Contact: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu

 Julie Larson Bricher, 503-409-9421, julie.bricher@gmail.com

 COLLEGE STATION – A study led by a team of Texas A&M University System researchers found school meals paired with popular vegetables are less likely to wind up in garbage bins.

 A team led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Institute for Obesity Research and Program Evaluation at Texas A&M University measured food waste in three elementary schools in Bryan and Dallas. The schools are participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program both in pre- and post-implementation of the new standards.

 The study was funded by the Alliance for Potato Research and Education and is published in the journal, Food and Nutrition Sciences. It can be found at http://bit.ly/1JEbPjz .

 “Our research team looked at whether there is a relationship between consumption of certain entrees and vegetables that would lead to plate waste,” said Dr. Oral Capps Jr., an AgriLife Research economist and professor of agricultural economics. “We found that popular entrees such as burgers and chicken nuggets, contributed to greater waste of less popular vegetables.”

 Conversely, entrees paired with potatoes – served as tator tots, oven-baked French fries, and wedges – experienced the least amount of overall waste, Capps said.

 “Our study shows that optimizing entrée-vegetable pairings in schools meals has the potential to positively impact vegetable consumption, which is especially important for those students relying on school meals for their energy and nutrient needs,” Capps said.

 The data were collected by a team of “plate waste warriors,” Texas A&M students who were paid by the hour, Capps said. Each wore a different colored apron that is associated with the assigned waste bin in which the entrée is discarded. A minimum of eight workers was needed at each school during the lunch periods, which were typically 10:45 a.m. through 1 p.m. The A&M students gathered the trays containing leftover portions.

 Leftovers were separated into different waste bags and each bag was weighed on a scale for plate-waste measurement. When students went through the lunch line, a sticker was placed on the food tray to identify the vegetable and entrée chosen. Students on the free lunch program were are also evaluated for plate waste. The tray with the corresponding sticker was weighed and recorded to help calculate overall food waste.

 Joining Capps on the research team was Dr. Peter Murano, associate professor from the department of nutrition and food science, founder and former director of the Institute for Obesity Research and Program Evaluation at Texas A&M; Ariun Ishdorj, assistant professor in the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M; and Maureen Storey, president and CEO of the Alliance for Potato Research and Education. ||||| ABSTRACT

 Plate waste, defined as the quantity of edible food left uneaten after a meal, is a challenge for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The new nutrition standards in the NSLP of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were implemented at the beginning of school year (SY) 2012-2013. School foodservice authorities were concerned that the new standards would result in increased plate waste and reduced participation, especially by students who paid full prices for lunch. There are many reasons for plate waste, including students’ dislike of the foods served, the composition of meals, the environment in which students are eating, the lack of time to eat, or perhaps other factors. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between entrée/vegetable “pairings” and plate waste by elementary school students pre- and post-implementation of the new school meal standards. Plate waste was measured to determine which entrée/vegetable pairs produced the least amount of waste. Plate waste of 144 and 305 entrée/vegetable pairings was analyzed, pre- and post-implementation, respectively. Our results indicated that more nutritious meals were offered during the post-implementation period. The new school meal standards led to no significant changes in entrée plate waste, but vegetable plate waste increased by 5.6%. As such, increases in the combined entrée/vegetable plate waste were evident from 40.4% pre-implementation to 43.5% post-implementation. The top five vegetables in terms of popularity were all starchy vegetables, the majority of which were potatoes in various processed forms. The least popular vegetables were dark-green leafy vegetables, such as steamed broccoli, both pre- and post-implementation. Chicken nuggets were the most popular entrée and were wasted the least. Understanding the dynamics of food pairings and providing desirable entrée and vegetable pairings can help reduce waste from school lunches. ||||| It seems like an age-old problem — kids not eating their vegetables — and it is. Little ones, more interested in macaroni and cheese than sautéed spinach, are still leaving the latter largely untouched. The proof is both anecdotal — what parent hasn't tussled with this? — and borne out in data. Nine out of 10 children, after all, still don't eat enough vegetables, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 The problem has been blamed, at least in part, for the deteriorating diets of American youth. It has also been on clear display ever since the government updated, in 2013, its nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program. Children, suddenly confronted with vegetables on every plate (as required as part of the change), have responded not by eating them but by leaving them on their plates -- untouched.

 It's a poignant example of how kids are really good at making really bad decisions about food. And it has proved pretty frustrating for health and nutrition advocates, who can't seem to find a reasonable way to get children to eat more healthfully at school.

 But it turns out there might be an ingenious solution hiding beneath everyone's nose.

 Researchers at Texas A&M University, looking for patterns in food consumption among elementary school children, found an interesting quirk about when and why kids choose to eat their vegetables. After analyzing plate waste data from nearly 8,500 students, it seems there's at least one variable that tends to affect whether kids eat their broccoli, spinach or green beans more than anything: what else is on the plate.

 Kids, in short, are much more likely to eat their vegetable portion when it's paired with a food that isn't so delicious it gets all the attention. When chicken nuggets and burgers, the most popular items among schoolchildren, are on the menu, for instance, vegetable waste tends to rise significantly. When other less-beloved foods, like deli sliders or baked potatoes, are served, the opposite seems to happen.

 "Pairings of entrées and vegetables are an important consideration when assessing plate waste among elementary school children," the researchers note.

 Indeed, the effect can work the other way around. The study found that children tend to eat less of their entree when popular vegetables (mostly starchy fried vegetables, like tater tots and french fries, which many wouldn't classify as vegetables) are offered. When the entree is paired with steamed broccoli — the vegetable children eat the least of on average — kids instead eat more of the main dish.

 And that interrelationship can be useful in reducing the amount of food wasted at schools, which has been a persistent problem.

 But these observations are probably more useful as a gauge for how appetizing vegetable are in different contexts than as a subscription for what pairings will lead to the least amount of food waste. Kids' favorite meals, after all, aren't particularly healthy. What's more, they, too, lead to considerable waste. The most popular pairing — hamburger and tater tots — still results in about 26 percent waste on average, according to the study.

 The notion that food pairings can significantly affect the attractiveness of certain foods isn't new. Traci Mann, who teaches psychology at the University of Minnesota and has been studying eating habits, self-control and dieting for more than 20 years, believes that it can, in fact, be crucial. One of the simplest ways to eat better is to make it easier to eat better. That involves a strategy Mann calls "get alone with a vegetable," which is similar in that it shows how important context can be. She described the strategy earlier this year:

 Normally, vegetables will lose the competition that they're in — the competition with all the other delicious food on your plate. Vegetables might not lose that battle for everyone, but they do for most of us. This strategy puts vegetables in a competition they can win, by pitting vegetables against no food at all. To do that, you just eat your vegetable first, before any of the other food is there. Eat them before other food is on your plate, or even at your table. And that way, you get them when you're hungriest and unable to pick something else instead.

 She also noted that it's been effective with kids:

 We've actually tested this in a lot of ways. And it works unbelievably well. We tested it with kids in school cafeterias, where it more than quadrupled the amount of vegetables eaten. It's just about making it a little harder to make the wrong choices, and a little easier to make the right ones.

 Of course, persuading schools to serve vegetables by themselves could be too tall a task. Asking them never to serve foods kids adore might be, too. But understanding how something as simple as what a vegetable is served with can have a sizable impact on whether a child eats it is a pretty useful thing. At school, and at home. ||||| The amount of whole fruit* children, 2-18 years old, ate increased by 67% from 2003 to 2010 and replaced fruit juice as the main contributor of fruit to children’s diets. Experts recommend that most fruit come from whole fruit, rather than juice. The amount of vegetables children ate did not change from 2003 to 2010. Moreover, in 2007- 2010, children did not meet recommendations for the amount of fruit and vegetables they should eat.

 About 60 million US children are enrolled in child care** or school, where their experiences with food can affect their health and lifelong food choices. Since 2010, new national efforts like Let’s Move! and new school nutrition standards support healthy eating.

 Child care, schools, and school districts can support these efforts by:

 Meeting or exceeding current federal nutrition standards for meals and snacks.

 Serving fruit and vegetables whenever food is offered.

 Training staff to make fruit and vegetables more appealing and accessible.

 Offering nutrition education and hands-on learning opportunities, such as growing, tasting, and preparing fruit and vegetables.

 *Includes all forms of fruit (fresh, frozen, canned, and dried) except juice.

 **Includes child care centers, day care homes, Head Start programs, preschool, and pre-kindergarten

Summary: – Researchers from Texas A&M may have found an easier way to get kids to eat their vegetables than trying to convince them Spider-Man actually got his powers from green beans: Just pair veggies with other foods they don't like that much. The Washington Post reports nine out of 10 kids don't eat enough vegetables, and the problem of wasted veggies is only getting worse since the National School Lunch Program started requiring vegetables on every plate. After looking at "plate waste data" from 8,500 elementary school students, researchers discovered veggie waste increases with popular entrées, such as burgers or chicken nuggets, and decreases with entrées kids don't like all that much, such as deli sliders, the Post reports. “Our study shows that optimizing entrée-vegetable pairings in schools" results in more vegetables being eaten, researcher Dr. Oral Capps Jr. says in a press release. The study, published in August, implies schools are better off pairing popular entrées with the most popular veggies, such as fries and tater tots (the research was funded by a potato lobby), while saving the steamed broccoli for something else. On the latter point, cafeterias might have to get creative. One psychologist tells the Post that schools have found success in serving vegetables on their own, thus eliminating the competition. "We tested it with kids in school cafeterias, where it more than quadrupled the amount of vegetables eaten." (Or, just do what Congress did and declare pizza a vegetable.)


Fossil by fossil, scientists over the last 40 years have suspected that their models for the more immediate human family tree — the single trunk, straight as a Ponderosa pine, up from Homo habilis to Homo erectus to Homo sapiens — were oversimplified. The day for that serious revision may be at hand.

 The discovery of three new fossil specimens, announced Wednesday, is the most compelling evidence yet for multiple lines of evolution in our own genus, Homo, scientists said. The fossils showed that there were at least two contemporary Homo species, in addition to Homo erectus, living in East Africa as early as two million years ago.

 Uncovered from sandstone at Koobi Fora, badlands near Lake Turkana in Kenya, the specimens included a well-preserved skull of a late juvenile with a relatively large braincase and a long, flat face, which has been designated KNM-ER 62000 (62000 for short). It bears a striking resemblance to the enigmatic cranium known as 1470, the center of debate over multiple lineages since its discovery in the same area in 1972.

 If the 62000 skull showed that 1470 was not a single odd individual, the other two specimens seemed to provide a vital piece of evidence that had been missing. The specimen 1470 had no mandible, or lower jaw. The new finds included an almost complete lower jaw (60000) — considered to be the most complete mandible of an early Homo yet found — and a part of another lower jaw (62000).

 The fossils were collected between 2007 and 2009 by a team led by Meave and Louise Leakey, the mother-and-daughter paleoanthropologists of the Koobi Fora Research Project and members of the famous African fossil-hunting family. Dr. Meave Leakey is the wife of Richard Leakey, a son of Louis and Mary Leakey, who produced the early evidence supporting Africa’s central place in early human origins. Mr. Leakey divides his time between Stony Brook University on Long Island, where he is a professor of anthropology, and the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya.

 After looking “long and hard” for fossils to confirm the intriguing features of 1470’s face and show what its teeth and lower jaw were like, Dr. Meave Leakey said this week, “At last we have some answers.”

 The real crux of matter, said Susan C. Antón of New York University, a member of the team, is how the discovery shapes the interpretation of 1470’s place in the early world of Homo. “These fossils are anatomically like 1470, and we now have some teeth,” she said. “We are more certain that 1470 was not a one-off, and not everything 1470 is big.”

 In their first formal report, Dr. Leakey and her colleagues wrote in the journal Nature, “These three specimens will greatly aid the reassessment of the systematics and early radiation of the genus Homo.”

 They, however, chose not to assign the fossils to any existing or new species until more analysis is conducted on contemporary hominids. The 1470 specimen was two million years old; the new face and fragmentary jaw are 1.9 million to 1.95 million years old; the better-preserved lower jaw is younger still, at 1.83 million years old.

 Fred Spoor, a member of the discovery team who directed the laboratory analysis, said in a news teleconference that the research showed clearly that “human evolution is not this straight line it was once thought to be.” Instead, East Africa, he said, “was quite a crowded place, with multiple species” with presumably different diets.

 Dr. Spoor is a paleoanthropologist at University College London and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The lab work was supported by the institute. The fieldwork was financed by the National Geographic Society, and the dating of the fossils, mainly by Craig S. Feibel of Rutgers University, was supported by the Leakey Foundation.

 Although a few specialists in human origins questioned whether the still sparse evidence was sufficient to back the new conclusions, Ian Tattersall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, who was not involved in the new discovery, concluded, “This new material certainly substantiates the idea, long gathering ground, that multiple lineages of early Homo are present in the record at Koobi Fora.”

 Dr. Tattersall continued, “And it supports the view that the early history of Homo involved vigorous experimentation with the biological and behavioral potential of the new genus, instead of a slow process of refinement in a central lineage.”

 Bernard Wood of George Washington University, who has studied the early Homo fossil record, wrote in a companion article in Nature, “In a nutshell, the anatomy of the specimens supports the hypothesis of multiple early Homo species.” ||||| Our family tree may have sprouted some long-lost branches going back nearly 2 million years. A famous paleontology family has found fossils that they think confirm their theory that there are two additional pre-human species besides the one that eventually led to modern humans.

 A team led by Meave Leakey, daughter-in-law of famed scientist Louis Leakey, found facial bones from one creature and jawbones from two others in Kenya. That led the researchers to conclude that man's early ancestor had plenty of human-like company from other species.

 These would not be Homo erectus, believed to be our direct ancestor. They would be more like very distant cousins, who when you go back even longer in time, shared an ancient common ancestor, one scientist said.

 But other experts in human evolution are not convinced by what they say is a leap to large conclusions based on limited evidence. It is the continuation of a long-running squabble in anthropology about the earliest members of our own genus, or class, called Homo _an increasingly messy family history. And much of it stems from a controversial discovery that the Leakeys made 40 years ago.

 In their new findings, the Leakey team says that none of their newest fossil discoveries match erectus, so they had to be from another flat-faced relatively large species with big teeth.

 The new specimens have "a really distinct profile" and thus they are "something very different," said Meave Leakey, describing the study published online Wednesday in Nature.

 What these new bones did match was an old fossil that Meave and her husband Richard helped find in 1972 that was baffling. That skull, called 1470, just did not fit with Homo erectus, the Leakeys contended. They said it was too flat-faced with a non-jutting jaw. They initially said it was well more than 2.5 million years old in a dating mistake that was later seized upon by creationists as evidence against evolution because it indicated how scientists can make dating mistakes. It turned out to be 2 million years old.

 For the past 40 years, the scientific question has been whether 1470 was a freak mutation of erectus or something new. For many years, the Leakeys have maintained that the male skull known as 1470 showed that there were more than one species of ancient hominids, but other scientists said it wasn't enough proof.

 The Leakeys' new discoveries are more evidence that this earlier "enigmatic face" was a separate species, said study co-author Fred Spoor of the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The new bones were found between 2007 and 2009 about six miles (10 kilometers) away from the old site near the fossil-rich Lake Turkana region, Leakey said.

 So that would make two species _ erectus and the one represented by 1470.

 But it's not that simple. The Leakey scientific team contends that other fossils of old hominids _ not those cited in their new study _ don't seem to match either erectus or 1470. They argue that the other fossils seem to have smaller heads and not just because they are female. For that reason, the Leakeys believe there were three living Homo species between 1.8 million and 2 million years ago. They would be Homo erectus, the 1470 species, and a third branch.

 "Anyway you cut it there are three species," study co-author Susan Anton, an anthropologist at New York University. "One of them is named erectus and that ultimately in our opinion is going to lead to us."

 Both of the species that Meave Leakey said existed back then went extinct more than a million years ago in evolutionary dead-ends.

 "Human evolution is clearly not the straight line that it once was," Spoor said.

 The three different species could have been living at the same time at the same place, but probably didn't interact much, he said. Still, he said, East Africa nearly 2 million years ago "was quite a crowded place."

 And making matters somewhat more confusing, the Leakeys and Spoor refused to give names to the two non-erectus species or attach them to some of the other Homo species names that are in scientific literature but still disputed. That's because of confusion about what species belongs where, Anton said.

 Two likely possibilities are Homo rudolfensis _which is where 1470 and its kin seem to belong _ and Homo habilis, where the other non-erectus belong, Anton said. The team said the new fossils mean scientists can reclassify those categorized as non-erectus species and confirm the earlier but disputed Leakey claim.

 But Tim White, a prominent evolutionary biologist at the University of California Berkeley, is not buying this new species idea, nor is Milford Wolpoff, a longtime professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan. They said the Leakeys are making too big a jump from too little evidence.

 White said it's similar to someone looking at the jaw of a female gymnast in the Olympics, the jaw of a male shot-putter, ignoring the faces in the crowd and deciding the shot-putter and gymnast have to be a different species.

 Eric Delson, a paleoanthropology professor at Lehman College in New York, said he buys the Leakeys' study, but added: "There's no question that it's not definite." He said it won't convince doubters until fossils of both sexes of both non- erectus species are found.

 "It's a messy time period," Delson said.

 ___

 Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Summary: – The discovery of three new fossils, unveiled today, illuminate and confirm a line of human evolution that is more complicated than scientists once thought. The groundbreaking bones, about 2 million years old and unearthed in Kenya, prove that there were at least two Homo species—in addition to Homo erectus—living simultaneously with each other before the dawn of modern Homo sapiens, reports the New York Times. “Human evolution is not this straight line it was once thought to be," says one paleoanthropologist, and East Africa “was quite a crowded place, with multiple species." The fossils were found between 2007 and 2009 (by the mother-daughter Leakey team) and appear to hold the key to a mystery dating back to 1972, when a peculiar, unidentifiable skull, dubbed 1470, was located in the same area. The new fossils, which are remarkably similar to 1470, provide strong evidence that 1470 was not merely an odd-looking ancient human but a different offshoot of the Homo genus. (The AP notes that that the discovery by the famed Leakeys is being met with some skepticism in the field.)


Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay man to play in a U.S. professional league when he made his debut with Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer on Sunday.

 FILE - In July 4, 2009 file photo, United States' Robbie Rogers kicks against Grenada in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match at Qwest Field in Seattle. Rogers is eligible to make his debut with the Los Angeles... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2009 file photo, Robbie Rogers, of the United States, eyes the ball during a friendly soccer match against Slovakia in Bratislava, Slovakia. Rogers is joining the Los Angeles Galaxy... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009 file photo, Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers celebrates after scoring against the San Jose Earthquakes during the second half of an MLS soccer match in San Francisco.... (Associated Press)

 FILE- In this July 23, 2009 file photo, Honduras' Walter Martinez, left, strips the ball from United States' Robbie Rogers during the first half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal soccer game in Chicago.... (Associated Press)

 Rogers entered as a substitute in the 77th minute with the Galaxy leading the Seattle Sounders 4-0, which turned out to be the final score.

 "I guess this is a historic thing, but for me it was just a soccer game," Rogers said.

 Nerves began getting the best of Rogers in the hours before he left home for the stadium, not because he was anxious about being the first openly gay player but because he was rusty after time out of the sport.

 He called his sister for reassurance.

 "I just needed to hear someone's voice," Rogers said. "We were talking about my dog. Just get my mind off things."

 He received loud cheers from the crowd of 24,811 as he ran onto the pitch, with fans chanting his name. Rogers ran by teammate Landon Donovan, who slapped his hand and patted him on the back as he took his position.

 "Because of the nature of the way sports has been for so many years _ the macho culture that's been embraced by everybody _ it's of interest to everybody," Donovan said. "Now, hopefully, the hype about it is over and he can get back to being a soccer player, which is what he wants to do."

 Rogers spent the past two seasons in England with Leeds United and a loan spell at Stevenage.

 Initially he retired from the sport after coming out on a blog post in February, but has been training with the Galaxy since last month at the invitation of coach Bruce Arena.

 "In a lot of ways the easy part is over," Arena said. "Now the difficult part remains, which is getting him positioned to play. Our expectations for Robbie are not anything big in the near future. Hopefully, he'll get back to the way we think he can be."

 The loudest chants of "Robbie, Robbie" were for Robbie Keane, who had his first hat trick for the Galaxy. His three goals, including two on penalties, and another by Sean Franklin gave the Galaxy a 4-0 lead at halftime. ||||| Story highlights Galaxy provide historic moment as Robbie Rogers takes field for 13 minutes in rout

 Rogers becomes the first openly gay male athlete to compete in Major League Soccer

 Former winger for U.S. national team came out in February as he announced retirement

 NBA player Jason Collins has not played since he came out last month

 Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a pro American sporting match Sunday when he took the field for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy during a rout of the Seattle Sounders.

 Not to be overlooked in the landmark moment is Rogers' prescience. In remarks to ESPN before the game, he said, "I'm hoping I can come on and it's 4-0 and I can just enjoy myself."

 Which is exactly what happened. With 13 minutes remaining in the game, Rogers came in as a substitute for midfielder Juninho with the Galaxy up by four goals.

 Emphatic applause erupted from the stands at the Home Depot Center.

 Before the game, Los Angeles native Jason Collins, a pro basketball player who announced last month that he was gay, tweeted Rogers to say good luck.

 Rogers said after the game that the experience was "perfect, really perfect."

 "The first training session the Galaxy ever had on the Home Depot Center pitch, I was here training," he said. "I've kind of been on this huge journey to kind of figure out my life, and now I'm back here, I think kind of where I'm supposed to be."

 Bleacher Report: Twitter reacts

 Rogers was introduced as the newest member of the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, making him the first openly gay male athlete in Major League Soccer and ending his brief retirement.

 The Galaxy signed Rogers to a multiyear contract after acquiring him from the Chicago Fire, which held his rights, in exchange for midfielder Mike Magee.

 Just Watched April 2013: Rogers on why he came out replay More Videos ... April 2013: Rogers on why he came out 04:57 PLAY VIDEO

 Just Watched Ex-soccer star: Gay but lived stereotype replay More Videos ... Ex-soccer star: Gay but lived stereotype 02:41 PLAY VIDEO

 Rogers, a former winger for the U.S. national team, had retired from soccer in February at age 25, announcing then that he is gay. However, he still had the passion for the game. He trained with the Galaxy for about a month before making the comeback official.

 "After I finally got in here, everything was completely normal, as it should be," Rogers said at his introductory news conference. "Getting back on the pitch was amazing."

 Opinion: Lust in the locker room -- get over it?

 But even though he still enjoys the game, deciding to come back was not easy for Rogers, who said he was afraid to share the secret about his sexual orientation for 25 years.

 "I kept my secret because I thought I couldn't be both a soccer player and a gay athlete," Rogers said. "I figured it out that it's not true, but I felt that way. So I was afraid to put myself back into a situation where I felt like I was kind of an outcast or just different than people."

 In his career, Rogers also has played for MLS club Columbus Crew from 2007 to 2011, winning the MLS Cup in 2008. He also briefly played for English club Leeds United.

 Los Angeles head coach Bruce Arena believes that Rogers will make an impact on the field with his play.

 "We've been searching for the last year or two for a player that has the skills to be a flank player, play wide and add a little speed to our club, take on players and a good crosser off the ball with both of his feet," Arena said. "He offers qualities that we've been looking for, so we're hopeful that in time, Robbie will demonstrate the kind of qualities that he has previously in this league."

 Rogers isn't the only trailblazer for male gay athletes in American professional sports. Twelve-year NBA veteran Collins announced he was gay, but he has not played a game since he made the announcement. He is currently a free agent.

 Opinion: When celebrities share secrets, good things happen

Summary: – The Los Angeles Galaxy's Robbie Rogers made history yesterday as the first openly gay man to play in a US professional league. The 26-year-old winger—who came out of the closet after retiring briefly in February, was cheered and the crowd chanted his name as he came on as a substitute in the Galaxy's 4-0 win over the Seattle Sounders, the AP reports. "I kept my secret because I thought I couldn't be both a soccer player and a gay athlete," Rogers tells CNN. "I figured it out that it's not true, but I felt that way. So I was afraid to put myself back into a situation where I felt like I was kind of an outcast or just different than people." The NBA's Jason Collins became the first active male athlete in an American professional team sport to come out of the closet last month, but Rogers is the first to actually play a game after coming out.


Rapper Kanye West got boos and jeers from the audience at “Saturday Night Live” after he went on a pro-President Trump rant during the closing credits of the season premiere.

 West, wearing a red “Make American Great Again” hat and with the show’s cast standing behind him, launched into the screed off camera, but it was caught on video by comedian Chris Rock.

 “I wanna cry right now, black man in America, supposed to keep what you’re feeling inside right now,” he sang as he paced the stage.

 He continued: “The blacks want always Democrats you know it’s like the plan they did, to take the fathers out the home and put them on welfare. Does anybody know about that? That’s a Democratic plan.”

 Then he turned to his support of Trump.

 “There’s so many times I talk to like a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist.’ Well, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.”

 A smattering of applause was quickly drowned out by boos in the audience.

 Rock could be heard on the video saying, “Oh, my God.”

 West appeared on the show’s 44th season opener as a last-minute replacement for Ariana Grande, who canceled. ||||| Since the news has been happening at such a lightning-fast clip, Saturday Night Live was presented with the daunting task of playing summer catch-up. Host Adam Driver gamely committed to the sketches, but more focus was drawn by Pete Davidson’s tabloid romance with Ariana Grande and Kanye West, well, being Kanye West.

 Cold open

 In what was the highlight of the evening, Matt Damon made a special appearance as Brett Kavanaugh, “the proudest, drunkest virgin you’ve ever seen!” Damon perfectly mastered Kavanaugh’s blustery shouting, which included the poorly thought-out declaration: “I don’t know the meaning of the word stop.”

 The show failed to maintain the energy of that cold open, which also included a surprise cameo by SNL alum Rachel Dratch (and a cardboard cutout of Alyssa Milano).

 Monologue

 “Adam designated Driver,” star of Girls and the Star Wars films, was hosting SNL for the second time. Without a project to promote, the opening monologue was a little unfocused — Driver pretended to tease new Star Wars spoilers before he was interrupted by SNL cast members talking about how they spent their summers. Spoiler alert: they all involved work and travel. That is, of course, with the exception of Pete Davidson.

 “Actually, you’re the only one whose summer I want to hear about!” Driver said to Davidson, who simply winked at the camera.

 Worst sketch

 Driver played a divorced dad trying to get into popular online game Fortnite in order to relate to his son more. Although seeing his incompetence play out with live actors was amusing, the joke (“adults are bad at technology!”) was more than a little one-note.

 Weekend Update

 Though there was plenty to talk about, hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost focused the majority of their “Weekend Update” jokes on Thursday’s Brett Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

 “You’re not really helping yourself in a drunken assault case when you yell about how much you love drinking and how strong you were at the time,” Jost cracked in reference to how Kavanaugh kept repeating how much he liked beer, and how his calendar detailed how often he worked out. Jost had a follow-up joke about how weird it was that the judge still had his high school calendar: “You know when most people throw out their calendar from 1982? 1983.”

 Meanwhile, Che reminded viewers that the hearing was essentially a job interview for Kavanaugh. “Typically, when you’re asked about your sexual assault and your drinking at a job interview, you don’t get the damn job. You can’t just pick another dude from your Illuminati lizard meetings,” he said. “Are Republicans so pro-life that you don’t even have a Plan B for this?”

 The segment was rounded out with an always welcome appearance from Kate McKinnon’s Ruth Bader Ginsberg, with her signature Gins-burns and dance moves. RBG couldn’t resist pulling out her own 1982 calendar, which had entries like “turn 100,” break glass ceiling,” and “do laps in a bird bath.” Her current calendar features one simple daily reminder: “Don’t die.”

 Pete Davidson also dropped by the Update desk to offer an update on his whirlwind romance with singer Ariana Grande, revealing no one can believe the two are an item.

 “Remember when that whole city pretended this kid was Batman because he was sick? That’s what this feels like,” he laughed.

 When Jost asked what their prenup situation was, Davison replied, “Obviously, I wanted one. God forbid we split up and she takes half my sneakers. Look, I’m totally comfortable being with a successful woman. I think it’s dope. I live at her place. She pays like 60 grand for rent and all I have to do is like stock the fridge… yeah.”

 A joke about switching Grande’s birth control with Tic Tacs to make sure she’d stick around fell flat, but Davidson pulled the crowd back in with a bit on how he doesn’t make royalties on her music, including the song named after him.

 “If we break up — we won’t, we will — but in like 10 years, if god forbid that ever happens, there will be a song called ‘Pete Davidson’ playing in speakers at K-Mart, and I’ll be working there.”

 Best short

 Jealous of the attention Pete has been getting over his pop-star paramour, Kyle Mooney decides to steal Pete’s look — from his bleach blond hair to his colorful wardrobe. Kyle also enlists talk show host Wendy Williams as his own hot celebrity girlfriend. Eventually, Pete engages Kyle in a fight “SNL-style,” which turns out to be a renaissance/gladiator battle on stage. While it felt worthwhile to acknowledge Pete’s omnipresent fame that emerged during the SNL hiatus, a winking reference in the monologue, a “Weekend Update” appearance, and a short felt like overkill.

 Most committed host moment

 Props to Adam Driver for donning old-age makeup in a “Career Day” sketch to become Abraham A. Parnassus, the elderly parent of one of the students and attempts to bestow his wisdom of being a ruthless oil baron upon the class: “Crush your enemies! Grind their bones into dirt!”

 Weirdest moment

 Kanye West dressed as a bottle of Perrier to perform “I Love It” with Lil Pump, who was dressed as a bottle of Fiji water. I don’t even know what to say about that.

 Up next

 Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8 star Awkwafina will host next weekend’s episode, with Travis Scott as musical guest.

Summary: – Saturday Night Live opened its 44th season with no shortage of material by the way of Brett Kavanaugh's hearings Thursday, Kanye West and his name change, and Pete Davidson's engagement over the summer to Ariana Grande. A lengthy cold open reimagined the Kavanaugh hearings, with Matt Damon as the blustery Supreme Court nominee and a guest appearance by Rachel Dratch. But EW notes that the rest of the Adam Driver-hosted season premiere failed to maintain that energy, calling it "lackluster." Kavanaugh was also a hot topic on Weekend Update, with Kate McKinnon appearing as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Michael Che suggesting that the Senate GOP "just pick another dude from your Illuminati lizard meetings." West, er, Ye, meanwhile, drew jeers when he went on a pro-President Trump rant, reports the New York Post.


Billionaire Donald J. Trump, an early presidential favorite among tea party activists, has a highly unusual history of political contributions for a prospective Republican candidate: He has given most of his money to the other side.

 The real estate mogul and “Celebrity Apprentice” host has made more than $1.3 million in donations over the years to candidates nationwide, with 54 percent of the money going to Democrats, according to a Washington Post analysis of state and federal disclosure records.

 Recipients include Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), former Pennsylvania governor Edward G. Rendell, and Rahm Emanuel, a former aide to President Obama who received $50,000 from Trump during his recent run to become Chicago’s mayor, records show. Many of the contributions have been concentrated in New York, Florida and other states where Trump has substantial real estate and casino interests.

 The donations provide another view into the odd political spectacle surrounding Trump, who may be the most unlikely of possible GOP presidential hopefuls in an already eclectic field. Although candidates such as Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty have spent years carefully crafting and plotting a White House run, the tycoon and fixture of the New York tabloids has leapt onto the scene with loud proclamations and surprisingly strong poll numbers among likely Republican voters.

 The iconoclastic developer and television personality is attempting to appeal to social conservatives, even with a record of failed marriages and earlier statements in favor of abortion rights. His attacks on Obama have focused on conspiracy theories about the president’s birth in Hawaii that make many Republican leaders nervous. And Trump is considering a run for the nomination in an increasingly conservative Republican Party, despite years of donations to prominent Democrats.

 None of which has stopped him from forging ahead with a potential candidacy, including a scheduled trip on Wednesday to the early primary state of New Hampshire.

 The Democratic recipients of Trump’s donations make up what looks like a Republican enemies list, including former senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), Rep. Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.), Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and the late liberal lion Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.).

 The biggest recipient of all has been the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee of New York, which has taken in more than $125,000 from Trump and his companies. Overall, Trump has given nearly $600,000 to New York state campaigns, with more than two-thirds going to Democrats.

 His representatives did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. But Trump said in a recent interview that he had relatively few Republican options in an overwhelmingly blue state.

 “Everyone’s Democratic,” he told Fox News in an interview about his potential candidacy. “So what am I going to do — contribute to Republicans? One thing: I’m not stupid. Am I going to contribute to Republicans for my whole life when they get heat when they run against some Democrat and the most they can get is 1 percent of the vote?”

 His Democratic generosity is hardly confined to New York, however. Trump has given more than $250,000 to federal candidates and campaigns, including more than $100,000 to the party’s House and Senate campaign committees. He donated $10,400 to Reid, including for his 2010 battle with Sharron Angle, the GOP nominee and tea party favorite.

 Ron Bonjean, a GOP consultant and former Capitol Hill aide, said that “it will be hard for him to spin his way out of direct campaign contributions” to Reid and other Democrats.

 “In a Republican primary, it shows where your loyalty lies,” said Bonjean, who has not signed on with a GOP presidential candidate. “He may be giving this money to Democrats because it helps his business, but it will be a big deal to Republican primary voters.”

 While favoring Democrats, Trump has donated more than $600,000 to Republicans as well, including Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the party’s 2008 presidential nominee, whom Trump first supported in 1998.

 He gave $95,000 to the Republican Governors Association for its record-breaking electoral push in 2010, and he has donated more than $80,000 to the three national GOP political committees in the past two decades. Individual Republicans supported by Trump include former congressman Tom DeLay (Tex.), former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and former senator George Allen (Va.).

 The data collected by The Post for this article does not include donations to outside interest groups. Last year, for instance, Trump gave $50,000 to American Crossroads, which supported Republican candidates in the midterm elections.

 GOP political consultant Alex Castellanos said Trump’s contribution pattern is similar to the approach of many business leaders and corporations that divide their donations between the two parties. But to get through a Republican primary season, he added, “it doesn’t help to have that record.”

 One of Trump’s biggest Democratic beneficiaries was Rendell, who received $32,000 from the mogul during his 2002 primary and general election campaigns to become Pennsylvania’s governor. Rendell, who favors abortion rights, was challenged in the Democratic primary by Bob Casey Jr., who opposes abortion.

 When he considered a run for president in 2000 as a Reform Party candidate, Trump said he supported abortion rights. But he said last week that he now opposes the procedure except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s health is at risk.

 In Pennsylvania, Rendell favored allowing slots gambling, and Trump waged a long and ultimately fruitless battle to secure a casino license in the state after the practice was legalized. He publicly lashed out at Rendell when an independent gaming board rejected the license application, calling Pennsylvania “a little too political of a state for me.”

 The tycoon benefited from a Rendell decision to lift a moratorium on water development rights in Philadelphia, allowing a planned Trump Tower project to proceed. The luxury development has since been put on hold amid the economic downturn.

 Rendell did not respond to a telephone message seeking comment Tuesday.

 Former congressman Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), who served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Trump’s close ties to some Democrats would be “a huge obstacle, but it’s not insurmountable.” Trump, he added, would not be running as a “purity” candidate.

 “Republicans are looking for a savior,” Davis said. “Here’s a guy who has succeeded outside politics and articulates the right vision. Sometimes that works. . . . It’s a long shot, but it’s not out of the bounds of possibility.” ||||| HANNITY: Recently, you said that if you don't get the nomination that you would run as an independent. You are asking Republicans --

 TRUMP: I didn't say that. I said I would certainly think about that. Because the question is what happens if you don't get the nomination? And this was also before the new polls came out that showed me leading. But they said, what happens if you don't get? Would you consider running? I said yes, I would consider running as an independent.

 HANNITY: All right. But if you do that, that would be the greatest gift to Barack Obama and --

 TRUMP: Unless I won. No, no, unless I won.

 HANNITY: In reality though, if you are a conservative and you didn't get the nomination you are running against another conservative, you split the vote, Barack Obama sails into the presidency.

 TRUMP: Unless I thought I could win as an independent. I wouldn't do that, because if I lost, I get a tremendous amount of votes and I would take them all from the Republican Party, which would be terrible. So, unless I thought I could win, really win as an independent, I would not do that. Because I wouldn't want to come in second or third place and Obama ends up winning.

 HANNITY: OK. So, if you thought that it would hurt the chances of defeating Obama, you would not do it?

 TRUMP: The only way I would run is, would be if I didn't get the Republican nomination and felt through polls and lots of other things that are pretty good and pretty scientific. And seem to work over the years, I've been watching lots of polls, and they seem to be pretty accurate, amazingly, right? If I thought I could win absolutely win as an independent I would do it. If I didn't, it would be devastating because you wouldn't have a Republican in. So, I would have a real problem unless I really felt certain, pretty certain of victory.

 HANNITY: You described yourself a conservative. What does it mean for you when you say, that you are a conservative person? How do you describe that?

 TRUMP: Well, I think I have great values. I think I really have a great solid strong value. I love this country. I feel so strongly about this country. I love people that work. This weekend I'm making a speech in Boca Raton, Florida, and there was supposed to be like 200 people before it was announced that I was speaking. And now I hear they have thousands -- they had to lead the hall, it is going to be in some park, where they have thousands and thousands of people coming, which really makes me feel good.

 But I really relate to the Tea Party people. Somebody was asking me, in fact every reporter asks me, what do you think of the Tea Party? I said, I think they are great. They are workers. They love the country.

 And you know, their greatest service has been -- and this is very simple -- they've made everyone think. They were the first that brought up the deficit. People, we were just riding this deficit, borrowing more and more money, they were the first ones that really made both Democrats and Republicans think. So, I think the Tea Party has served an unbelievable and performed an unbelievable function.

 HANNITY: How do you describe, some Republicans are saying, wait a minute he wants the Republican nomination, years gone by, you have donated to people like Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, other Democrats. Why?

 TRUMP: I get along with everybody. And, you know, can I be honest, you are a pretty conservative guy.

 HANNITY: Yes.

 TRUMP: Don't you think it is time -- I get along with everybody. I get along -- I also have plenty of enemies as you probably know.

 HANNITY: Rosie.

 TRUMP: My worst enemy will be Obama, probably. Well, you said Rosie, I didn't. But the fact is, I get along with people. I also come from a place that is almost exclusively Democratic.

 HANNITY: New York.

 TRUMP: I'm in New York. OK. I mean, the Republicans don't even think they have a chance. And, you know, maybe I would have a chance, OK? But they don't even think about New York.

 So, I've lived in New York. This building, this great tower and many other towers I own, they are in New York. Everyone is Democratic. So, what am I going to do, contribute to Republicans? Am I going to contribute to, I mean, one thing I'm not stupid. Am I going to contribute to a Republican for my whole life when they get, they run against some Democrat. And the most they can get is one percent of the vote?

 So, I think more importantly, and this question will always be asked. I mean, I've contributed to Schumer, I contributed -- I've known Schumer for many, many years. And I have a good relationship with him. The fact is, that I think it is time maybe that we all do get along.

 (END VIDEO CLIP)

 (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

 HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." We continue with more of my interview with Donald Trump.

 (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

 HANNITY: Who were the people that you might be running against? You mentioned you like Mike Huckabee. You know, the other candidates, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich.

 TRUMP: I sort of like them all. You know, I have a problem. They've treated me so nicely. I have such a problem, everyone said such nice things. I saw Santorum said something nice.

 HANNITY: Newt Gingrich did, Sarah Palin did.

 TRUMP: The all did. Newt Gingrich last month joined my club in Washington. A little before he heard about this in all fairness, but I already have his money.

 HANNITY: He said something nice about in a speech this weekend.

 TRUMP: Well, that is very nice. I mean, so, I wish I didn't like them, does that make sense to you?

 HANNITY: Well you're all going to have to debate each other.

 TRUMPP They are all saying these nice things about me. I have a hard time. So, the truth is, I watched Pawlenty the other day. I don't know him but he said these wonderful things about Donald Trump. And I can't now say, oh gee, this and that.

 HANNITY: Well, look, you're all...

 TRUMP: The good news is I don't think Barack Obama is going to be saying nice things and that's a positive.

 (CROSSTALK)

 Look, I think I'm a great negotiator. I think I will do a better job than anybody because I'm really a great negotiator. I know how to negotiate. I know how people are ripping us off. I know why they're ripping us off and I know how to solve the problem.

 And as far as yesterday is concerned and what is going on over the last couple of days, the numbers aren't as bad as you are thinking, because what is happening is, if you take away $300 billion where China is ripping us and you take away Colombia and you take away virtually every nation in the world, who is making a huge -- let's use the word profit on the United States. When you start equalizing that, not even to make money of them, just to neutralize it, China shouldn't be making $300 billion on us, this year.

Summary: – If Donald Trump officially decides to enter the Republican race, he'll probably have to explain why he has donated to so many Democrats. Of the more than $1.3 million in political donations he's made over the years, 54% has gone to Democrats, the Washington Post reports. Those include such big names as Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Charles Schumer, and Ted Kennedy. Of course, many of Trump's contributions have been in states where he has significant real estate interests. In a recent Fox News interview, Trump explained that New York is overwhelmingly Democratic; the Post notes that more than two-thirds of his donations in the state have gone to Dems. “So what am I going to do—contribute to Republicans? One thing: I’m not stupid. Am I going to contribute to Republicans for my whole life when they get heat when they run against some Democrat and the most they can get is 1% of the vote?” Even though he has also given more than $600,000 to Republicans, "it will be hard for him to spin his way out of" the Democratic contributions, says a GOP consultant. (Click to read Trump's thoughts on how intelligent Obama is—or isn't.)


A child who was said to have been cured of human immunodeficiency virus last year has developed an HIV infection and been put back on antiretroviral drugs after remaining off of them for 27 months, dashing hopes of a new treatment for infants.

 Doctors announced Thursday that traces of HIV were detected in the child last week during regular testing that she undergoes every six to eight weeks.

 Continue reading below

 The discovery was disappointing, doctors said on a conference call, because they hoped the aggressive treatment regimen that helped abate the child’s HIV could lead to a cure in infants.

 “It felt very much like a punch to the gut,” said Dr. Hannah B. Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center who treats the girl. “It was disappointing from the scientific standpoint because we had been hopeful it would lead to bigger and better things, but mainly for the sake of the child who is back on medicine and expected to remain on medicine for a very long time.”

 Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, an immunologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who is part of the girls’ medical team, said during a conference call that tests show the child is responding well to drug therapy.

 RELATED | Evan Horowitz: Studies show many studies are false

 HIV hides in so-called reservoirs of the body, and the viral material there often remains dormant as long as a patient is receiving antiretroviral drugs. But as soon as the drugs are stopped, the viral strains can become active and replicate in the body.

 Outside experts said the findings are still critical in advancing HIV treatment. Though more research is needed, the “Mississippi baby” case shows that early, aggressive therapy can be effective in reducing reservoirs in the body, especially because she remained free of replicable HIV for more than two years — a landmark finding.

 Continue reading below

 The child’s mother delivered her in a rural Mississippi hospital in 2010 but did not know she was infected with HIV. She did not undergo treatment during her pregnancy, so the baby was transferred to University of Mississippi Medical Center when she was about 30 hours old after doctors thought she could have been infected.

 Gay used a three-drug regimen instead of the typical one or two drugs for a newborn. The child showed undetectable levels of HIV after a month but continued to take antiretroviral drugs until she was 18 months old. Her mother then stopped bringing her to the hospital and ceased the drug treatment.

 When the child returned to the hospital five months later, Gay and Luzuriaga ran a battery of tests and found some viral genetic material but no replicable strains lying in reservoirs, leading them to believe the girl had been “functionally cured.”

 The case is familiar for Dr. Timothy Henrich, a Brigham and Women’s Hospital infectious diseases associate physician. Henrich led a team of Boston researchers studying two patients who had become HIV-free after undergoing bone marrow transplants for cancer but were later found to have detectable levels of the disease.

 “It was almost a little bit of PTSD and déjà vu for me,” Henrich said. “When I first read the news, my heart sank. . . . The most difficult thing I had to do as part of our study was tell [the patients] the virus had returned.”

 The discovery that the Mississippi baby has developed viremia — an active infection — highlights how much more there is to learn about these reservoirs, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

 Some outside experts doubted whether the child ever had been infected with HIV, when doctors announced she had been cured last year. The girl’s doctors said discovering viremia shows she was infected, but they effectively eliminated the HIV in the child, even if not permanently.

 “This was unprecedented,” Dr. Deborah Persaud, professor of infectious disease at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and the lead author of the original report on the baby last year, said of the child successfully staying off antiretroviral drugs for 27 months. “The most important finding is indeed, this child was, without a doubt, infected with HIV.”

 There is only one person believed to have been cured of HIV. In 2009, German doctors reported that Timothy Ray Brown, an American known as the “Berlin patient,” received a bone marrow transplant from a patient with a rare genetic mutation that is thought to provide resistance to HIV.

 The Berlin patient was an exceptional case because of the rare mutation that came from the marrow donor, Henrich said.

 Even with very low levels of viral material, there is always the risk HIV can reemerge at detectable levels.

 The Mississippi case “was a seminal study that was very important and did teach us a lot and is still teaching us a lot,” Henrich said. “It’s still worthwhile to pursue this research.”

 Related coverage:

 • Baby born with HIV may be cured

 • Evan Horowitz: Studies show many studies are false ||||| Story highlights Mississippi baby "cured" of HIV is now showing signs of the virus

 Baby was given high doses of three antiretroviral drugs shortly after birth

 Baby born with HIV in California was given the same treatment

 A Mississippi baby scientists thought was "functionally cured" of HIV now has detectable levels of the virus in her blood, her doctors say.

 The news is disappointing for a case the scientific community hailed just last year as a potential game changer in the fight against AIDS.

 "It felt like a punch to the gut," Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said of seeing signs of the virus on test results earlier this month.

 "It was extremely disappointing from both the scientific standpoint ... but mainly for the sake of the child who is back on medicine and expected to stay on medicine for a very long time."

 Media outlets around the world covered the Mississippi case when it was first made public in March 2013. CNN updated its story again in October when researchers announced the toddler was still HIV free

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 The child was born to a mother who received no prenatal care and was not diagnosed as HIV-positive herself until just before delivery. "We didn't have the opportunity to treat the mom during the pregnancy as we would like to be able to do, to prevent transmission to the baby," Gay said last year.

 Doctors administered high doses of three antiretroviral drugs 30 hours after the girl was born in case she was infected. They hoped to control the virus, which was not detectable at the time. The child remained on antiretroviral drugs for approximately 18 months. Her mother then stopped administering the drugs for an unknown reason.

 A few months later, doctors said the little girl had no evidence of the life-threatening disease in her blood . They announced that the girl was the first child to be "functionally cured" of HIV. A "functional cure" is when the presence of the virus is so small, lifelong treatment is not necessary and standard clinical tests cannot detect the virus in the blood.

 However, during a routine doctor visit early this month, tests detected HIV antibodies in the now 4-year-old child. Her T-cell count was also low, indicating a weakened immune system. More than two years after being taken off the medication, doctors started her again on antiretroviral therapy.

 She will need to be on these medications for life -- or until scientists find a cure for HIV.

 "Certainly, this is a disappointing turn of events for this young child, the medical staff involved in the child's care, and the HIV/AIDS research community," NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a statement. "Scientifically, this development reminds us that we still have much more to learn about the intricacies of HIV infection and where the virus hides in the body."

 Despite the setback, researchers are optimistic about using this early treatment method on infants infected with HIV. A clinical trial aimed at studying the effect will be amended to include this new information, they said, before it begins recruiting participants.

 "We´ve always known that the search for an HIV cure wasn't going to be easy," Françoise Barre-Sinoussi, president of the International AIDS Society, said in a statement. "Cases like this are hugely important for informing researchers on where to focus their efforts."

 Current treatment methods

 Researchers have long known that treating HIV-positive mothers while they are pregnant is important for the health of the child because they pass antibodies on to their babies that can protect them from disease.

 All HIV-positive moms will pass on those antibodies, but only 30% will transmit the actual virus, said Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, an immunologist at the University of Massachusetts who worked closely with Gay. And HIV-positive mothers who are given appropriate treatment pass on the virus in less than 2% of cases.

 "So all babies are born antibody-positive, but only a fraction of babies born to HIV-positive women will actually get the virus, and that fraction depends on whether the mom and baby are getting antiviral prophylaxis (preventive treatment) or not."

 Newborns are considered high-risk if their mothers' HIV infections are not under control or if the mothers are found to be HIV-positive when they're close to delivering.

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 Usually, these infants would get antiviral drugs at preventive doses for six weeks to prevent infection, then start antiretroviral therapy, or ART, if HIV is diagnosed.

 ART is a combination of at least three drugs used to suppress the virus and stop the progression of the disease.

 But they do not kill the virus.

 In March, doctors announced that another child born with HIV appeared to be free of the virus after receiving similar treatment to the Mississippi baby. The case report was presented at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston.

 The girl was delivered at Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach, California, last summer to a mother with HIV who had not received antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Doctors gave the baby high doses of three drugs -- AZT, 3TC and Nevirapine -- four hours after birth. Eleven days later, the virus was undetectable in her body and remained undetectable eight months later.

 "Taking kids off antiretroviral therapy intentionally is not standard of care," said Dr. Deborah Persaud at the time, a virologist with Johns Hopkins Children's Center who has been involved in both cases.

 On Thursday Persaud said the California baby is still on antiretroviral treatment and doing well, said Persaud.

 "At this time, there is no plan to stop treatment." ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated

 A baby who doctors had hoped may have been cured of HIV infection is infected again, doctors reported on Thursday — a disappointing blow to hopes that it might be possible to stop infection in its tracks.

 The child, now 4, had been regularly tested for the AIDS virus and now the virus has not only returned, but showed signs of damaging her immune system, researchers said.

 "It felt very much like a punch to the gut," said Dr. Hannah Gay of the University of Mississippi, who has been treating the child.

 Sign up for top Health news direct to your inbox.

 “The baby has now rebounded with clearly detectable HIV viremia,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

 “Certainly, this is a disappointing turn of events for this young child, the medical staff involved in the child’s care, and the HIV/AIDS research community.”

 The Mississippi baby was born a little premature to a mother discovered to have HIV only when she was in labor. The mom had not ever been treated for HIV. Within 30 hours of birth the baby was re-tested and had clear evidence of HIV infection.

 Unusually, she then got a cocktail of three drugs at a dose normally reserved for more advanced cases. It worked really well — pushing her virus down to what’s called undetectable levels.

 "It felt very much like a punch to the gut."

 The baby and her mom, who doctors have never named, got regular care and treatment from Gay at University of Mississippi Medical Center until she was 15 months old. Then, like so many children, she disappeared off the doctors’ radar screens. The mother brought her back briefly at 18 months but disappeared again but she missed at least eight months' worth of drugs. When Gay caught up to her again, the baby was still well, despite having received no treatment.

 Now, at age 4, she has shown evidence of infection for the first time since she was born.

 In 2013, a second child was born in Long Beach, Calif. to a woman who doctors knew was not taking her HIV medication. The infant was treated immediately and the virus is now barely detectable.

 The U.S. government is looking for more babies to test the treatment, but Fauci said NIAID may have to adjust the new study. "We are going to take a very careful look at that study," Fauci told reporters.

 They'll be studying the child's blood and her immune system.

 “Typically, when treatment is stopped, HIV levels rebound within weeks, not years.”

 It's not a total loss, the researchers said. The child was able to get through the toddler years without having to take the cocktail of drugs usually used to control the virus.

 “The fact that this child was able to remain off antiretroviral treatment for two years and maintain quiescent virus for that length of time is unprecedented,” said Dr. Deborah Persaud of John Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore and one of the two pediatric HIV experts involved in the case. “Typically, when treatment is stopped, HIV levels rebound within weeks, not years.”

 The early treatment may have at least slowed the virus down, the researchers speculated.

 “How can someone be off therapy for 27 months…and yet the virus remains suppressed?” Fauci asked. The baby may have had a special immune response, he said.

 “Scientifically, this development reminds us that we still have much more to learn about the intricacies of HIV infection and where the virus hides in the body,” Fauci added. “The NIH remains committed to moving forward with research on a cure for HIV infection.”

 There was evidence the virus had started damaging the child’s immune system as it came back. She had fewer than the normal number of CD4 T-cells – the infection-fighting cells that HIV targets and kills. “We know that the CD4 T-cells dropped a bit with the re-emergence of virus but they have started to come up very nicely with the initiation of treatment,” Gay said.

 “For now, the child needs antiretroviral treatment,” Persaud said. But she hopes research will find a better way to control the virus. “These children can live to their 30s and 40s,” she pointed out. The hope is to extend that as doctors learn more.

 The human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS has only been common since the early 1980s. There’s no cure and no vaccine yet.

 One of the many ways the AIDS virus is transmitted is during birth. An infected mother can infect her baby. But giving both mother and baby a few doses of two HIV drugs — AZT and nevirapine — can reduce this transmission by 99 percent.

 In 2010, 162 babies were born with HIV in the 46 states where monitoring is done, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. CDC says about 1.2 million people in the U.S.are infected with HIV and about 50,000 new infections are diagnosed each year.

 Some experts had questioned whether the child had truly been born infected. “The one thing we did learn throughout all of this was there was some doubt the baby was infected. The baby clearly was infected,” Fauci said.

 The case still suggests that a cure is possible, advocacy groups said. "The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation expresses disappointment in this setback but remains hopeful that the scientific breakthrough that allowed the child’s HIV levels to remain undetectable for more than two years will continue to help researchers understand how to control HIV and ultimately develop a cure,"the group said in a statement.

Summary: – For more than two years, it seemed too good to be true. And now it turns out that a Mississippi baby thought to have been cured of HIV wasn't cured after all, reports NBC News. The girl, now 4, tested positive last week and is back on antiretroviral drugs. The case made international headlines last year: After the baby was born to a mother with HIV, doctors put her on aggressive drug treatment just 30 hours after birth. The mother, however, stopped giving her daughter the drugs at 18 months. The baby missed several months of treatment, and when doctors finally saw her again, they were stunned to discover that she had barely detectable levels of HIV. In effect, she was "functionally cured," recounts CNN. That remained the case until last week. “It felt very much like a punch to the gut,” says Dr. Hannah B. Gay, who treats the girl. “It was disappointing from the scientific standpoint because we had been hopeful it would lead to bigger and better things, but mainly for the sake of the child who is back on medicine and expected to remain on medicine for a very long time.” HIV hides in reservoirs of the body, and antiretroviral drugs keep it in check there, explains the Boston Globe. Its reemergence in this case shows that doctors have much to learn about those reservoirs, says Anthony Fauci, chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It's not all bad news, though: The girl got to be a toddler without having to take a daily cocktail of drugs, and her case holds out hope of improving on the treatment. (Doctors are keeping an eye on another "functionally cured" baby in California.)


JASON CERONE/P-R PHOTOIn this scene from the Showtime series "Escape from Dannemora," Eric Lange who plays Lyle Mitchell goes to Sansone's restaurant in Malone to meet his wife, Joyce, but she never shows up. The real Joyce Mitchell was just denied parole again.

Summary: – A state board has denied parole to a tailor who played a key role in a prison break that's the subject of a Showtime miniseries being filmed in the northern New York region where it happened. Joyce Mitchell will remain behind bars for at least two more years for passing tools to killers Richard Matt and David Sweat, enabling their escape from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in June 2015, per the AP. The subsequent three-week manhunt ended with Matt shot dead and Sweat captured near the Canadian border. Mitchell's lawyer tells the Plattsburgh Press-Republican the parole board denied her release Friday. Patricia Arquette plays Mitchell in Showtime's Escape at Dannemora, being produced by Ben Stiller. Penelope Ann Miller starred as Mitchell in a Lifetime movie that aired in April. (In 2015, Mitchell was sentenced to serve up to seven years on a contraband charge.)


EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Nine people, including seven adults and two young children, were found dead at three separate crime scenes in what Edmonton's police chief on Tuesday called a "senseless mass murder."

 Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht speaks about multiple homicides that took place at different scenes over night in Edmonton, Alberta, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Police have confirmed the deaths of six... (Associated Press)

 Police investigate the scene where multiple deaths occurred overnight in Edmonton, Alberta, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jason Franson) (Associated Press)

 Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht speaks about multiple homicides that took place at different scenes over night in Edmonton, Alberta, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Police have confirmed the deaths of six... (Associated Press)

 Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht speaks about multiple homicides that took place at different scenes over night in Edmonton, Alberta, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Police have confirmed the deaths of six... (Associated Press)

 Police investigate a scene where a car rammed a truck and damaged a restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht spoke Tuesday about multiple... (Associated Press)

 Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht arrives to speak about multiple homicides that took place at different scenes over night in Edmonton, Alberta, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Police have confirmed the deaths... (Associated Press)

 Chief Rod Knecht told a news conference the killings were the result of domestic violence. The victims included a woman found Monday night by officers who were responding to a weapons complaint at a south Edmonton home.

 The bodies of three more women, two men, a boy and a girl were discovered a few hours later at a home in the northeast part of the city where officers had checked on reports of a suicidal male earlier in the evening.

 None of the victims was identified, but Knecht said the public was not in danger.

 "This series of events are not believed to be random acts," he said. "These events do not appear to be gang-related, but rather tragic incidents of domestic violence."

 A man matching the description of the suicidal male was found dead in a restaurant in the Edmonton bedroom community of Fort Saskatchewan on Tuesday morning, Knecht said.

 "Our homicide investigators have established associations and linkages between these homicides," he said.

 Police would not elaborate on the connection between the deaths. ||||| Click here for a mobile version of the ScribbleLive

 A suicidal male is being blamed for the deaths of eight people — including five adults and two children found in a north Edmonton home — marking the largest mass homicide in the city’s history.

 The violence began around 6:52 p.m. Monday when police were called to a home near Haswell Court and 16 Avenue in southwest Edmonton and found a middle-aged woman deceased. Police believe a man entered the residence and shot the woman before fleeing the scene.

 An hour-and-a-half later, officers were called to a home near 83 Street and 180 Avenue to check on the welfare of an emotionally unstable man, but he wasn’t there.

 “According to the family, the male seemed depressed and overly emotional,” said Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht, adding there was nothing suspicious at the home at the time.

 “The family was concerned that the male may be suicidal.”

 Police did an exterior check of the house, checking the door and looking in windows, but did not gain entry. The vehicle connected to the slayings was not at the residence.

 Police left the home, but later returned around 12:23 a.m. after receiving further information. Inside, they found the bodies of three female adults, two male adults, and two young children — one male and female — shot dead.

 Two hours later, city cops headed out to the VN Express Restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan, where they discovered a black SUV that matched the description of the vehicle believed to be associated to the first slaying in southwest Edmonton.

 RCMP later shut down the downtown core of Fort Saskatchewan around 9 a.m. Several witnesses in the area watched police blow out the front door and a large window of the restaurant. A police dog was also sent into the business, along with a police-controlled robot.

 RCMP found a male deceased in the restaurant from what appeared to be an apparent suicide. Police said it’s the same suicidal male Edmonton detectives had been looking for earlier.

 “It is a tragic day for Edmonton and our thoughts go out to the community as we all come to terms with the senseless mass murder of eight people,” said Knecht. “This series of events are not believed to be random acts and there is no risk to the broader public,” said Knecht, adding homicide detectives have established links between the two homicide locations. “These events do not appear to be gang related, but rather tragic incidents of domestic violence.”

 One of the two people listed as the owners of the north Edmonton home is 53-year-old Phu Lam, who is known to police and believed to be responsible for the slayings. Lam is also believed to be an owner of the restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan.

 Neighbours of the north Edmonton home said the young Vietnamese couple lived there with their two children, aged eight and one-and-a-half. The couple were prone to acts of domestic violence. One neighbour saw police at the home at least three times in the past two years.

 Police had been called to the north side house twice in the last two years, and they say the suspect has a criminal record dating back to 1987.

 Police have identified Cindy Duong, 37, as the victim of the southside homicide. The victims of the north side slaying have not been identified, but the five adult victims were between the ages of 25 and 50 and the two children were younger than 10 years old.

 The weapon used in the homicides was a 9mm handgun that was purchased legally in B.C. and stolen in 2006.

 Knecht said help is available for officers who attended the scenes, though he said officers have handled the situation professionally.

 “It’s been described as chaotic. It’s horrific,” Knecht said.

 “In my 39 years of policing I have never seen anything like it.”

 More details will become available after the eight autopsies are conducted on Jan. 1.

 Up until Monday, the city had recorded 28 homicides, including a man shot by police in May. Six people were killed in a mass murder near Edmonton in 1956, but the city has seen nothing similar since.

 pamela.roth@sunmedia.ca

 -with files from Kevin Maimann

 Need some help? Crisis Support Centre

 Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week

 780-482-HELP (4357)

 Alberta Mental Health Crisis Response Team

 Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week

 780-342-7777

 To locate the family violence emergency shelter nearest you, call:

 Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters

 1‑866‑331‑3933 (toll free)

 For information about agencies that offer services and support to people impacted by family violence, call:

 Family Violence Info Line

 780-310‑1818 (toll free, 24 hours)

  ||||| The killings of six adults and two children in Edmonton were committed by a suspect with a stolen 9mm handgun, police chief Rod Knecht said in a news conference Tuesday night.

 The victims were found in two separate residences in Edmonton Monday night. The man police believe responsible was found dead by suicide in a restaurant in the nearby city of Fort Saskatchewan on Tuesday morning. Knecht said the man had a criminal record dating back to 1987.

 "It appears to be an extreme case of domestic violence gone awry," he said, stressing that there was no evidence of gang links. He said the slayings were planned and deliberate.

 Police investigate at a restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., on Tuesday. The scene is said to be related to multiple deaths that occurred in a north Edmonton home overnight. (Jason Franson/Canadian Press)

 Knecht said the first body found by police, now identified as Cyndi Duong, 37, was found by police officers responding to a weapons complaint in south Edmonton around 6:53 p.m. Monday. A man entered the home and shot the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

 Police then received a call to check on the welfare of a man at a home located at 83rd Street and 180 Avenue in north Edmonton.

 "According to family, the male seemed depressed and overly emotional," Knecht said. "The family was concerned that the male may be suicidal."

 When police arrived, the man wasn't there, Knecht said. Then at 12:23 a.m., police went back to the home and discovered the bodies of seven people: three women, two men and two children – a boy and a girl.

 The adults found dead were between the ages of 25 and 50, with the children under the age of 10.

 At 2:20 a.m., police went to a restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan. There they found a vehicle matching the description of the one owned by the suicidal male. The SUV was the same vehicle seen in the south Edmonton neighbourhood on Monday night, and was missing from the north Edmonton home.

 The man was found dead inside when police entered the restaurant at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. Knecht said the man died in an apparent suicide. He said police are not looking for other suspects in the slayings.

 Autopsies on the remaining victims and the suspect are scheduled for Jan. 1.

 Police have not described the relationships between the victims and the man who committed suicide. Knecht said this was the biggest mass murder in Edmonton since six people were slain in 1956.

 The gun used in the slaying was registered in British Columbia in 1997 and stolen from Surrey in 2006. Knecht said the suspect had a business interest in the restaurant where he was found dead.

 The suspect was known to Edmonton Police. Knecht said officers had gone to the north Edmonton home twice: once this year, and once in November 2012, where a man was charged with domestic violence, sexual assault and uttering threats.

 Knecht also explained why police didn't enter the north Edmonton home when police were first called there. He said officers walked around the house but couldn't get in.

 “They looked in windows, they checked a door and they weren’t able to get a response," he said.

 Later, they received a call from someone which gave them grounds to enter the home. That's when they found the seven bodies.

 "It was chaotic. It's horrific," Knecht said.

 "This is a horrific event for the city … in my 39 years of policing, I've never seen anything like it."

 Neighbours heard fighting

 People in Fort Saskatchewan became aware of the police presence early Tuesday morning. The downtown core of the city northeast of Edmonton was closed. The area has reopened, but police tape remained around the VN Express Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant.

 A small memorial was set up outside the north Edmonton where five adults and two children were killed Monday night. (Leah Larocque/CBC News )

 A Mercedes SUV with a smashed side window was parked outside.

 Fort Saskatchewan resident Bonnie Peet first noticed police around 6 a.m.

 “My whole road in front of my place was blocked off, so I knew something was going on and then it got lighter out ...and you see police going up and down the alleys," she said.

 Another resident said that a helicopter could be heard circling overhead early Tuesday morning.

 A woman who works at a restaurant across the street said she saw police drive a tactical unit through the restaurant door.

 People who live next to the home in north Edmonton say a woman, a grandmother and two school-aged children lived there. The neighbours said they heard domestic arguments inside the home next door. Once they heard a man and woman fighting in the street.

 "We knew the ex-husband didn't live there anymore," neighbour Murray Schermack said.

 Resident Maria Melo said it's the kind of community where people say hi to one another.

 Investigators remain on scene at the north Edmonton home where seven bodies were found. (Lydia Neufeld/CBC)

 "We don't visit or nothing, but it's just a good neighbourhood," she said."It's so sad to hear about that family. It's really very sad."

 In the Haddow community in south Edmonton, where the first person was killed, residents expressed concern for the children who lived in the home. The three children often played with others in the neighbourhood.

 Police said they are in a safe place.

 "We're all disturbed by it and wondering about how the family is doing," Frank Engley said.

 RCMP are also investigating a death in an industrial area near Sherwood Park where a body was found in a burned-out vehicle on Tuesday morning. It does not appear to be related to the other crimes.

Summary: – A killing spree in Canada has left nine people dead at three separate locations in or near Edmonton, reports the CBC. Authorities think one man killed six adults and two children in a domestic dispute before committing suicide. Edmonton police found the first victim, a middle-aged woman, inside a home while responding to a weapons complaint at the address yesterday evening. Shortly after midnight, after getting multiple calls about a potential suicidal male at a separate address, they found the bodies of seven more victims—identified only as three women, two men, a boy, and a girl, reports the AP. (Police had gone to the home earlier, about 8:30pm, but left after getting no answer and seeing nothing suspicious.) After 2am, police spotted the vehicle of the suicidal man outside a restaurant in nearby Fort Saskatchewan. Officers found the man dead inside when they entered about 9am today, reports the Edmonton Sun. Police haven't identified any of the victims or spelled out the relationships between them and the shooter. "These events do not appear to be gang-related, but rather tragic incidents of domestic violence," says Edmonton's police chief.