News article:

Let’s start with the crossbow, because the crossbow is huge. I’m sitting in the passenger seat of a camo-painted ATV, rumbling through the northern Louisiana backwoods with Phil Robertson, founder of the Duck Commander company, patriarch at the heart of A&E’s smash reality hit Duck Dynasty, and my tour guide for the afternoon. There are seat belts in this ATV, but it doesn’t look like they’ve ever been used. Phil is not wearing one. I am not wearing one, because I don’t want Phil to think I’m a pussy. (Too late!) The crossbow—a Barnett model equipped with a steel-tipped four-blade broadhead arrow—is perched on the dash between us. It looks like you could shoot through a goddamn mountain with it.

 “That’ll bury up in you and kill you dead,” Phil says.

 The bow is cocked and loaded, just in case a deer stumbles in front of us and we need to do a redneck drive-by on the poor bastard, but the safety is on. SAFETY FIRST. Still, Phil warns me, “You don’t want to be bumping that.”

 As we drive out into the woods, past a sign that reads parish maintenance ends, Phil is telling me all about the land around us and how the animals are a glorious gift from God and how blowing their heads off is part of His plan for us.

 “Look at this,” he says, gesturing to the surrounding wilderness. “The Almighty gave us this. Genesis 9 is where the animals went wild, and God gave them wildness. After the flood, that’s when he made animals wild. Up until that time, everybody was vegetarian. After the flood, he said, ‘I’m giving you everything now. Animals are wild.’”

 There’s a fly parked on Phil’s long beard. It’s been there the whole ride, and I desperately want to pluck it out, but I decide against it. Along with the crossbow, there’s a loaded .22-caliber rifle rattling around in the footwell. And yet, much like the 14 million Americans who Nielsen says tune in to Duck Dynasty every week—over 2 million more than the audience for the Breaking Bad finale—I am comfortable here in these woods with Phil and his small cache of deadly weaponry. He is welcoming and gracious. He is a man who preaches the gospel of the outdoors and, to my great envy, practices what he preaches. He spends most of his time out here, daydreaming about what he calls a “pristine earth”: a world where nothing gets in the way of nature or the hunters who lovingly maintain it. No cities. No buildings. No highways.

 Oh, and no sinners, too. So here’s where things get a bit uncomfortable. Phil calls himself a Bible-thumper, and holy shit, he thumps that Bible hard enough to ring the bell at a county-fair test of strength. If you watch Duck Dynasty, you can hear plenty of it in the nondenominational supper-table prayer the family recites at the end of every episode, and in the show’s no-cussing, no-blaspheming tone. But there are more things Phil would like to say—“controversial” things, as he puts it to me—that don’t make the cut. (This March, for instance, he told the Christian-oriented Sports Spectrum magazine that he didn’t approve of A&E editing out “in Jesus” from a family prayer scene, even though A&E says that the phrase has been uttered in at least seventeen episodes.)

 Out here in these woods, without any cameras around, Phil is free to say what he wants. Maybe a little too free. He’s got lots of thoughts on modern immorality, and there’s no stopping them from rushing out. Like this one:

 “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

 Perhaps we’ll be needing that seat belt after all.

 · · ·

 The Duck Dynasty origin story is the mighty river from which all other Robertson-family stories flow. And it is an awesome story, one that improves the more it is told, so here is my stab at it: Phil Robertson grew up bone poor in the northwest corner of this state—a place where Cajun redneck culture and Ozark redneck culture intersect—to a manic-depressive mother and a roughneck father. He was a star quarterback in high school and earned a scholarship to play at Louisiana Tech, but quit after one season because football interfered with duck-hunting season. The guy who took his roster spot at Tech was Terry Bradshaw, because that’s how these kinds of stories go.

 Phil On Growing Up in Pre-Civil-Rights-Era Louisiana

 “I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”

 According to Phil’s autobiography—a ghostwritten book he says he has never read—he spent his days after Tech doing odd jobs and his evenings getting drunk, chasing tail, and swallowing diet pills and black mollies, a form of medicinal speed. In his midtwenties, already married with three sons, a piss-drunk Robertson kicked his family out of the house. “I’m sick of you,” he told his wife, Kay. But Robertson soon realized the error of his ways, begged Kay to come back, and turned over his life to Jesus Christ.

 In 1972, with Jesus at the wheel, Robertson founded the Duck Commander company, which sold a line of custom-made duck-hunting calls that quickly became popular among avid hunters for their uncanny accuracy in replicating the sound of a real duck. He eventually sold half the company to his son Willie, now 41, and together they made a DVD series about the family’s duck hunts, which led to a show on the Outdoor Channel, which led to Duck Dynasty on A&E, which led to everything blowing right the fuck up.

 The show—a reality sitcom showcasing the semiscripted high jinks of Phil, his brother “Uncle Si,” his four sons, Alan, Willie, Jase, and Jep, and the perpetually exasperated but always perfectly accessorized Robertson-family ladies—has become the biggest reality-TV hit in the history of cable television, reportedly earning the family a holy shit–worthy $200,000-an-episode paycheck. It’s a funny, family-friendly show, with “skits that we come up with,” as Phil describes the writing process. They plunder beehives. They blow up beaver dams. And when the Robertson-family ladies go up to a rooftop in a hydraulic lift, you just know that lift will “accidentally” get stuck and strand them.

 But the show, whose fifth season premieres on January 15, is just one part of the family’s pop-cultural dominance. In 2013 four books written (kind of!) by Robertson family members made the top ten on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. Another book—penned by Jase Robertson and detailing his Christian rebirth at age 14, his struggle to forgive his father’s past behavior, and his young daughter’s struggle through five facial-reconstruction surgeries to overcome a severe cleft lip and palate—is forthcoming and destined to make it five best-sellers. There’s also a book of devotionals somewhere in there, along with Duck Dynasty–themed birthday cards, bobblehead dolls, camo apparel (pink camo for the ladies), Cajun-spice seasoning, car fresheners, iPhone games (from the press release: “As players successfully complete the challenges, their beards grow to epic proportions and they start to transform from a yuppie into a full-blown redneck!”), and presumably some sort of camou flage home-pregnancy test.

 It’s easy to see the appeal. The Robertsons are immensely likable. They’re funny. They look cool. They’re “smarter than they look,” says sportswriter Mark Schlabach, who co-writes the family’s books. And they are remarkably honest both with one another and with the viewing audience: Phil’s old hell-raising, Si’s traumatic stint in Vietnam, the intervention that the family staged for Jep when he was boozing and doing drugs in college (Phil placed him under house arrest for three months)—all of it is out in the open. The more they reveal, the more people feel connected to them.

 And then, of course, there is their faith, which plays no small role here. During the family’s initial negotiations about the show with A&E, Jase told me, “the three no-compromises were faith, betrayal of family members, and duck season.” That refusal to betray their faith or one another has been a staple of every media article about the Robertson family. It’s their elevator pitch, and it has made them into ideal Christian icons: beloved for staking out a bit of holy ground within the mostly secular, often downright sinful, pop culture of America.

 · · ·

 Phil Robertson’s house is located in the sticks about twenty miles outside the city of Monroe (pronounce it mun-roe). It’s a rather small house—the kind of place its owner would proudly call “humble.” The kitchen table is covered with big plastic tubs of cinnamon rolls and mini muffins. There are candy dishes filled to the brim, bricks of softening butter, and packages of jerky made from unknown animals, sent by unnamed fans. (I tried some, and it was awesome.) Just inside the front door, a giant flat-screen TV shows Fox News on mute at all times, and a bunch of big squishy sofas are arranged in a rectangle around it.

 Si Robertson is sitting on the couch facing the TV. Jep Robertson, age 35, the youngest son, curls up in a recliner in the corner with a pistol strapped to his waist. He barely speaks, like a countrified Silent Bob. Jase, 44, and Willie share a love seat while Phil lounges barefoot on a camo-patterned recliner in the far corner of the room. Two dogs share the recliner’s footrest with Phil’s heavily callused bare feet. He has severe bunions, so his big toes jut in at forty-five-degree angles. The main TV room is cluttered with mismatched furniture and photos hung haphazardly on the walls. And Phil looks like part of the clutter himself, as if he’d been wedged into that recliner a while back by some absentminded homeowner who didn’t know where else to put him. ||||| (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

 Jesse Jackson has decided to weigh in on the inflammatory comments that Phil Robertson made to GQ about gays and African Americans.

 In an interview with Drew Magary, the "Duck Dynasty" star said the Nazis needed Jesus, that he never saw the mistreatment of African Americans while growing up in Louisiana before the civil rights era and that homosexuality was a sin.

 A&E; has already suspended Robertson, but Reverend Jackson, his Rainbow PUSH Coalition and GLAAD are demanding to meet with network execs, along with Cracker Barrel's CEO, to discuss the future of all "Duck Dynasty" memorabilia or content.

 Read: Phil Robertson Defends Anti-Gay Comments: 'All I Did Was Quote From The Scriptures'

 "These statements uttered by Robertson are more offensive than the bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama, more than 59 years ago," Jackson said in a statement obtained by ABC News.

 "At least the bus driver, who ordered Rosa Parks to surrender her seat to a white person, was following state law. Robertson's statements were uttered freely and openly without cover of the law, within a context of what he seemed to believe was 'white privilege.'"

 The release, dated Dec. 23, requests a meeting within 72 hours with A&E; and Cracker Barrel execs and urges the network to uphold Robertson's suspension.

 Jackson and GLAAD said they believe it's not right for a personality with such a large platform to benefit from such comments.

 Related: 'Duck Dynasty' Suspends Phil Robertson

 On Sunday, Robertson defended his comments about gays and blacks to a small Bible study group in West Monroe, La.

 "I will not give or back off from my path," he reportedly said Sunday.

 Robertson added that his GQ comments were quotes from the Bible. "I didn't think much of it at all, but it seems a lot of other people did," he said.

 EDITOR'S NOTE: ABC is a part owner of the A&E; Network" |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments have been getting the lion's share of attention in recent days, but he also said a few things to GQ about African Americans that, along with those aforementioned comments, aren't sitting so well with Jesse Jackson. In discussing his youth in pre-civil rights era Louisiana, the Duck Dynasty patriarch said, in part: I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. ... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues." In a Dec. 23 statement obtained by ABC News, Jackson addressed Robertson's comments in no uncertain terms. "These statements are more offensive than the bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama, more than 59 years ago. At least the bus driver, who ordered Rosa Parks to surrender her seat to a white person, was following state law. Robertson’s statements were uttered freely and openly without cover of the law, within a context of what he seemed to believe was 'white privilege.'" Jackson, his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and GLAAD in the statement demand a meeting with A&E execs ... along with Cracker Barrel's CEO, to discuss content and merchandising.


Summarize this article:

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The suspect emerged from the plane and was later detained

 A hijacking that diverted a domestic Egyptian flight to Cyprus has ended with all hostages released and the hijacker surrendering.

 EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over by a passenger claiming to be wearing a suicide explosive belt.

 Airline officials later said they had been told by Cypriot authorities that the belt was fake.

 The hijacker's motives remain unclear but the Cypriot president said the incident was not terrorism-related.

 No-one was injured in the hijacking, Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodulides tweeted.

 How the hijacking unfolded

 Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption A man believed to be the hijacker leaves the aircraft

 Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Cypriot security services were waiting for him

 After a morning of tension, the hijacker was seen walking down aircraft steps at Larnaca airport with his hands raised.

 Some reports said the Egyptian man - named by Cypriot officials as Seif Eldin Mustafa - wanted to talk to his estranged Cypriot wife who lives on the Mediterranean island, while others said he was seeking the release of female prisoners in Egypt.

 Analysis - BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner

 Image copyright Reuters

 It is only some small comfort that the man who hijacked Egyptair flight MS181 was bluffing. The bulging white "suicide belt" with wires sticking out turned out to be a fake.

 It at least means that this time Egypt cannot be accused of letting someone smuggle explosives through airport security and on to an airliner as they did in October at Sharm El Sheikh airport, destroying a Russian passenger jet in mid-air.

 But it still triggers a number of worrying questions about aviation security.

 How was it that a passenger, described by the Cypriot authorities as "mentally unstable" was able to carry enough materials through Alexandria airport to resemble a bomb?

 And what is to stop any future airline passenger, similarly unarmed, from pretending that he or she has a real device strapped to them?

 For Egypt's battered tourism industry, that has yet to recover from the October airline bombing, this hijack is a further blow it can ill afford.

 The hijacker's surrender came shortly after several people were seen fleeing the aircraft. One - apparently a crew member - escaped by climbing out of the aircraft's cockpit window.

 Throughout the morning, people had been seen leaving the aircraft after appearing to have been released.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A man was seen fleeing from a cockpit window shortly before the hijacker surrendered

 Local media reports said the hijacker had handed over a four-page letter in Arabic after the plane landed at Larnaca on Tuesday morning, and that later a woman thought to be his wife had arrived at the airport.

 Earlier, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades had responded to a reporter's question about whether the hijacker was motivated by romance, by laughing and saying: "Always there is a woman involved."

 Egypt airport security

 Image copyright AFP/Getty

 Video posted by Egypt's Interior Ministry on its Facebook page shows the suspected hijacker passing through airport security in Alexandria.

 Egypt says it has taken steps to improve safety after Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 was blown up over Sinai last October:

 British consultancy Control Risks to review security at Cairo, Sharm El-Sheikh and Marsa Alam airports

 $1bn a year to upgrade airport security

 Increased and more thorough checks

 Despite this, the BBC's Youssef Taha says checks remain patchy and inconsistent:

 Many VIPs refuse to be searched and MPs claim immunity

 Airport and airline staff do not usually go through full screening

 EgyptAir said the Airbus A320 was carrying 56 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo, along with six crew and a security official. It had initially said 81 passengers were on board.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades: "Always there is a woman involved"

 A statement from Egypt's civil aviation ministry said 26 foreign passengers were on board, including eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch citizens, two Belgians, two Greeks, a French national, an Italian and a Syrian.

 Larnaca airport, on the south coast of Cyprus, has been closed and scheduled flights diverted elsewhere. ||||| Police officers stand guards by the fence of the airport as a hijacked EgyptAir aircraft is seen after landing at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The EgyptAir plane was hijacked on... (Associated Press)

 Police officers stand guards by the fence of the airport as a hijacked EgyptAir aircraft is seen after landing at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The EgyptAir plane was hijacked on Tuesday while flying from the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to the capital, Cairo,... (Associated Press)

 LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — An Egyptian man hijacked an EgyptAir plane Tuesday and forced it to land in Cyprus, where most passengers were eventually allowed to get off, though four crew members and three passengers remained on board with the hijacker, Egyptian and Cypriot officials said.

 The man's motivation was unclear, but Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was "not something that has to do with terrorism" and a Cyprus government official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the man "seems (to be) in love."

 A civil aviation official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to disclose details of ongoing negotiations, said the man gave negotiators the name of a woman who lives in Cyprus and asked to give her an envelope. It's unclear what relationship she and the man have.

 Flight MS181 took off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria en route to Cairo with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew.

 An official with flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 said the plane showed no immediate signs of distress. The flight between Alexandria and Cairo normally takes about 30 minutes.

 There was some confusion about the hijacker's identity. At a news conference in Cairo, Egypt's Civil Aviation minister, Sharif Fathi, refused to identify him.

 Earlier, Egyptian government spokesman Hossam al-Queish said the hijacker was Ibrahim Samaha, but an Egyptian woman who identified herself as Samaha's wife said her husband is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo so he could fly to the U.S. to attend a conference.

 The woman, who identified herself only as Nahla, told the Egyptian private TV network ONTV in a phone interview that her husband had never been to Cyprus and that a photo on Egyptian and regional TV channels that supposedly showed the hijacker was not him. Later, the official Middle East News Agency gave a different name for the hijacker.

 Al-Queish, the government spokesman, also told the private CBC TV network that authorities could not confirm that the hijacker had explosives on him. An earlier statement from the Egyptian Aviation Ministry said the man claimed he had a belt with explosives.

 The plane landed at the airport in the southern Cypriot city of Larnaca, also on the Mediterranean. A statement from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry statement said the foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian. Three other foreigners could not be identified. Fathi did not give the nationalities of those who remained on the plane.

 The incident raises more questions about security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

 All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft and the extremist Islamic State group took responsibility.

 ___

 Hendawi reported from Cairo. Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report. |||||

– An EgyptAir plane with about 60 people aboard was hijacked Tuesday while flying from the coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo, and then forced to land in Cyprus, reports the AP. Fortunately, it appears to have ended without violence after hours of negotiations, with all aboard freed and the hijacker arrested. Details were still emerging about his motivation, but Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades previously said it was "not something that has to do with terrorism," reports the AP, and a Cyprus government official said the man "seems (to be) in love." A civil aviation official said the man gave negotiators the name of a woman who lives in Cyprus and asked to give her an envelope. It's unclear what relationship she and the man have, but some reports say she is his estranged wife. Asked whether the hijacking involved romance, the Cyprian president laughed and said, "Always, there is a woman involved." However, much confusion surrounded the incident, with the BBC citing reports that he had asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt. There was also some confusion about the identity of the hijacker, who reportedly claimed to have explosives on him and had allowed most of the passengers to leave the plane upon landing. At a news conference prior to the arrest, Egypt's Civil Aviation minister refused to identify him. Earlier, an Egyptian government spokesman offered up a name, but an Egyptian woman who identified herself as his wife said her husband is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo so he could fly to the US to attend a conference. Flight MS181 took off from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew.


Summarize this article:

Image copyright EPA Image caption Although all those missing are now accounted for, the search is continuing

 Rescue workers in Italy have found the bodies of three more people in the wreckage of Genoa's collapsed motorway bridge, bringing the death toll to 43.

 Three members of the same family were recovered from a crushed car on Sunday. They were the last people reported missing from Tuesday's tragedy.

 A 200m (656ft) section of the Morandi bridge suddenly fell 45m, along with dozens of vehicles in busy traffic.

 The collapse has led to a fierce debate about Italy's infrastructure.

 The company that operated the bridge has set up a fund for victims' families. The government has set up a commission to examine the causes of the disaster.

 On Saturday Italian President Sergio Mattarella and PM Giuseppe Conte led a state funeral for 18 of the victims in Genoa.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The families of 18 of the victims gathered to mourn at a state funeral

 What are relatives saying?

 Some families stayed away from the ceremony, opting for private funerals, with some expressing anger at the government.

 One grieving mother told Italian media she held the state responsible, adding "the parade of politicians has been shameful".

 Another told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero: "We do not want farcical ceremonies.

 "Our children are not a tool for public parades... it is among those who loved them that they will receive a farewell."

 Other families said they simply preferred to grieve in private.

 What is being done?

 Giovanni Castelluci, the boss of operating company Autostrade per l'Italia, said millions of euros for victims' families would be available from Monday.

 He also said the firm would provide funding to help relocate hundreds of people who had to be moved out of their homes after the bridge collapsed.

 He said that reports carried out ahead of the disaster had described the bridge as being in good condition, but a full inquiry was "the first priority".

 Shares in Autostrade's parent company Atlantia plummeted in the aftermath of the disaster.

 The BBC's James Reynolds in Genoa says Italy's populist government is also keen to show it is taking action.

 Mr Conte confirmed on Friday that legal proceedings were under way to strip Autostrade of its contracts.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (fourth from R) visited the scene of the disaster on Tuesday

 Mr Conte has said that in future the government would compel companies that were granted concessions for Italy's infrastructure to invest more profits in maintenance and safety.

 What happened to the Morandi bridge?

 The bridge is a main road in and out of Genoa, linking it to the A10 motorway and the road to France.

 Shortly before noon on Tuesday, the section collapsed amid extremely heavy rainfall.

 The cause is still unclear. The bridge was having work done to shore up its foundations at the time. ||||| MILAN (Reuters) - Rescue workers found the bodies of three members of a family in the wreckage of Genoa’s collapsed motorway bridge early on Sunday - the last people reported missing in the disaster, bringing the death toll to 43.

 The bodies were recovered from a car crushed under slabs of concrete, the Genoa prefecture said, five days after a 200-metre section of the Morandi bridge gave way in busy traffic, plunging vehicles and debris to the ground 50 meters (165 feet) below.

 Nine people are still in hospital, four in a critical condition, the prefecture added.

 All those listed as missing had now been accounted for, but crews would keep looking just in case, fire brigade official Stefano Zanut told Sky TG24. “We won’t stop. Our work continues in order to have the full certainty that nobody has been left under the rubble,” he said.

 Related Coverage Italy to launch infrastructure plan in September: official

 Workers were also making the site secure and helping investigations to establish the cause of the disaster, he added.

 The viaduct was part of the A10 motorway linking the Italian port city with the French border to the west and was managed by toll-road operator Autostrade per l’Italia, a unit of infrastructure group Atlantia (ATL.MI).

 Autostrade pledged half a billion euros on Saturday to rebuild the bridge and set up funds to immediately assist the families of the victims and those displaced from their homes by the collapse and reconstruction work.

 The government has also allocated 32 million euros. “Now we expect things to move fast and that people (who had to leave their homes) are given a place to stay,” Prime Minister Conte posted on his Facebook profile.

 FILE PHOTO: Firefighter helicopter flies over the collapsed Morandi Bridge in the port city of Genoa, Italy August 16, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

 HOUSING

 The head of the regional government, Giovanni Toti, said the first temporary homes would be delivered on Monday and that all those who had to leave their apartments close to the bridge would be accommodated in the next two months. Around 300 houses would be made available, he added.

 The government will launch a plan next month aimed at making Italy’s infrastructure safe, Giancarlo Giorgetti, undersecretary in the prime minister’s office, said in a newspaper interview, saying it would include motorways, bridges and viaducts but also public buildings such as schools.

 “It will be a maintenance operation with no precedents, with enormous investment in public works,” he told Il Messaggero.

 Giorgetti did not specify the cost of the plan but said “deficit, GDP or European rules do not exist” adding the European union “will be benevolent”.

 FILE PHOTO: Firefighters and rescue workers stand next to a part of the motorway, at the collapsed Morandi Bridge site in the port city of Genoa, Italy August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

 The European Commission limits the budget deficit of EU member states to 3 percent of GDP.

 The Italian government is due to update its economic targets in September before drawing up the 2019 budget and investors are concerned the government’s spending plans might ignore EU fiscal rules and push up the country’s debt, the highest in the euro zone after Greece.

 On Friday, the government launched a procedure to revoke concessions held by Autostrade to operate toll highways.

 Asked whether the government would halt the procedure against Autostrade if investigators found the group had no responsibility for the bridge collapse, Giorgetti did not answer. ||||| The Italian engineer who designed the Genoa bridge that collapsed and killed 43 people warned of the risk of corrosion four decades ago, it has emerged.

 Riccardo Morandi wrote a report in 1979 recommending constant maintenance of the structure to remove all traces of rust and fill in exposed patches on the reinforcements.

 The report produced 12 years after the bridge bearing his name was opened referred to a “well-known loss of superficial chemical resistance of the concrete” because of sea air and pollution from a nearby steel plant.

 Mr Morandi, who died in 1989, insisted the reinforced concrete bridge design was sound but noted the “aggressivity” of the corrosion that was not seen in similar structures in different environments.

 He warned: “Sooner or later, maybe in a few years, it will be necessary to resort to a treatment consisting of the removal of all traces of rust on the exposure of the reinforcements, to fill in the patches.”

 The engineer recommended using an epoxy resin to cover the reinforcements with materials “of a very high chemical resistance”.

 Excerpts from the report were broadcast on RAI state television on Sunday and published online.

 A huge section of the bridge collapsed on 14 August during a fierce storm, killing 43 people and forcing the evacuation of nearby residents in the densely built-up area.

 The cause is under investigation, and a team of engineers appointed by the ministry of infrastructure and transportation carried out a preliminary inspection Sunday after rescue crews concluded their search for the missing.

 Roberto Ferrazza, the head of the government team, said the preliminary survey suggested a series of possible causes and not just a simple collapse of the bridge support.

 “We have to look at the positioning of the rubble, considering that there was a break that provoked an imbalanced movement of the structure,” Mr Ferrazza was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

 Mr Ferrazza was one of the engineers who knew about the advanced corrosion underway on the key bridge support that gave way, according to L’Espresso magazine. He attended a meeting of experts from the transport ministry and the company that manages bridge repairs on 1 February.

 Minutes of the meeting, which bear Mr Ferrazza’s signature, recommended that the supports be reinforced given the “trend of degradation” being registered.

 Bidding opened in April for the €20m (£18m) public works contract to do the work, according to Italian media.

 The Morandi Bridge was a key artery that linked highways to Milan and France, a vital lifeline for both commercial traffic as well as vacationers bound for the mountains and Mediterranean beaches.

 Shape Created with Sketch. Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Show all 50 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa 1/50 Morandi bridge after it collapsed, in Genoa EPA 2/50 A satellite image of the collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge EPA/European Space Imaging 3/50 Rescuers inspect the rubble and wreckages AFP/Getty Images 4/50 Night view of the Morandi bridge collapsed in Genoa EPA 5/50 Displaced people from their homes EPA 6/50 Rescuers work among the rubble AP 7/50 Rescuers inspect the rubble and wreckages AFP/Getty Images 8/50 AFP/Getty Images 9/50 A satellite image of the collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge EPA/European Space Imaging 10/50 People living in the buildings in the area have been evacuated EPA 11/50 Excavators dig into the rubble at the site of the highway-bridge-collapse disaster EPA 12/50 EPA 13/50 A lorry stands on the edge AFP/Getty 14/50 EPA 15/50 AFP/Getty 16/50 A large section of the Morandi viaduct, of which the A10 motorway runs, collapsed in Genoa Reuters 17/50 Reuters 18/50 Rescuers at work amid the rubble EPA 19/50 Reuters 20/50 A large section of the Morandi viaduct, of which the A10 motorway runs, collapsed in Genoa AFP/Getty Images 21/50 AFP/Getty Images 22/50 AP 23/50 AFP/Getty Images 24/50 Rescue workers at the collapsed Morandi Bridge Reuters 25/50 AFP/Getty 26/50 Cars seen among the rubble Vigili Del Fuoco/AP 27/50 EPA 28/50 AFP/Getty 29/50 EPA 30/50 AFP/Getty 31/50 A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy EPA 32/50 Rescuers work among the debris of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge AP 33/50 The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain EPA 34/50 The viaduct runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river AP 35/50 Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said EPA 36/50 A view of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge ANSA via AP 37/50 Rescue teams on the site EPA/Italian Firefighters 38/50 EPA 39/50 EPA 40/50 EPA 41/50 Rescuers at the site of the collapsed bridge EPA 42/50 EPA 43/50 Both sides of the highway fell AFP/Getty Images 44/50 EPA/Italian Firefighters 45/50 The site of a collapsed bridge EPA/Italian Firefighters 46/50 Sergio Battelli/Twitter 47/50 Rescue teams on the site EPA/Italian Firefighters 48/50 EPA 49/50 EPA 50/50 Vigili del Fuoco/Twitter 1/50 Morandi bridge after it collapsed, in Genoa EPA 2/50 A satellite image of the collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge EPA/European Space Imaging 3/50 Rescuers inspect the rubble and wreckages AFP/Getty Images 4/50 Night view of the Morandi bridge collapsed in Genoa EPA 5/50 Displaced people from their homes EPA 6/50 Rescuers work among the rubble AP 7/50 Rescuers inspect the rubble and wreckages AFP/Getty Images 8/50 AFP/Getty Images 9/50 A satellite image of the collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge EPA/European Space Imaging 10/50 People living in the buildings in the area have been evacuated EPA 11/50 Excavators dig into the rubble at the site of the highway-bridge-collapse disaster EPA 12/50 EPA 13/50 A lorry stands on the edge AFP/Getty 14/50 EPA 15/50 AFP/Getty 16/50 A large section of the Morandi viaduct, of which the A10 motorway runs, collapsed in Genoa Reuters 17/50 Reuters 18/50 Rescuers at work amid the rubble EPA 19/50 Reuters 20/50 A large section of the Morandi viaduct, of which the A10 motorway runs, collapsed in Genoa AFP/Getty Images 21/50 AFP/Getty Images 22/50 AP 23/50 AFP/Getty Images 24/50 Rescue workers at the collapsed Morandi Bridge Reuters 25/50 AFP/Getty 26/50 Cars seen among the rubble Vigili Del Fuoco/AP 27/50 EPA 28/50 AFP/Getty 29/50 EPA 30/50 AFP/Getty 31/50 A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy EPA 32/50 Rescuers work among the debris of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge AP 33/50 The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain EPA 34/50 The viaduct runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river AP 35/50 Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said EPA 36/50 A view of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge ANSA via AP 37/50 Rescue teams on the site EPA/Italian Firefighters 38/50 EPA 39/50 EPA 40/50 EPA 41/50 Rescuers at the site of the collapsed bridge EPA 42/50 EPA 43/50 Both sides of the highway fell AFP/Getty Images 44/50 EPA/Italian Firefighters 45/50 The site of a collapsed bridge EPA/Italian Firefighters 46/50 Sergio Battelli/Twitter 47/50 Rescue teams on the site EPA/Italian Firefighters 48/50 EPA 49/50 EPA 50/50 Vigili del Fuoco/Twitter

 Engineers say there have long been concerns about its unusual concrete-encased stay cables, which Morandi used in several of his bridge designs instead of the more common steel cables.

 Dozens of Genoese residents gathered in a central piazza on Sunday evening to vent rage and pain over the collapse. Many wrote messages and poems on sheets of white paper unrolled on the piazza cobblestones.

 “This way everyone can write whatever he or she thinks without necessarily shouting or screaming at a time when all we need is silence,” said Elisa D’Andrea, one of the event organisers.

 The families of those killed in the Genoa bridge collapse shouted and jeered at members of Italy’s former government at a state funeral for the victims on Saturday.

 Associated Press |||||

– It's been nearly a week since an "apocalyptic" bridge collapse in Italy, and the death toll has climbed for perhaps the last time. Reuters reports the bodies of three family members—the last three people believed missing—were pulled from a crushed car over the weekend in the rubble of Genoa's Morandi Bridge, bringing the count of people killed in Tuesday's catastrophe to 43. Via the Washington Post, the ANSA news agency reports the family, which included a child, had been headed on vacation. Nine people remain hospitalized, four of them critically, per Genoa's prefecture. A fire brigade official says the wreckage will continue to be searched to be doubly sure there isn't anyone they missed, though rescuers believe everyone who was on the bridge has been accounted for. The BBC reports that Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte presided over a state funeral for nearly 20 of the victims over the weekend, though some families rejected the public overtures, either wanting to mourn privately or because they were fuming at the government for the tragedy. "We do not want farcical ceremonies," one family member told a local newspaper. "Our children are not a tool for public parades." Meanwhile, via the Independent, a 1979 report has emerged from the bridge's engineer that warned about deterioration risks. Riccardo Morandi noted the salty ocean air and pollution from a neighboring factory had led to a "well-known loss of superficial chemical resistance of the concrete," and that the bridge would need constant upkeep to get rid of rust and other vulnerabilities. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation.


– Florida's Alan McCarty has made clear he does not like judges, and he will spend the next 20 years in prison as a result. The 36-year-old received the 20-year sentence this week—along with an extra 10 days for contempt of court, a penalty more serious than it sounds—for calling 911 last year and promising to kill a judge he mistakenly believed had ruled against him in a custody case, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. During Wednesday's sentencing in front of a different judge, Matt Foxman, McCarty had to be removed from the courtroom as Foxman listed his offenses. “What a bunch of (expletive) lies you stupid piece of (expletive),” McCarty yelled. “You threatened my life, (expletive, expletive). (Expletive) you, you (expletive, expletive).” Foxman explained that he was tacking on the 10-day contempt of court sentence for a variety of reasons, including one particular McCarty outburst during the trial. “You also offered me to perform a sex act upon you, which I politely declined and still do to this day for whatever that’s worth,” Foxman said. The extra 10 days will be served when the 20-year sentence is done, and it's no small thing, explains the News Journal. It means that McCarty won't be able to participate in a work-release program while in prison. McCarty also was convicted of threatening 911 dispatchers, reports GateHouse Media Florida, which notes that because of his courtroom behavior, McCarty had to observe most of his trial from behind one-way glass.

Expand this summary.

Alan Miller McCarty watched most of his trial Thursday morning from behind one-way glass in a small room after yelling at, interrupting and crudely insulting the presiding judge.

 DAYTONA BEACH — Alan Miller McCarty watched most of his trial Thursday morning from behind one-way glass in a small room after yelling at, interrupting and crudely insulting the presiding judge.

 By mid afternoon McCarty was found guilty on all charges related to his threats to kill another judge who ruled in an earlier custody case involving McCarty.

 The jury of three women and three men took about 30 minutes to find McCarty guilty of two counts of threats or extortion and two counts of corruption by threat against a public official. Besides threatening the judge, McCarty also threatened a pair of dispatchers in the phone calls.

 When the guilty verdicts were read, McCarty was unusually quiet as he sat flanked by deputies. McCarty faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced by Circuit Judge Matt Foxman. Foxman’s next sentencing date is set for Oct. 12.

 McCarty, 36, also faces more charges since he is also accused of calling Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare and threatening staffers there.

 The move earlier in the day to the adjacent room didn’t help much as McCarty continued to shout expletives, curse the presiding judge, the witnesses and the entire judicial system.

 Everyone in the courtroom — Judge Foxman, attorneys and the jurors — could hear McCarty’s screams, which included offensive expletives. He railed that he was not allowed to present evidence. He screamed that his “papers” had been taken away. He yelled that his attorney was not asking enough questions. And he hollered that his children had been unfairly taken away from him.

 McCarty, who was on suicide watch at the Volusia County Branch Jail, refused to dress as defendants typically do for their trials, in shirt, tie and dress pants. Instead, McCarty remained in his jail-issued orange jumpsuit. Also unlike a typical trial, McCarty wore a pair of handcuffs in view of the jury.

 McCarty’s morning outbursts included his derisive invitation to the judge to perform oral sex on him. Foxman politely declined by saying, “I prefer not to.”

 After McCarty kept screaming, Foxman ordered him into the small room with the one-way glass. McCarty remained there through most of the trial in handcuffs and accompanied by a pair of deputies.

 The judge told the jurors that McCarty had chosen to be in the room to which McCarty could be heard screaming that he did not and that his rights had been taken away.

 “No I have not!” McCarty screamed from behind the mirrored glass.

 The jurors did not appear to be fazed by McCarty’s screaming. They didn’t even appear to look back to the mirror-like glass where the shouting was coming from.

 McCarty, of Milton in Santa Rosa County, was arrested on Sept. 30. He made phone threats toward Circuit Judge Stasia Warren, who ruled in his earlier custody case.

 McCarty was flanked by several deputies when the judge permitted him to return to his seat in the courtroom near Assistant Public Defender Ryan Belanger. He told jurors that he was upset that Warren was allowing that his ex-wife get his kids.

 That’s why he said he had made the calls in which he threatened to kill Warren.

 One juror seemed to have a pained expression on her face during McCarty’s testimony.

 Throughout the trial the judge, the jurors, attorneys and deputies were patient and professional in the face of McCarty’s insults or outbursts.

 In a press release after the verdict, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said that McCarty’s “vulgar and threatening racist rants were as chilling and offensive as any I have ever heard. Threatening Judges is an attack on the very heart of our Criminal Justice System.”

 Belanger said during his closing argument that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and McCarty was a very squeaky wheel. He said McCarty felt he had no other choice since he was losing his children when he made the threats in the calls.

 Assistant State Attorney Ashley Terwilleger, who prosecuted the case along with MaryCatherine Crock, said that McCarty’s words mattered and that Warren was fearful that McCarty would make good on his threats. She also said McCarty’s children had been in Texas since about 2007 and he had not seen them for two years before his arrest last year.

 As he was questioned by Belanger, McCarty said his statements on the phone calls were just words. McCarty said he didn’t mean it, just like Foxman didn’t mean it, McCarty said, when the judge on Monday threatened to have the defendant’s mouth taped shut if he didn’t behave during the trial.

 Foxman did not follow through on the duct tape but the courtroom was staffed with extra deputies. And while McCarty did not have any adhesive tape around his mouth he did wear an electric belt under his jumpsuit that would allow a deputy to deliver a stunning zap if needed.

 McCarty called dispatchers on Sept. 29 and threatened Warren, who hears juvenile delinquency and dependency cases.

 “Where’s your Judge Warren at?” McCarty is recorded telling dispatchers. “You’re going to bring that (expletive deleted) out in handcuffs and I’m going to (expletive deleted) execute that (expletive deleted) right in the (expletive deleted) street.”

 Judge Warren took the stand in the morning and testified that she had been frightened when she was told of the threats McCarty had made against her life.

 McCarty was in the small room while Warren testified and would occasionally shout out something. He called Warren “an (expletive) liar” at one point during the morning.

 Warren started to say something directed at McCarty, but Belanger objected and Foxman sustained it.

 As McCarty was about to be escorted out of the courtroom, he said he wanted to press charges against Foxman. McCarty said Foxman had threatened him with taping his mouth shut.

 The judge told him one of the bailiffs would take the report from him as McCarty was led out of the courtroom and back to jail. ||||| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for threatening to kill a judge he believed ruled against him in his custody case.

 The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports 36-year-old Alan McCarty Jr. spent much of the hearing in an adjacent room with a speaker and one-way glass, just like he did during his trial, after unleashing a fresh stream of obscenities Wednesday at the judge, the prosecutor and even his own public defender.

 McCarty was convicted last month of threatening to kill Circuit Judge Stasia Warren last year when he mistakenly blamed her for taking his kids away in a custody case.

 A prosecutor's statement says the 20-year sentence will give McCarty ample time to reflect on the seriousness of his threats against the judicial system. |||||


Article:

Some tablets and gels aimed at helping to soothe babies' teething pains may be dangerous for infants and toddlers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a statement Sept. 30.

 The FDA is investigating reports of seizures in infants and children who were given homeopathic teething products, which may contain "natural" compounds but are not regulated as drugs by the FDA.

 In addition, the FDA said in the statement that "consumers should seek medical care immediately if their child experiences seizures, difficulty breathing, lethargy, excessive sleepiness, muscle weakness, skin flushing, constipation, difficulty urinating or agitation" after using homeopathic teething tablets and gels. [7 Baby Myths Debunked]

 Instead of using such products, doctors recommend giving a baby a firm object to chew on. For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends teething rings or hard, unsweetened teething crackers. Do not use frozen teething toys because they can cause more discomfort by injuring a baby's mouth, the AAP advises.

 Homeopathy is an alternative medicine practice based on the idea that "like cures like." In homeopathy, extremely minute concentrations of toxic substances are used under the idea that they could cure the symptoms that they would cause at higher doses.

 The FDA said in the statement that the agency is not aware of any proven health benefit of using homeopathic teething tablets and gels.

 In 2010, the FDA issued a safety alert about a homeopathic teething tablet that contained belladonna. Belladonna — also called deadly nightshade — is a poisonous plant that contains a chemical called atropine. At high levels, atropine can be deadly. In homeopathy, it is used to treat redness and inflammation.

 At the time, the FDA found that the teething tablets contained inconsistent amounts of belladonna. The company that made the tablets, Hyland, subsequently recalled the product.

 "Teething can be managed without prescription or over-the-counter remedies," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the FDA statement.

 Originally published on Live Science. ||||| What’s the Bottom Line?

 How much do we know about homeopathic products?

 Many studies have evaluated homeopathic products for a variety of conditions, but there’s less research on their safety.

 What do we know about the effectiveness of homeopathy?

 There’s little evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any specific health condition.

 What do we know about the safety of homeopathic products?

 Some products labeled as homeopathic may contain substantial amounts of active ingredients and could cause side effects and drug interactions.

 What Is Homeopathy?

 Homeopathy, also known as homeopathic medicine, is a medical system that was developed in Germany more than 200 years ago. It’s based on two unconventional theories:

 “Like cures like”—the notion that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces similar symptoms in healthy people

 “Law of minimum dose”—the notion that the lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness. Many homeopathic products are so diluted that no molecules of the original substance remain.

 Homeopathic products come from plants (such as red onion, arnica [mountain herb], poison ivy, belladonna [deadly nightshade], and stinging nettle), minerals (such as white arsenic), or animals (such as crushed whole bees). Homeopathic products are often made as sugar pellets to be placed under the tongue; they may also be in other forms, such as ointments, gels, drops, creams, and tablets. Treatments are “individualized” or tailored to each person—it’s common for different people with the same condition to receive different treatments.

 Use in the United States

 According to the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which included a comprehensive survey on the use of complementary health approaches by Americans, an estimated 5 million adults and 1 million children used homeopathy in the previous year. The 2012 survey also reported that although about 1.8 percent of children used homeopathy, only 0.2 percent of children went to a homeopathic practitioner. A 2016 analysis of data from this survey suggests that most adults who use homeopathic products self-prescribe them for colds and musculoskeletal pain.

 In 2016, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it will hold efficacy and safety claims for over-the-counter homeopathic drugs to the same standard as those for other products making similar claims. It further stated that companies must have the competent and reliable scientific evidence the FTC requires for health-related claims, including claims that a product can treat specific conditions.

 In December 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a new risk-based enforcement approach to homeopathic products. The proposed approach would call for more careful scrutiny of products with the greatest potential for risk, including:

 Those with reported safety concerns

 Those that are not taken by mouth or rubbed on skin

 Those for vulnerable populations

 Those that do not meet legal standards for quality, strength, or purity

 Those intended to be used for preventing or treating serious and/or life-threatening diseases and conditions.

 What the Science Says About the Effectiveness of Homeopathy

 A 2015 comprehensive assessment of evidence by the Australian government’s National Health and Medical Research Council concluded that there is no reliable evidence that homeopathy is effective for any health condition.

 Homeopathy is a controversial topic. A number of its key concepts don’t agree with fundamental scientific concepts. For example, it’s not possible to explain in scientific terms how a product containing little or no active ingredient can have any effect. This, in turn, creates major challenges to rigorous clinical investigation of such products. For example, researchers cannot confirm that an extremely dilute mixture contains what is listed on the label; nor have they been able to develop objective measures that show effects of extremely dilute products in the human body.

 Another research challenge is that homeopathic treatments are highly individualized, and there is no uniform prescribing standard for homeopathic practitioners. There are hundreds of different homeopathic remedies, which can be prescribed in a variety of different dilutions for thousands of symptoms.

 No Evidence To Support Homeopathic Immunizations Certain homeopathic products (called “nosodes” or “homeopathic immunizations”) have been promoted by some as substitutes for conventional immunizations, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there’s no credible scientific evidence to support such claims. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for immunizations/vaccinations. To learn more about vaccines visit www.vaccines.gov.

 What the Science Says About Safety and Side Effects of Homeopathy

 While many homeopathic products are highly diluted, some products sold or labeled as homeopathic may not be; they can contain substantial amounts of active ingredients, which may cause side effects or drug interactions. Negative health effects from homeopathic products of this type have been reported.

 A 2012 systematic review of case reports and case series concluded that using certain homeopathic products (such as those containing heavy metals like mercury or iron that are not highly diluted) or replacing an effective conventional treatment with an ineffective homeopathic one can cause adverse effects, some of which may be serious.

 Liquid homeopathic products may contain alcohol. The FDA allows higher levels of alcohol in these than in conventional drugs.

 Homeopathic practitioners expect some of their patients to experience “homeopathic aggravation” (a temporary worsening of existing symptoms after taking a homeopathic prescription). Researchers have not found much evidence of this reaction in clinical studies; however, research on homeopathic aggravations is scarce. Always discuss changes in your symptoms with your health care provider.

 The FDA has warned consumers about different products labeled as homeopathic. For example, in 2017 it alerted consumers that some homeopathic teething tablets had excessive amounts of the toxic substance belladonna; in 2015, it warned consumers not to rely on over-the-counter asthma products labeled as homeopathic, because they are not evaluated by the FDA for safety and effectiveness.

 Regulation of Homeopathic Products

 Homeopathic products are regulated as drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). However, under current Agency policy, the FDA does not evaluate them for safety or effectiveness. FDA enforcement policies for homeopathic drugs are described in the FDA’s Compliance Policy Guide entitled Conditions Under Which Homeopathic Drugs May be Marketed (CPG 400.400). The FDA allows homeopathic products that meet certain conditions to be marketed without agency preapproval. For example, homeopathic products must contain active ingredients that are listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States (HPUS). The HPUS lists active ingredients that may be legally included in homeopathic products and standards for strength, quality, and purity of that ingredient. In addition, the FDA requires that the label on the product, outer container, or accompanying leaflet include at least one major indication (i.e., medical problem to be treated), a list of ingredients, the number of times the active ingredient was diluted, and directions for use. If a homeopathic product claims to treat a serious disease such as cancer, it must be sold by prescription. Only products for minor health problems, like a cold or headache, that go away on their own, can be sold without a prescription.

 Licensing

 Laws regulating the practice of homeopathy in the United States vary from state to state. Usually, individuals licensed to practice medicine or another health care profession can legally practice homeopathy. In some states, nonlicensed professionals may practice homeopathy. Arizona, Connecticut, and Nevada are the only states with homeopathic licensing boards for doctors of medicine (holders of M.D. degrees) and doctors of osteopathic medicine (holders of D.O. degrees). In 15 states, a section of the naturopathic medical board examinations is on homeopathy.

 More to Consider ||||| Teething and symptoms attributed to teething are a common concern of parents.

 It is important to inform parents that none of these symptoms consistently and accurately predict when teething is about to occur:

 Congestion or cough

 Sleep disturbance

 Decreased appetite for liquids

 Vomiting

 Loose or increased stools

 The recommended intervention for teething is the use of cold items because the cold acts as an anesthetic for the gums.

 Suggested items include:

 Pacifiers

 Spoons

 Clean wet washcloths

 Frozen bagels or bananas

 Refrigerated teething rings

 Topical teething gels sold over-the-counter (OTC) are often used for teething.

 These gels can carry serious risks, including local reactions, seizures with overdose, and methemoglobinemia. Benzocaine containing teething gels should not be used in infants or children under 2 years of age.

 Methemoglobinemia: The presence of methemoglobin in the blood due to conversion of part of the hemoglobin to this inactive form .

 If necessary, parents should be instructed on proper dosing of OTC analgesic medications, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. |||||
What is a summary?

– New parents will do almost anything to relieve their little ones' teething pain—but one thing the FDA says they shouldn't do is give their babies homeopathic teething products, Live Science reports. In a Sept. 30 statement, the FDA warns these "natural" tablets and gels found in some chain drugstores and online can pose medical risks to infants and young children, from constipation and agitation to more serious issues such as breathing problems and seizures. "Teething can be managed without prescription or over-the-counter remedies," says Janet Woodcock, director of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Per the National Institutes of Health, homeopathy is an alternative (and little-proven) type of medical treatment that works on the theory that using tiny amounts of natural substances that usually cause ailments can actually help treat them. And for years, the FDA has been on the case of homeopathic teething tablets and gels, which aren't evaluated or approved by the agency: In 2010, it sent out an alert about Hyland's teething tablets, which contained "inconsistent" amounts of belladonna (also known as deadly nightshade), Popular Science reports. So what else are desperate parents to do? Per Live Science and the American Academy of Pediatrics, everything from hard, unsweetened teething crackers to pacifiers, clean wet washcloths, and refrigerated (not frozen) teething rings can work as soothers. In advance of the FDA's announcement, CVS announced it was pulling all homeopathic teething products, while Hyland's issued a statement saying its products are safe, per Drug Store News. (Check out the weird thing these parents discovered was causing their baby's "teething" issues.)