Pope Prays for Freedom in China and Peace in Syria

Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

Pope Benedict XVI blessed the crowd during his "Urbi et Orbi" address fin St. Peter's Square in Vatican.

ROME — Speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI called on Tuesday for religious freedom in China and peace for the “defenseless” in Syria in his annual Christmas Day message.

“May peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict which does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims,” Benedict said. “I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict.”

Wearing a short red cape lined with snow-white ermine and trimmed with gold embroidery, Benedict smiled as he offered Christmas greetings in 65 languages to thousands of the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Marching bands from the Italian armed forces and the Carabinieri police played festive anthems. During Christmas Eve Mass on Monday evening, the 85-year-old pontiff had appeared tired and his voice hoarse, but on Tuesday he appeared more vivacious as he delivered the traditional message, “Urbi et Orbi,” to the city and the world.

He also addressed China, where in recent weeks the Vatican has been increasingly at odds with the government over the ordination of bishops, who cannot hold office without approval from the authorities, to the dismay of the Vatican.

“May the King of Peace turn his gaze to the new leaders of the People’s Republic of China for the high task which awaits them,” Benedict said. “I express my hope that, in fulfilling this task, they will esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each, in such a way that they can help to build a fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people and of the whole world.”

Aggravating tensions, the Chinese Catholic Bishops Council, a government entity, stripped Thaddeus Ma Daqin, 45, the auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, of his title this month, according to Catholic Web sites that cited sources in the Chinese church.

The bishop had been under house arrest since he shocked Communist Party officials and his faithful by renouncing his government position during his consecration in July. In recent years, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which does not recognize the authority of the pope, has consecrated a number of bishops over the Vatican’s objections, resulting in their excommunication.

On Tuesday, Benedict asked God to give Israelis and Palestinians the “courage to end long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path of negotiation,” and he called for peace in Egypt, the “land where the Redeemer was born.”

The pope also urged “the return of peace in Mali and that of concord in Nigeria, where savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians.” He prayed for “the refugees from the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” and for peace in Kenya, “where brutal attacks have struck the civilian population and places of worship.”

On Monday evening, communicating through his new Twitter handle, @pontifex, Benedict recalled that as a boy he loved his family’s Christmas crèche, and he asked his followers what their favorite Christmas traditions were. “The cribs that we built in our home gave me much pleasure,” his message read. “We added figures each year and used moss for decoration.”

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Mundie, one of Gates’ successors, to retire from Microsoft

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Craig Mundie, one of two Microsoft Corp executives who took over Bill Gates‘ role at the company, has relinquished control of Microsoft’s large research organization and is to retire from the company in 2014.

Mundie is taking on a new role as a senior adviser to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, according to a memo circulated internally earlier this month but only made public on Monday.

Eric Rudder, another Microsoft veteran, is taking on responsibility for Microsoft Research, Trustworthy Computing, and the Technology Policy Group, which were all run by Mundie.

A 20-year Microsoft veteran, Mundie was one of two men hand-picked by co-founder Gates to take over leadership of the technical side of Microsoft when he retired from day-to-day work at the company in 2008.

Mundie took over responsibility for the company’s long-term research activities, while Ray Ozzie became chief software architect. Ozzie left Microsoft in 2010. According to Ballmer’s memo, Mundie will retire from Microsoft in 2014, when he will be 65.

Mundie’s new role was first reported on Monday by the All Things D tech blog.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Envoy to Syria Brahimi Meets With President Assad

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Monday and said he had presented “steps” to de-escalate the war, which he described as “still a reason for worry.”

The New York Times

A Syrian warplane was reported to have conducted airstrikes that killed dozens of people in Hilfaya, according to antigovernment activists in the area.

“We hope that all sides will work toward a solution, as the Syrian people want,” Mr. Brahimi said afterward in brief comments to reporters, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mr. Brahimi did not give any details of a specific proposal, but a member of Syria’s political opposition who said he had spoken with Mr. Brahimi’s aides said he was advocating a plan for a negotiated solution first proposed in June. The opposition member, Mohamed Sarmini, said the proposal would temporarily leave Mr. Assad in power while curbing his authority and creating a transitional government — an arrangement that the opposition has so far been unwilling to accept.

“It does not meet the demands of the revolution,” Mr. Sarmini said.

After the meeting, the official Syrian state news agency said Mr. Assad “stressed the Syrian government’s keenness” to pursue efforts that “preserve the sovereignty and independence of the homeland.”

Mr. Brahimi arrived in Damascus on Sunday as residents of the town of Halfaya, in west-central Syria, reported that dozens of people had been killed when a Syrian warplane dropped bombs on a bakery.

The attack, and the number of casualties, could not be immediately confirmed. A local activist said he ran to the bakery soon after he heard a warplane followed by explosions and the sound of ambulances. “There were bodies everywhere,” said the activist, who gave his name as Samer.

Photographs he took after the attack showed bodies in a heap on a bloody sidewalk outside a low-slung building, which was damaged but still standing. Amateur video of what the activists said was the aftermath of the attack showed a man sitting near a motorcycle, his arm twisted around his back, struggling to stand as people around him screamed. Roughly a dozen people could be seen on the ground, covered in dirt or debris from the building; some were wounded, and several appeared to be dead. Armed men wearing camouflage outfits were helping to move the bodies, which were placed on truck beds.

The reasons for the attack were unclear, but activists speculated that it was a government response to the arrival of rebel fighters in Halfaya. The rebels occupied the town last week after embarking on a broad offensive to seize territory around the city of Hama, where the government has kept tight control after suppressing protests in the city last year. In several days of fighting, civilians have been caught between the warring sides, a volatile development in a part of the country where members of Syria’s many sects live among one another in neighboring villages.

Human rights groups have accused the government of indiscriminate attacks on or near bakeries in the past, especially in the northern city of Aleppo. In a three-week period in the summer, Human Rights Watch documented 10 separate bombings on bakeries in the city.

Mr. Brahimi’s visit was likely to increase speculation about a deal to remove Mr. Assad from power. The talk has grown as rebel forces have claimed gains near government strongholds.

Russia, one of Syria’s most reliable allies, has recently sent signals that it is distancing itself from the Syrian president. On Saturday, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said several countries in the region had offered Mr. Assad asylum, but he added that Moscow would not mediate on their behalf.

It was the third visit to Syria by Mr. Brahimi since he assumed his post in August, and it occurred as fighting grew worse in the eastern and southern suburbs of Damascus, where rebel commanders say they are trying to establish staging grounds for attacks on the capital.

West-central Syria has become the latest front in the war, with the rebels attacking government checkpoints and other positions in an effort to disrupt the military’s supply lines and to push south from opposition strongholds in northern Syria. The offensive has led to growing fears for civilians in the area.

On Friday, a group of rebel fighters posted a video in which they threatened to shell Christian villages unless residents forced government loyalists to leave. Local church leaders have pleaded for peace and an end to sectarian strife.

Before the bombing on Sunday, Halfaya had been repeatedly shelled from loyalist positions in a nearby village, activists said.

In some photographs that Samer, the activist, said he took at the bakery, one fighter, with his hands resting on his head, stared in shock at the bodies around him. Another carried body parts. Bystanders searched for survivors under the rubble. Another man picked up a piece of bread lying next to someone’s slippers.

In other amateur video apparently shot in a hospital, doctors tended to bleeding men lying on the floor, a teenage boy slumped against a wall and a woman lay on her side on a gurney. Antigovernment groups said 60 to 90 people were killed, but the toll was impossible to confirm. The bakery was one of three in the city, activists said. When word spread on Sunday that a flour shipment from Turkey had come in, people began lining up around noon, waiting for bread after a stretch of days when the bakeries had been idled.

After the bombings, rebel fighters released a statement vowing revenge.

Hala Droubi contributed reporting from Jidda, Saudi Arabia.

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Kerri Walsh Jennings Expecting a Girl

Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog

12/24/2012 at 08:15 AM ET

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty

Kerri Walsh Jennings is thinking pink.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist found out the sex of her baby on the way live on Today Monday.

Walsh Jennings, husband Casey Jennings and sons Joseph, 3½, and Sundance, 2½, continued a previous Christmas tradition, having their doctor pen the baby’s gender on an ornament to reveal that come April, they’ll be welcoming a girl.

“We’re going to share something so special today and I’ve been dying for two months to find out,” the beach volleyball star, 34, said before breaking the news through tears. “Oh my God — we’re having a girl!”

“It feels a little cheesy if I overthink it, but I’m just not going to overthink it,” Walsh Jennings told Today prior to the announcement. “I feel like people are along for the ride with us. We’ve gotten so many words of encouragement … I welcome all the love and prayers I can get!”

– Sarah Michaud

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.

Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including drug use and easy access to guns can increase the likelihood of violence, experts say.

But warning signs "only become crystal clear in the aftermath, said James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminology professor who has studied and written about mass killings.

"They're yellow flags. They only become red flags once the blood is spilled," he said.

Whether 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who used his mother's guns to kill her and then 20 children and six adults at their Connecticut school, made any hints about his plans isn't publicly known.

Fox said that sometimes, in the days, weeks or months preceding their crimes, mass murderers voice threats, or hints, either verbally or in writing, things like "'don't come to school tomorrow,'" or "'they're going to be sorry for mistreating me.'" Some prepare by target practicing, and plan their clothing "as well as their arsenal." (Police said Lanza went to shooting ranges with his mother in the past but not in the last six months.)

Although words might indicate a grudge, they don't necessarily mean violence will follow. And, of course, most who threaten never act, Fox said.

Even so, experts say threats of violence from troubled teens and young adults should be taken seriously and parents should attempt to get them a mental health evaluation and treatment if needed.

"In general, the police are unlikely to be able to do anything unless and until a crime has been committed," said Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a Columbia University professor of psychiatry, medicine and law. "Calling the police to confront a troubled teen has often led to tragedy."

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry says violent behavior should not be dismissed as "just a phase they're going through."

In a guidelines for families, the academy lists several risk factors for violence, including:

—Previous violent or aggressive behavior

—Being a victim of physical or sexual abuse

—Guns in the home

—Use of drugs or alcohol

—Brain damage from a head injury

Those with several of these risk factors should be evaluated by a mental health expert if they also show certain behaviors, including intense anger, frequent temper outbursts, extreme irritability or impulsiveness, the academy says. They may be more likely than others to become violent, although that doesn't mean they're at risk for the kind of violence that happened in Newtown, Conn.

Lanza, the Connecticut shooter, was socially withdrawn and awkward, and has been said to have had Asperger's disorder, a mild form of autism that has no clear connection with violence.

Autism experts and advocacy groups have complained that Asperger's is being unfairly blamed for the shootings, and say people with the disorder are much more likely to be victims of bullying and violence by others.

According to a research review published this year in Annals of General Psychiatry, most people with Asperger's who commit violent crimes have serious, often undiagnosed mental problems. That includes bipolar disorder, depression and personality disorders. It's not publicly known if Lanza had any of these, which in severe cases can include delusions and other psychotic symptoms.

Young adulthood is when psychotic illnesses typically emerge, and Appelbaum said there are several signs that a troubled teen or young adult might be heading in that direction: isolating themselves from friends and peers, spending long periods alone in their rooms, plummeting grades if they're still in school and expressing disturbing thoughts or fears that others are trying to hurt them.

Appelbaum said the most agonizing calls he gets are from parents whose children are descending into severe mental illness but who deny they are sick and refuse to go for treatment.

And in the case of adults, forcing them into treatment is difficult and dependent on laws that vary by state.

All states have laws that allow some form of court-ordered treatment, typically in a hospital for people considered a danger to themselves or others. Connecticut is among a handful with no option for court-ordered treatment in a less restrictive community setting, said Kristina Ragosta, an attorney with the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national group that advocates better access to mental health treatment.

Lanza's medical records haven't been publicly disclosed and authorities haven't said if it is known what type of treatment his family may have sought for him. Lanza killed himself at the school.

Jennifer Hoff of Mission Viejo, Calif. has a 19-year-old bipolar son who has had hallucinations, delusions and violent behavior for years. When he was younger and threatened to harm himself, she'd call 911 and leave the door unlocked for paramedics, who'd take him to a hospital for inpatient mental care.

Now that he's an adult, she said he has refused medication, left home, and authorities have indicated he can't be forced into treatment unless he harms himself — or commits a violent crime and is imprisoned. Hoff thinks prison is where he's headed — he's in jail, charged in an unarmed bank robbery.

___

Online:

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: http://www.aacap.org

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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Stock futures fall as "cliff" talks at standstill

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures declined on Monday, indicating the S&P 500 would extend losses after suffering its worst drop since mid-November on continued worry legislators will be unable to reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

The benchmark S&P index <.spx> declined 0.9 percent on Friday, its biggest percentage drop since November 14, as a Republican plan to avoid the cliff - $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts that could tip the U.S. economy into recession - failed to gain sufficient support on Thursday night.

Some U.S. lawmakers expressed concern on Sunday the country would go over the cliff, as some Republicans charged that was President Barack Obama's goal. Talks are stalled with Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner out of Washington for the holidays.

"Despite the selloff on Friday, the market finished the week off on an up note and this morning we are seeing a downside follow through as investors are being rational to the possibility we do not have a cliff deal by year-end," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.

"Today is a short session and with people away there is a possibility we could see exaggerated moves."

Congress is expected to return to Washington next Thursday as Obama returns from a trip to Hawaii. As the deadline draws closer, a 'stop-gap' deal appears to be the most likely outcome of any talks.

S&P 500 futures fell 4.7 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 34 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 11.5 points.

Trading volumes are expected to be muted, with U.S. equity markets scheduled to close at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) ahead of the Christmas holiday on Tuesday.

In addition, a number of European markets will operate on a shortened session, with other markets closed entirely.

U.S. retailers may not see a sales surge this weekend as ho-hum discounts and fears about imminent tax hikes and cuts in government spending give Americans fewer reasons to open their wallets in the last few days before Christmas.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Juxtapid capsules in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Shares lost 1.8 percent to $25.25 in light premarket trade.

European shares were broadly steady, consolidating sharp gains made in the past five weeks, with volumes set to be thin for the traditionally quiet half session ahead of the Christmas break. <.eu/>

Asian shares steadied in quiet pre-holiday trade from a slump late last week, with prices capped by nervousness about the risk of the United States failing to avert a fiscal crisis.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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India Ink: India Reacts to Tendulkar's Retirement from One-Day Cricket

The Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar said Sunday that he was retiring from One Day International cricket.

“I have decided to retire from the One Day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup winning Indian team,” Tendulkar said in a statement released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

With the decision, Tendulkar, who enjoys Godlike stature for many in India and abroad, drew the curtain on a 23-year career in the format, called O.D.I., having played 463 O.D.I.s, scored 18,426 runs and made 49 centuries. He holds the record for being the highest run scorer in this format of the game and has also made the largest number of centuries, played the greatest number of games and, along with the former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, holds the record for highest partnership (331 runs against New Zealand).

Understandably, his decision has left some very distraught Indian cricket fans, who expressed their grief and almost a sense of bereavement on Twitter and other social media platforms.

“Tendulkar retires from ODI. End of an era. For the past 20 years, we were fortunate to watch & enjoy some amazing cricket, thanks to him,” an orthodontist based in Malaysia, who uses the Twitter handle Sabarinathan, tweeted.

“Finally world Ended in 2012,” a reader named Ashish, from Pune, commented on a Times of India story about the retirement.

B.C.C.I. officials, however, seemed less than perturbed.

“Tendulkar’s decision is not a shocker for B.C.C.I. He was waiting for the right time,” Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer, told reporters. “What he has expressed is his concern that India has to prepare for the next World Cup. From that point of view, he felt that it was time that he retired.”

“A person of his caliber knows what to do. He has always taken the right decision at the right time. He will continue to do that in future as well,” Sanjay Jagdale, the board’s general secretary, told reporters.

Reaction from the cricketing community in India was mixed.

“Sachin tendulkar a great batsman.great human being.a great friend.great man to look up 2.proud indian.Real son of india.I salute u nd love u,” the cricketer Harbhajan Singh tweeted.

“He has done Indian cricket a favor…. He has played a great deal of cricket and noone can compare to him but all I can say is: better late than never,” the former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad said in an interview with the news channel ABP.

Some fans, too, lauded Tendular’s decision as the right move at the right time.

“A late, but correct decision by Tendulkar. He will be missed but time had come,” Imran Asghar, who according to his Twitter profile is a British Pakistani, tweeted.

Tendulkar, it seems, has a special connection with India’s archrival, Pakistan. He made his debut in O.D.I.’s, nearly two decades ago, against Pakistan on Dec. 18, 1989. His last O.D.I. was also against Pakistan, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the Asia Cup last March, where he scored 52 runs. India won the match.

Coincidentally his announcement came on a day that the Indian team for the two T20s and three O.D.I.’s with Pakistan, which will start next week, was announced.

“Sachin’s announcement has come as a big surprise,” Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former chairman of the selection committee for the Indian team, told news channel CNN-IBN. “I thought he would play in the one-day series against Pakistan.”

Despite a string of poor performances recently, Tendulkar bid adieu to his home audience in style. His last O.D.I. played in India was the World Cup final match against Sri Lanka in his hometown, Mumbai. India won the match and World Cup 2011, following a nearly three-decade wait after its 1983 World Cup victory.

“I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years,” he said in his statement.

However, he has announced no plans to retire from Test matches, the longer five-day format of the game.

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News summary: Nintendo’s TVii replaces the remote

TVii LAUNCH: Nintendo if flipping on its TVii service Thursday, a month after sales started for its Wii U game console. The service turns the GamePad controller into a TV remote control, channel guide and Web video surfer.

SALES HOPES: Nintendo hopes the free service boosts sales of the console after recording 425,000 sales in the first week since its Nov. 18 launch.

HEAD START: It’s the first time a game console maker has put live TV controls into a device, but analyst Michael Pachter says competitors will copy the function soon.

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Linnea Johansson Blogs About Making Your Home Party-Ready

By Linnea Johansson

12/23/2012 at 08:05 AM EST

Party planner Linnea Johansson (standing)

Adrian Mueller - Fabrik Studios

Celebrity event planner and chef Linnea Johansson knows how to throw a party. She's worked with A-list stars such as Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Justin Timberlake and just released her second book, Perfect Parties – Tips and Recipes from a New York Party Planner in October. Now she's lending her expertise to PEOPLE.com with two blogs geared toward your holiday party planning. Cheers!

When planning a holiday party or a bash for any time of year, you may want to start with an easy, inexpensive dining room makeover.

Giving your old chairs a new look in no time to spruce up your dining room for the holidays and/or any party occasion. Simply wrap fabric against the back of the chairs and then staple the fabric on the inside of the back ... and you have new chair slip covers in a jiffy. This works great at home, and you can easily create a new look for a room.

This trick has saved me many times. I once did an event for the Food Network to honor their stars. There was not much to do on the food end as all the show hosts and chefs sent over their recipes for a menu. The space was beautiful but the chairs I rented arrived in the wrong color. So I had to do a little last minute dining room makeover. My team and I rushed out and got fabric from the office and did a quick makeover for the chairs right before the guests started to arrive.

Light It Like Gere
Most of my clients think I am crazy when I say I want to spend 50% of the decor budget on lighting. I always have to tell them the same story to convince them. When doing a job with Richard Gere and his wife at their restaurant the Bedford Post Inn, they not only had tons of cozy lighting in their restaurant, but also had little pink lights throughout the space. As he has been in countless movies, Richard told me that pinkish-hued lights is a movie set trick and makes everyone look great and at least 10 years younger. I have been using pink lights ever since. Thanks, Richard!

Linnea Johansson's book, Perfect Parties

So no matter how lavish or casual the party, lighting is the way to make a regular space look different and sets the mood. For at home entertaining, I start by shutting off all the overhead lights and directing any spotlights at your best looking décor item, whether that's flower arrangements, the buffet or the dinner table. You can simply buy cheap spotlights and set up for the night, or make votive holders by simply wrapping drinking glasses in decorative paper and taping the back, then add votive candles. Cluster the votives around the area you want to highlight.

DIY Frame-to-Trays
Turning frames into trays is one of my favorite decor tricks, and I have used it at countless events. Simply buy a cheap frame, and frame a decorative fabric or decorative paper. Then you can use it as a serving tray, platter on a buffet or decorative charger under your guest plates – easy and cheap to create. And the best part is, for the next party, you can simply frame something new to match that parties theme. As you can imagine, my office has quite a few frames stacked in it.

Table Decor & Bar in One

I love creating a beautiful flowering punch bowl in the middle of the table; it works like a self-serve bar and great table decoration, all in one. As an extra bonus, you'll keep the party decor bill down. Slice seasonal fruit or my favorite, edible flowers. You can also freeze the fruit or flowers into a large ice block. Place a few votive candles around the punch bowl and it will sparkle and glow.

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.

Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including drug use and easy access to guns can increase the likelihood of violence, experts say.

But warning signs "only become crystal clear in the aftermath, said James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminology professor who has studied and written about mass killings.

"They're yellow flags. They only become red flags once the blood is spilled," he said.

Whether 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who used his mother's guns to kill her and then 20 children and six adults at their Connecticut school, made any hints about his plans isn't publicly known.

Fox said that sometimes, in the days, weeks or months preceding their crimes, mass murderers voice threats, or hints, either verbally or in writing, things like "'don't come to school tomorrow,'" or "'they're going to be sorry for mistreating me.'" Some prepare by target practicing, and plan their clothing "as well as their arsenal." (Police said Lanza went to shooting ranges with his mother in the past but not in the last six months.)

Although words might indicate a grudge, they don't necessarily mean violence will follow. And, of course, most who threaten never act, Fox said.

Even so, experts say threats of violence from troubled teens and young adults should be taken seriously and parents should attempt to get them a mental health evaluation and treatment if needed.

"In general, the police are unlikely to be able to do anything unless and until a crime has been committed," said Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a Columbia University professor of psychiatry, medicine and law. "Calling the police to confront a troubled teen has often led to tragedy."

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry says violent behavior should not be dismissed as "just a phase they're going through."

In a guidelines for families, the academy lists several risk factors for violence, including:

—Previous violent or aggressive behavior

—Being a victim of physical or sexual abuse

—Guns in the home

—Use of drugs or alcohol

—Brain damage from a head injury

Those with several of these risk factors should be evaluated by a mental health expert if they also show certain behaviors, including intense anger, frequent temper outbursts, extreme irritability or impulsiveness, the academy says. They may be more likely than others to become violent, although that doesn't mean they're at risk for the kind of violence that happened in Newtown, Conn.

Lanza, the Connecticut shooter, was socially withdrawn and awkward, and has been said to have had Asperger's disorder, a mild form of autism that has no clear connection with violence.

Autism experts and advocacy groups have complained that Asperger's is being unfairly blamed for the shootings, and say people with the disorder are much more likely to be victims of bullying and violence by others.

According to a research review published this year in Annals of General Psychiatry, most people with Asperger's who commit violent crimes have serious, often undiagnosed mental problems. That includes bipolar disorder, depression and personality disorders. It's not publicly known if Lanza had any of these, which in severe cases can include delusions and other psychotic symptoms.

Young adulthood is when psychotic illnesses typically emerge, and Appelbaum said there are several signs that a troubled teen or young adult might be heading in that direction: isolating themselves from friends and peers, spending long periods alone in their rooms, plummeting grades if they're still in school and expressing disturbing thoughts or fears that others are trying to hurt them.

Appelbaum said the most agonizing calls he gets are from parents whose children are descending into severe mental illness but who deny they are sick and refuse to go for treatment.

And in the case of adults, forcing them into treatment is difficult and dependent on laws that vary by state.

All states have laws that allow some form of court-ordered treatment, typically in a hospital for people considered a danger to themselves or others. Connecticut is among a handful with no option for court-ordered treatment in a less restrictive community setting, said Kristina Ragosta, an attorney with the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national group that advocates better access to mental health treatment.

Lanza's medical records haven't been publicly disclosed and authorities haven't said if it is known what type of treatment his family may have sought for him. Lanza killed himself at the school.

Jennifer Hoff of Mission Viejo, Calif. has a 19-year-old bipolar son who has had hallucinations, delusions and violent behavior for years. When he was younger and threatened to harm himself, she'd call 911 and leave the door unlocked for paramedics, who'd take him to a hospital for inpatient mental care.

Now that he's an adult, she said he has refused medication, left home, and authorities have indicated he can't be forced into treatment unless he harms himself — or commits a violent crime and is imprisoned. Hoff thinks prison is where he's headed — he's in jail, charged in an unarmed bank robbery.

___

Online:

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: http://www.aacap.org

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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