation between those who had been recently diagnosed with autism and their eye contact as babies. The dropoff began between two and six months of age, and the more severe it was, the more severe the case of autism. An autism researcher not involved with the study called it a "major, major finding." The researchers say this isn't something parents would likely be able to notice on their own, notes HealthDay via US News & Report. Nor do they want parents to panic if their child isn't maintaining constant eye contact. But "if they do have persistent concerns, they should talk to their child's pediatrician," adds one.


– The Justice Department's special Medicare fraud strike team made its biggest bust ever yesterday, charging 107 doctors, nurses, and other alleged fraudsters in a "nationwide takedown" affecting seven cities. All told, they're accused of bilking the government out of $452 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. Among the scams: billing Medicare for never-purchased power wheelchairs, never-held therapy sessions, and unnecessary feeding tubes. Health and Human Services also suspended or otherwise penalized 52 medical providers where it found "credible allegations of fraud." The lion's share of the fraud was allegedly committed by seven people at two Baton Rouge community health centers, who billed Medicare $225.6 million for services the government alleges were unnecessary and often never actually performed, Reuters reports. Kathleen Sebelius hailed the arrests as "another example of how the Affordable Care Act is helping the Obama administration fight fraud," arguing that the controversial law had provided the resources to make the busts. This is the fourth big bust by the fraud team in two years.

Expand this summary.

Federal agents take away computers from Willsand Home Health Agency Inc. in Miami. (Alan Diaz, Associated Press / )

 WASHINGTON — Doctors, nurses and social workers from across the country, 107 in all, were charged in what federal officials in Washington called a "nationwide takedown" of medical professionals accused of fraudulently billing Medicare out of nearly half a billion dollars.

 The amount of bogus Medicare claims, totaling about $452 million, was the highest in a single raid in the history of a federal strike force combating rising fraud in the medical industry, according to the Justice Department. Arrests were made in seven major cities.

 The Obama administration said it was toughening its attack on those who filed bills for ambulance rides never taken and medical procedures never provided.

 In addition, officials in the Health and Human Services Department suspended or took other administrative actions against 52 medical providers after analyzing billing requests and finding additional "credible allegations of fraud."

 In the Los Angeles area, eight people, including two doctors, were charged with fraudulently billing about $20 million for services never provided.

 Bolademi Adetola, owner of healthcare equipment provider Latay Medical Services in Gardena, was charged with billing Medicare for power wheelchairs that were never purchased. Greatcare Home Health in Los Angeles allegedly paid kickbacks to recruiters to find "patients" who were perfectly fine, and then have doctors knowingly write phony prescriptions for them.

 Dr. Augustus Ohemeng and Dr. George Tarryk, who treated patients at the Pacific Clinic in Long Beach, were among four individuals who allegedly falsely billed for feeding tubes for patients who did not need them.

 None of the defendants or their lawyers could be reached for comment.

 Assistant Atty. Gen. Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said the arrests, fourth in a series of Medicare fraud takedowns over the last two years, served as another warning to future scammers.

 "Medicare is an attractive target for criminals," Breuer said, even as prosecution and jail time is risked with every false claim.

 "If you don't believe it," he said, "ask Lawrence Duran, the former owner of a mental healthcare company in Miami who was sentenced last year to 50 years in prison. Or his two co-owners, each of whom was sentenced to 35 years."

 Of the 107 defendants in the latest crackdown, 87 were arrested Wednesday. Federal agents were either still looking for the others or expecting them to surrender voluntarily.

 The other cities were Miami; Tampa, Fla.; Houston; Baton Rouge, La.; Detroit and Chicago.

 The Obama administration has stepped up efforts to combat fraud in the Medicare program, which provides health coverage to about 50 million elderly and disabled Americans.

 Last year the federal government charged 1,430 people with healthcare fraud, up from 797 in 2008, according to the Health and Human Services Department. The agency also reported revoking the eligibility of more than 60,000 Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers and recovering $4.1 billion in fraudulent claims.

 Although there is broad agreement that fraud is widespread in Medicare and Medicaid, estimates of the scope of the program vary from $20 billion a year to $100 billion. Total spending on Medicare and Medicaid is expected to reach about $1 trillion this year.

 Louis Saccoccio, chief executive of the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Assn., said the latest round of arrests was encouraging and reflected the intensified efforts by the government to combat fraud, especially since 2009.

 He said he was most pleased to see that the Health and Human Services Department had stopped payments to 52 providers by using new tools to analyze data and detect potentially fraudulent charges.

 The system, which was set up by the healthcare law President Obama signed two years ago, relies on a computer program to identify patterns of potentially fraudulent charges by providers. "That really has the promise to be a game changer," he said. "In the future, what you will see is the real impact is going to come from preventing fraud."

 richard.serrano@latimes.com

 Times staff writer Noam N. Levey contributed to this report. ||||| * Sebelius uses arrests to defend Obama healthcare law

 * FBI investigating more than 2,600 healthcare fraud cases

 By Jeremy Pelofsky

 WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged 107 people, including doctors and nurses, for trying to defraud the federal Medicare healthcare program for the elderly and disabled of about $452 million, the biggest Medicare fraud sweep to date, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.

 At least 91 people were arrested in Miami; Houston; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and four other cities on a variety of charges: from submitting false billing for home healthcare, mental health services, HIV infusions and physical therapy to money laundering and receiving kickbacks.

 Justice Department and Health and Human Services Department officials were unable to say how much Medicare actually paid out, but a review of 34 complaints and indictments found that authorities were seeking to recover at least $59.5 million of allegedly ill-gotten gains.

 "These fraud schemes were committed by people up and down the chain of healthcare providers - from doctors, nurses, and licensed clinical social workers, to office managers and patient recruiters," said Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division.

 President Barack Obama's administration has been pushing to squeeze out fraud from federal programs like Medicare as part of a broader attempt to stem soaring healthcare costs, arguing fraud can contribute to rising prices for services.

 Breuer said that it is the single largest Medicare billing fraud sweep by the Justice Department's special task force in its five-year history. In September, the Obama administration charged 91 people in connection with a variety of schemes aimed at bilking Medicare out of $295 million.

 The FBI said it is investigating more than 2,600 cases of healthcare fraud with more than 500 agents and analysts. Since March 2007, the Justice Department said, it has charged more than 1,300 people for falsely billing Medicare more than $4 billion.

 Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to use the arrests to defend Obama's controversial healthcare law passed in 2010, arguing that additional resources provided under the law helped authorities root out fraud.

 "Today's actions are another example of how the Affordable Care Act is helping the Obama administration fight fraud and strengthen the Medicare program," Sebelius said.

 Republicans and 26 out of the 50 U.S. states have challenged the law and are seeking to have it invalidated as unconstitutional because it would require Americans to have health insurance coverage or pay a penalty.

 SEVEN ARRESTED IN BATON ROUGE

 The biggest cases were in Baton Rouge where seven people were arrested and charged with eight counts, including conspiracy and healthcare fraud for billing Medicare for some $225.6 million in unnecessary services and in some cases not providing services billed.

 They ran and worked at two community mental health centers in Louisiana where they billed for more group therapy sessions than were provided, including recreational and education psychotherapy, according to court records.

 Medicare paid out more than $37.9 million for the services to the two centers in Baton Rouge, identified as Shifa Community Mental Health Center and Serenity Center, according to the records.

 U.S. prosecutors sought to have two of the owners of the centers, Hoor Naz Jafri and Roslyn Dogan, held without bond pending trial. Dogan was also accused of stealing evidence from the prosecutors' office in a bid to obstruct the investigation, according to a detention memo.

 Four others who worked as therapists at the centers pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud for purporting to provide group therapy and document patients' attendance, the court documents said.

 In one case out of Miami, 10 people were charged with allegedly seeking $63 million in reimbursements from Medicare as some therapists altered their paperwork to try to justify services for patients who did not need them.

 In another Florida case, one person was accused of receiving kickbacks to refer patients to a company that offered home health and physical therapy services, submitting $60 million in claims. Medicare reimbursed that group, NANY Home Health Inc, $40 million.

 Last month, the three operators of NANY Home Health were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their roles in the scheme and were ordered to pay $40 million in restitution. |||||