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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2016)
13A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 WORLD IN BRIEF Associated Press Four killed on river rapids ride at Australian theme park Pediatricians: Babies should sleep in same room as parents SAN FRANCISCO — The American Academy of Pediat- rics is calling for infants to be kept in their parents’ bedroom at night for six months to a year to reduce the risk of sleep-re- lated death. The new recommendations say babies should sleep on a sep- arate surface, in a crib or bassinet, and never on something soft. The guidelines say babies should sleep in the same room as their parents, preferably until they’re a year old. The nation’s most influential pediatricians’ group says it updated its safe- sleep guidance because of studies suggesting that room-sharing reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by as much as 50 percent. For two decades, the academy has advocated that babies be placed on their backs for sleeping to reduce risks of SIDS. Other recommendations include: avoiding bed-sharing; use of crib bumpers, blankets, pillows and soft toys; using paci- fiers; and breastfeeding. But SIDS cases have plateaued at 3,500 unexplained deaths each year in the U.S., prompting the updated advice released Monday. Noting that SIDS’ risks are highest in the first six months, the academy says room-sharing but not bed-sharing is most likely to prevent suffocation that can occur when infants sleep with their parents. “Placing the crib close to the parents’ bed so that the infant is within view and reach can facilitate feeding, comforting, and monitoring of the infant,” the academy says. Presidential race turns to Florida with voting underway TAMPA, Florida — With the race for the White House speed- ing to an end, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are campaign- ing today in swing state Florida, where tens of thousands of vot- ers are already flocking to the polls. Trump, on the final day of a three-day Florida swing, has been denouncing the “disgusting” media that promotes “phony polls” showing him trailing Clinton in this and other battleground states. “The media isn’t just against me. They’re against all of you,” Trump told cheering supporters Monday in St. Augustine. He added, “I believe we’re actually winning.” Trump, who must win Florida to have any chance at the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, is scheduled to attend three Florida campaign events. Clinton, who can win the presidency with or without Florida, is making just one appear- ance, in the southern part of the state. Her confidence surging, Clinton is also eyeing a new Demo- cratic majority in the Senate. Her campaign has been attacking Republican Senate candidates in Florida and New Hampshire. On Monday, the Democratic nominee campaigned alongside New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is locked in a tight Senate race against Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte. They got an assist from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was merciless as she seized on recent revelations of Trump’s preda- tory sexual language and several allegations of sexual assault. “He thinks that because he has a mouth full of Tic Tacs, he can force himself on any woman within groping distance,” War- ren charged. “I’ve got news for you Donald: Women have had it with guys like you.” Trump, in an interview with WGIR radio in New Hampshire, called the accusations “total fiction.” He lashed out at his latest accuser, former adult film performer Jessica Drake, who said Sat- urday that he had grabbed and kissed her without permission and offered her money to visit his hotel room a decade ago. AP Photo/Matt Rourke Keyshla Rivera smiles at her newborn son Jesus as reg- istered nurse Christine Weick demonstrates a baby box before her discharge from Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia in May. The American Academy of Pediatrics announced new recommendations for safe infant sleep- ing Monday. They call for parents to keep infants in the same bedroom as them at night for six months to a year in order to lessen the risk of sleep-related death. Surfer bitten by shark at beach; says ‘came out of nowhere’ HONOLULU — A surfer says he’s grateful to be recovering in a Maui hospital after a shark bit him — even though the attack forced him and his wife to postpone their honeymoon. Federico Jaime was surfing Friday at a beach about two blocks from his Paia home when he felt a shark chomp down on his left arm, he recalled Monday from his room at Maui Memorial Medi- cal Center. “It just came out of nowhere,” he said. “I saw the shark right in my face. It grabbed my arm— my left arm. It was really violent.” He knew he had been bitten. “I could see my arm was pretty much destroyed,” Jaime said. “I hit it with my hands and my legs. I don’t know what I did.” Then, he said, he felt something pull on his left leg. At the time, he didn’t realize the shark had bit him a second time. Jaime, who was supposed to leave for a Tahiti honeymoon on Saturday, started screaming. Nearby surfers helped get him to shore. One of them used a surfboard leash as a tourniquet. How autism in girls may help reveal the disorder’s secrets CHICAGO — Think autism and an image of an awkward boy typically emerges, but the way autism strikes girls — or doesn’t — may help reveal some of the developmental disorder’s frustrat- ing secrets. Autism is at least four times more common in boys, but sci- entists taking a closer look are finding some gender-based sur- prises: Many girls with autism have social skills that can mask the condition. And some girls do not show symptoms of autism even when they have the same genetic mutations seen in boys with the condition. “Autism may not be the same thing in boys and girls,” said Kevin Pelphrey, an autism researcher at George Washington University. The causes of autism aren’t known. Genetic mutations are thought to play a role, and outside factors including older par- ents and premature birth also have been implicated. But the gen- der effect is now a hot topic in autism research and one that could lead to new ways of diagnosing and treating a condition that affects at least 1 in 68 U.S. children. SYDNEY — Four people were killed today in an accident at a popular theme park on Australia’s east coast, officials said. Two men and two women died while on a river rapids ride at Dreamworld, a park on Queensland state’s Gold Coast, Queensland police officer Todd Reid told reporters. The Thunder River Rapids ride whisks people in circular rafts along a fast-moving, man-made river. A malfunction caused two people to be ejected from their raft, while two others were caught inside the ride, said Gavin Fuller, an officer with the Queensland Ambulance Service. He did not know whether the two victims who were caught in the ride were trapped under water, or caught up in the machinery. Park staffers administered first aid to the victims, but their injuries proved fatal, Fuller told reporters. The victims were in their 30s and early 40s, he said. Militants attack Pakistan police academy, killing 59 QUETTA, Pakistan — Militants wearing suicide vests stormed a Pakistani police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta overnight, killing at least 59 people, mostly police cadets and recruits, and waging a ferocious gunbattle with troops that lasted into early hours today. Pakistani officials feared the death toll could rise further, as the four-hours-long siege — one of the deadliest attacks on Paki- stan’s security forces in recent years — left 117 wounded, some of them in critical condition. The assault caught many of the recruits asleep in their dorms and forced cadets and trainers to jump off rooftops and run for their lives to escape the attackers. By mid-day today, conflicting claims of responsibility emerged. The Islamic State group, which is waging war in Syria and Iraq where it has declared a self-styled caliphate, posted a claim on the group’s media arm, the Arabic-language Aamaq news agency. It said three IS fighters killed 60 police recruits in Quetta but the claim was not confirmed by Pakistani officials and IS did not offer any previously unknown details about the assault. Earlier, a little-known breakaway faction of the Pakistani Tal- iban, known as the Hakimullah group, also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. Pakistani officials, doubt- ing the group’s capabilities in staging such a coordinated and spectacular assault, also could not confirm that claim. Iraqi forces battle IS in western town, far from Mosul BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition air- strikes, battled Islamic State militants for a third day today in a remote western town, hundreds of kilometers (miles) to the south of the operation to retake Mosul, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The clashes underway in Rutba, in Iraq’s western Anbar prov- ince, are apparently part of the extremist group’s tactics to divert attention — as well as Iraqi and coalition resources — from the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants. “Fighting is ongoing in Rutba, which is still contested,” said Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition. “The coalition continues conducting strikes to support the Iraqi security forces’ response efforts, including one against a Daesh convoy that was attempting to flee the area,” he added, referring to IS by an Arabic acronym. Looking out for No. 2: Dogs sniff out fecal pollution By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press FAIR HAVEN, N.J. — Some specially trained dogs are helping humans curb themselves. A company that has trained dogs to recognize the smell of human fecal bacteria has been sniffing out sources of water pollution nationwide, discov- ering broken sewer pipes, leak- ing septic tanks and illegal sew- age discharges, to the delight of environmental groups and gov- ernment agencies. Conventional water sam- pling tests take 24 hours at a laboratory, and often must be duplicated to ensure their accu- racy. Testing of sewer systems with dye or smoke takes days and is costly. But the dogs give an instant yes-or-no indication as to whether a particular loca- tion is contaminated with the bacteria. Using dogs rescued from shelters and specially trained to detect human waste in the same way other dogs are trained to sniff out drugs or explosives, the dogs of Otisfield, Maine- based Environmental Canine Services are always looking out for No. 2. “I could make a lot of jokes about what kind of job this is, but I won’t,” said Scott Reyn- olds, who runs the company with his wife, Karen. “They alert us to the presence of human-specific bacteria, E. coli, poop, whatever you want to call it.” Serious problem Human fecal contamina- tion is a serious environmen- tal problem that can cause ill- nesses including intestinal problems; hepatitis; respiratory infections; and ear, nose, and throat problems. Contamina- tion from the E. coli bacterium, naturally occurring in human intestines, becomes dangerous if it is present in the environ- ment in high enough concen- trations. It is the leading cause of beach and waterway closures in the U.S., and tracking down the source of such pollution is a high priority for local and state governments. One recent day, two of the company’s dogs sniffed the edges of a pond near the New Jersey shore in Fair Haven, where polluted runoff was helping to choke the pond with thick algae that covered it with a green scum. Envi- ronmental groups including Clean Ocean Action, along with the local government, hired the company to determine whether any sewage was mak- ing its way into the pond, which feeds into the nearby Navesink River, a waterway having its own problems with bacterial contamination. Sable, a 10-year-old Ger- man shepherd-husky mix Reynolds rescued from a shel- ter, and Remi, a 3-year-old black Lab mix they found as a stray, were put to work. They sniffed the shoreline and found nothing amiss. “Just as important as what you find is what you don’t find,” Karen Reynolds said. The couple then took the dogs to a nearby man- hole, which town workers had opened, to demonstrate what the dogs do when they smell human waste. Sable is trained to bark when he smells it; Remi is trained to sit still, and that’s precisely what they did as soon as they sniffed the manhole. Their rewards: a treat for Remi and some play time with a tennis ball for Sable. Time and money. We give you both. Find out more at columbiabank.com or call 877-272-3678. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender We listen to you and your business needs—then tailor a loan that fits. Our loans are custom-made, not mass-produced. Every business is different, so rest assured your Columbia Bank loan will be designed specifically to your needs, your business, and for you.
