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Author Libby Weaver apologises over 'mongolism' in book

A best-selling author has recalled 20,000 copies of her new book, which used the term "mongolism" to describe Down's syndrome.

Celebrity nutritionist Libby Weaver apologised and said she was "mortified to have caused anyone any distress".

The Australian, who has written several bestselling books, said she had no idea the word was offensive and not correct.

The term "mongolism" was used until the 1980s. The medical term now used is Down's Syndrome or Trisomy 21.

Ms Weaver posted a video message on her website saying that she used the word in her latest book What Am I Supposed to Eat?, thinking it "was a current medically used word".

"It has since been brought to my attention it is a word that is used in a derogatory way and I am very, very sorry to have caused anyone any distress through this error, particularly children with Down Syndrome and their families," she said.

The author, who is based in Australia and New Zealand, added that people who had already bought a copy the book could return it for a refund, local media reported.

Teen with Down's syndrome's catwalk debut

A world without Down's syndrome?

"The term mongolism is an outdated and offensive term which was used historically to refer to Down syndrome," Dr Ellen Skladzien of Down Syndrome Australia told the BBC.

"There has been consensus for many decades that this is not an appropriate term to describe people with Down syndrome," she explained.

"I am pleased to see that the book that utilised this inappropriate term has been withdrawn and that the author has apologised."

While most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes, people with Down's have an extra copy of chromosome 21, which means they develop differently and have varying levels of learning disability.

Down's was first classified in the 1860s by British physician John Lagdon Down, who used the term "mongoloid" for it.

In recent decades, the term was replaced by Down's syndrome as it was considered derogatory and offensive.

Source – bbc.com

The combined company would have had roughly 130 million subscribers.
Source – abcnews.go.com

Police investigate 17 child sexting cases a day

Police investigations into children sharing sexual images of themselves and others have more than doubled in two years, figures have shown.

Forces in England and Wales recorded 6,238 underage "sexting" offences in 2016-17, a rate of 17 a day.

Police said they received reports from children as young as 10.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child protection, said: "There is a worrying upward trend."

He added social networks needed to remove indecent images more quickly.

The number of cases where under-18s were sharing indecent or prohibited images was up by a third on the 4,681 offences recorded the previous year, and represented a 131% rise on 2014-15, with 2,700 incidents.

• BBC Advice – Sexting
• Children 'should be taught about pornography and sexting'

Mr Bailey, who is head of Norfolk Constabulary, said: "Sharing and possessing these images is against the law. Once an image is shared with others it can cause deep embarrassment and distress."

As well as calling for faster action from social media companies, he said schools needed to do more to counteract the influence of pornography.

He said: "I am concerned about the impact that exposure to extreme pornography can have on children so we need to consider if a lack of universal relationship and sex education is compounding the problem."

Exploitation and coercion

Police said the youngest children involved in sexting inquiries were aged 10, while the number of offences investigated was at its peak among 14-year-olds.

Girls were more likely to be the victims, but suspects or perpetrators were evenly split between boys and girls.

Investigators noted that reports of offences declined substantially in August, suggesting children were more at risk in school term time.

The figures cover a period in which the College of Policing introduced new guidance, aimed at assuaging concerns that teenagers might be routinely criminalised by laws on sexting.

It said that officers should record all cases of under-18s sharing images of themselves or other children as crimes. However, formal action only needs to be taken where there is exploitation, coercion or wider child protection issues.

There were more than 2,000 such cases where police determined that further action was not in the public interest in 2016-17.

Mr Bailey said: "Forces are risk-assessing every case to ensure we are not unnecessarily stigmatising children and saddling them with a criminal record.

"But there will always be a criminal investigation where we see that young people are being coerced, exploited or blackmailed."

The NSPCC said the rise in sexting incidents is "extremely worrying".

"It is vital that parents and schools talk to children about the dangers of sexting as soon as they are given any technology," the charity said.

Source – bbc.com

Quotes from US President Donald Trump's Asian tour

President Donald Trump is making his first trip to Asia as leader of the United States. His 12-day tour includes stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Here is some of what he has had to say:

Nov. 6:

"The era of strategic patience was over. Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years."

Regarding North Korea, at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan.

Nov. 5:

"The relationship is really extraordinary. We like each other and our countries like each other. … And I don't think we've ever been closer to Japan than we are right now."

Describing U.S.-Japan ties before a dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

• Star

Source – abcnews.go.com

G-7 health ministers: climatic factors impact health

Group of Seven health ministers have issued a joint statement that says climatic factors impact on human health.

Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin told reporters on Monday that the ministers were able to work out wording acceptable to the United States during their ministerial meeting in Milan, while also recognizing the differences in opinion in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris accords.

Lorenzin called it "a great political work" to arrive at a document that recalls the U.S. position on climate change "and yet accepts the impact of climatic factors on people's health."

The final declaration states that "climate and environmental-related factors can aggravate existing health risks and create new threats," and discussed the need to raise awareness of the impact of such factors on health.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

Sutherland Springs: Texas church shooting leaves 26 dead

At least 26 people have been killed and 20 others wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Texas church during a Sunday service.

The attack happened at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small town in Wilson County. The victims' ages ranged from five to 72.

The suspected gunman was later found dead in his vehicle some miles away.

Police identified him only as a "young, white male" but US media named him as Devin Patrick Kelley, 26.

Kelley is reported to have been discharged from the US air force in 2014 following a court martial for assaulting his wife and child.

The motive for the killings was not immediately clear.

Texas Department of Public Safety regional director Freeman Martin said the attacker, dressed all in black and wearing a bulletproof vest, opened fire with a Ruger assault rifle outside the church at around 11:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and then went inside.

As the gunman left the church, a local citizen grabbed his own rifle and began shooting at the suspect, who then dropped his weapon and fled in a vehicle.

The citizen pursued the suspect, who eventually drove off the road and crashed his car at the Guadalupe County line.

'Small community'

By Owen Amos, BBC News, Sutherland Springs

At 01:30, Chris Speer was still sitting on his porch, sucking his cigarette in the dark. Fourteen hours earlier he was in the same place, with his 11-month-old son, when he heard "close to 30 shots".

"Your first instinct, you're out in the country, you think someone is shooting, practising," he says. "But it was too close. I knew something wasn't right."

He took his son inside. "If I could have got my gun, I would have," he says. "But when you've got a kid in your hands, I'm not risking it. He wouldn't let go."

Mr Speer didn't know the attacker but he knew "a lot" of the victims. "We're a small community. We band together. But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

Police found the man dead in his car but it is unclear if he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or from injuries received when fired on by the local citizen. The car contained several weapons.

Mr Martin added: "We have multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect's vehicle was located.

"We have been following up on the suspect and where he's from. We have Texas Rangers at all the hospitals locating those and interviewing those who were injured."

One man has told how he chased the gunman after seeing "two men exchanging gunfire" outside the church. Speaking to local TV station Ksat.com, Johnnie Langendorff said a "gentleman came and said we need to pursue him. And that's what I did, I just acted".

Mr Langendorff said the pair were driving at speeds of up to 95mph (153km/h) until the gunman lost control of his car and crashed.

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Governor Greg Abbott, confirming the death toll, said it was the worst mass shooting in the history of Texas.

"This will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain," he said at a news conference on Sunday.

The First Baptist Church's pastor, Frank Pomeroy, told ABC News his 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, was among those killed.

Mr Pomeroy, who was in Oklahoma at the time of the attack, described her as "one very beautiful, special child" in a phone call to the television outlet.

At least 10 victims, including four children, were being treated at the University Health System in nearby San Antonio, the hospital said in a tweet.

The authorities could not confirm the names of any victims as they continued to work through the crime scene, Sheriff Joe Tackitt said.

Officials said 23 people were found dead inside the church while two people were fatally shot outside. Another died in hospital, the authorities say.

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One witness, Carrie Matula, told NBC News: "We heard semi-automatic gunfire… we're only about 50 yards away from this church.

"This is a very small community, so everyone was very curious as to what was going on."

Sutherland Springs, which has a population of about 400, lies about 30 miles (50km) south-east of the city of San Antonio.

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President Donald Trump, on a tour of Asia, said the gunman was "a very deranged individual" and denied that guns were to blame for the shooting.

"We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, but this isn't a guns situation," he said.

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The shooting comes just a month after a gunman in Las Vegas opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.

• Las Vegas shooting – what we know

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Source – bbc.com

Saudi king swears in new ministers, replacing those detained

WATCH Saudi women to be allowed into sports stadiums next year

Saudi King Salman on Monday swore in new officials to take over from a powerful prince and former minister believed to be detained in a large-scale sweep that has shocked the country and upended longstanding traditions within the ruling family.

The official Saudi Press Agency released images of the king swearing in new National Guard chief Prince Khalid bin Ayyaf al-Muqrin and new Economy and Planning Minister Mohammad al-Tuwaijri.

Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who for the past four years had led the National Guard, and Adel Fakeih, who was minister of economy since April, were both reportedly arrested as part of a purported anti-corruption probe led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Miteb was once considered a contender for the throne, though he has not been thought of recently as a challenger to Prince Mohammed.

The arrests began late Saturday. Eleven princes and 38 officials and businessmen are reportedly being held at five-star hotels across the capital, Riyadh.

The king was also pictured meeting Lebanon's outgoing prime minister, Saad Hariri, who unexpectedly resigned during a trip to Saudi Arabia. The photos of their meeting did little to quiet speculation over his surprising move and current status. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hariri's top political rival at home, argued on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had forced Hariri to resign amid the deepening Saudi-Iran rivalry and questioned whether Saudi Arabia had also detained him in the sweep.

The highest-profile royal caught in the sweep is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, an outspoken billionaire royal with investments in Western companies. The company he chairs sought to reassure investors after its stock plunged following his arrest.

Kingdom Holding Co. said in a statement Monday that it maintains the government's "vote of confidence" as it pursues its investment strategy and global business operations. The company has investments in Twitter, Apple, Lyft, Citigroup and hotel chains like the Four Seasons, Movenpick and Fairmont.

CEO Talal al-Maiman said staff at the company, which manages more than $12.5 billion of investments around the world, are "focused on their unwavering responsibilities to KHC's shareholders and stakeholders."

"We are pleased to play a role in the continuing growth of Saudi Arabia and to strengthen the economy for the benefit of all," al-Maiman said.

The company, which lost 7.5 percent in trading Sunday, made no reference its chairman's arrest.

A statement by the attorney general's office said that no assets of any suspects have yet been frozen. However, the government has refused to confirm the arrests outright or name those detained, who are reportedly banned from traveling for the duration of the investigations.

Saudi Twitter accounts released several other names of those arrested, including Alwalid al-Ibrahim, a Saudi businessman with ties to the royal family who runs the Arabic satellite group MBC; Amr al-Dabbagh, the former head of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; Ibrahim Assaf, a former finance minister, and Bakr Binladin, head of the Saudi Binladin Group, a major business conglomerate.

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Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

No diet for these carp as Trump goes all-in on fish food

President Donald Trump's visit to Japan briefly took a turn from formal to fishy.

Amid the protocol and pageantry Monday, Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paused for a lighter moment — to feed Asian carp fish in a koi pond. Trump concluded the activity by theatrically holding out his wooden box of feed and dumping it into the water packed with bright yellow and orange fish.

On the scene the move drew smiles and chuckles, including from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Then as photos circulated, Trump's critics quickly seized on it as an example of his impatient style. But a closer look at the video of the moment shows that both leaders started gently spooning feed into the bond and then Abe lightly tossed the rest of his box in. After that, Trump more dramatically tipped his over.

Finished with the fish, both men smiled and waved.

Visiting the fish came amid two packed days for Trump, with a casual burger lunch and golf Sunday and formal meetings and a news conference Monday.

• Star

Source – abcnews.go.com

Climate talks open amid anger over Trump's coal support

The latest round of UN led climate talks have opened in Bonn with delegates from almost 200 countries in attendance.

Over the next two weeks, negotiators hope to clarify the rulebook of the Paris climate agreement.

It is the first major meeting since President Trump announced plans to take the US out of the Paris pact last June.

Many delegates are unhappy with White House plans to promote fossil fuels here as a "solution" to climate change.

An adviser to the president is expected to take part in a pro-coal presentation in the second week of this conference, which is officially known as COP23,

Separately, a group of governors will say that the US is still committed to climate action despite Mr Trump's rejection of the Paris agreement.

• US quits Paris climate pact
• Five effects of US pullout from Paris climate deal

Under the rules, the US cannot leave the agreement until 2020 so they have sent a team of negotiators to this meeting.

The official US delegation, mainly career civil servants, may well be overshadowed, though, by other groups with very different visions for how the US should combat climate change.

According to reports, members of the Trump administration will lend their support to an event to promote fossil fuels and nuclear power as solutions to climate change.

Speakers from coal giant Peabody Energy, among others, will make a presentation to highlight the role that coal and other fuels can play in curbing the impacts of rising temperatures.

A White House spokesman said in a statement that the discussion aimed to build on the administration's efforts to promote fossil fuels at the G20 meeting this year.

"It is undeniable that fossil fuels will be used for the foreseeable future, and it is in everyone's interest that they be efficient and clean," the spokesman said.

'Beyond absurd'

The prospect of fossil fuel industries making their case at this meeting has angered some who will be attending.

"Fossil fuels having any role in tackling climate change is beyond absurd. It is dangerous," said Andrew Norton, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development.

"These talks are no place for pushing the fossil fuel agenda. The US needs to come back to the table and help with the rapid cuts in emissions that the situation demands."

Long-time talks participant Alden Meyer from the Union of Concerned Scientists added: "It's not a credible solution, but that doesn't seem to bother them.

"They might even welcome some of the reaction to show to their base that they are fighting for America's interest and not this globalist malarkey."

'Much of America supports Paris deal'

Environmentalists point to the contradiction of the Trump administration championing fossil fuels while an authoritative National Climate Assessment report, released on the eve of COP23, is clear that CO2 from these fuels is the key cause of climate change.

• US climate report at odds with some in Trump team

The report says: "It is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence."

Other groups opposed to the Trump perspective will also be paying for a large pavilion at the talks.

Delegations of US governors, mayors and business people, under the We Are Still In coalition umbrella, will be in Bonn to tell negotiators that below the Federal level, much of America still supports the Paris agreement.

The US Climate Alliance, which represents 14 states and one territory, says that it speaks for around 36% of the US population and if it were a nation state would be the third biggest economy in the world.

One of the governors who will be on the ground in Bonn is Washington's Jay Inslee.

"We need to make sure that the world maintains confidence in our ability to move forward," he told reporters.

"So far, not one single nation state, city or county, municipality or school district have followed Donald Trump into the ranks of surrendering to climate change since he pulled out of Paris – his decision has energised our efforts."

This determination to remain part of Paris is also being reflected at city level in many parts of the US.

"Whatever 'America first' is supposed to mean, it absolutely does not mean America alone," said Mayor Lionel Johnson from the city of St Gabriel in Louisiana.

"My fellow mayors and I stand united and we stand with the international community to pursue solutions to the dramatic climate challenges we are facing together. Count us in!"

Apart from the confusion over who is speaking for the US, the talks will focus on establishing rules and guidelines for the Paris pact. These need to be agreed by the end of 2018.

The talks are being chaired by Fiji, which is the first time a small island developing state has taken this role. As such, questions of climate impacts are likely to be in the spotlight, including the tricky question of loss and damage.

This is a potential area of significant disagreement as the richer countries are strongly opposed to any implied legal liability for the damages caused by climate related extreme weather events.

Around 20,000 delegates and visitors will attend the meeting over two weeks.

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Source – bbc.com

NHS offers smartphone GP appointments

A 24-hour service has been launched for NHS patients, offering GP consultations via videolink on smartphones.

The pilot scheme will initially cover 3.5 million patients in greater London.

Patients will be able to check their symptoms through the mobile app and then have video consultations within two hours of booking.

The Royal College of GPs has warned the service may not help patients with complex needs.

The new free service has been launched by a group of London GPs and the online healthcare provider Babylon.

Patients joining will leave their existing practice, with their records transferred to a group of five central London surgeries.

Virtual consultation

Dr Mobasher Butt, who is part of the team behind the GP at Hand service, told BBC Radio's Today programme: "It's high time that NHS patients were given the opportunity to benefit from technology to improve access to healthcare.

"We've benefited from this kind of technology in so many different aspects of our lives, whether that be shopping or banking, and it's really time that we were able to do that in healthcare for NHS patients."

Jane Barnacle, director of patients and information at NHS England London, said GP practices were right to carefully test innovative new technologies that could improve free NHS services for their patients while also freeing up staff time.

But the Royal College of GPs is concerned the new service might only work for younger healthier commuters and not those with complex health conditions.

Concerns

Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, who chairs the RCPG, said: "We are really worried that schemes like this are creating a twin-track approach to NHS general practice and that patients are being 'cherry-picked', which could actually increase the pressures on traditional GPs based in the community.

"We understand that with increasingly long waiting times to see a GP, an online service is convenient and appealing, but older patients and those living with more complex needs want continuity of care and the security of their local practice where their GPs know them.

"We notice there is an extensive list of patient conditions such as frailty, pregnancy and mental health conditions that are the essence of general practice and which GPs deal with every day, but which are not eligible for this service.

"We are also concerned that patients are being given the option of switching back to their local surgery if they are not satisfied with the level of service offered by the app.

"As well as issues with patient confidentiality and the safety of the patient record, it is hard to see how this could be achieved without adding to the huge burden of red tape that GPs are already grappling with.

"While this scheme is backed by the NHS and offers a free service to patients, it is undoubtedly luring GPs away from front-line general practice at a time when we are facing a severe workforce crisis and hardworking GPs are struggling to cope with immense workloads."

Dr Richard Vautrey from the British Medical Association said: "This approach risks undermining the quality and continuity of care and further fragmenting the service provided to the public."

GP at Hand strongly deny that care would be compromised in any way.

Source – bbc.com