15M preemies born worldwide yearly

15M preemies born worldwide yearly

WASHINGTON

About 15 million premature babies are born every year — more than 1 in 10 of the world’s births and a bigger problem than previously believed, according to the first country-by-country estimates of this obstetric epidemic.

The startling toll: 1.1 million of these fragile newborns die as a result, and even those who survive can suffer lifelong disabilities.

Most of the world’s preemies are born in Africa and Asia, says the report released Wednesday.

It’s a problem for the U.S., too, where half a million babies are born too soon. That’s about 1 in 8 U.S. births, a higher rate than in Europe, Canada, Australia or Japan — and even worse than rates in a number of less-developed countries, too, the report found.

Chardon suspect ruled competent

CHARDON, Ohio

A 17-year-old charged in a school shooting is mentally competent to stand trial in juvenile court in the deaths of three students, a judge ruled Wednesday after considering evidence that the boy suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies.

None of the symptoms detailed in a mental evaluation of T.J. Lane would prevent him from understanding the case against him and helping in his defense, Dr. Phillip Resnick told Judge Timothy Grendell in Geauga County Juvenile Court.

The judge accepted the findings and ruled that Lane is mentally fit to stand trial in juvenile court. The charges filed against him include three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of attempted aggravated murder.

Coroner: Someone likely killed spy

LONDON

Even after a coroner’s verdict, it remains a mystery: A naked spy found dead in a locked bag, lurid details of a kinky sex life and allegations that someone in Britain’s spy agencies may have been involved in his death.

A British coroner ruled Wednesday that another person likely was involved in Gareth Williams’ death — a finding that puts more pressure on police to uncover the cyberwarfare expert’s killer and continue to investigate possibilities that include whether he could have died in a sex game gone awry or in a more sinister scenario that involved his counterterrorism work.

DOJ probes assault cases in Montana

SEATTLE

The U.S. Justice Department’s decision to open a civil-rights investigation into the handling of sexual- assault cases in Missoula, Mont., follows months of efforts by city officials to deal with escalating complaints about rapes at the University of Montana, two of them involving members of the school’s football program.

The Justice Department said it would look at 80 reported sexual assaults in the city over the past three years. Many of the cases appear to involve young women at the university who said they were victimized — sometimes gang-raped — in attacks that often involved drugs and alcohol.

An investigation last year by a former justice of the Montana Supreme Court found at least nine incidents of reported sexual assaults in 2010 and 2011 at the university. Most apparently were committed by students; few were prosecuted. Two more cases have been reported since then.

Combined dispatches