The world at a glance . . . United States

Lexington, Mo.

Sex-abuse ring: Police have arrested six men, all members of the Mohler family, and charged them with multiple counts of murder, child abuse, and kidnapping, after six of the alleged victims came forward with horrific tales of rapes, stabbings, and forced abortions at a family-owned farm. Investigators have found bone fragments and items of clothing beneath an outbuilding on the farm. The victims, several of whom were children when they say they were abducted, approached police after one of them said she had recovered long-suppressed memories of the abuse. All six suspects are lay ministers of the Community of Christ, a sect that split from the Mormon Church in the 1880s.

Breast cancer reversal: Overturning decades of practice, a Department of Health and Human Services advisory panel said this week that women should get mammograms to check for breast cancer when they turn 50, rather than at 40, as was previously recommended. The panel also said doctors should no longer instruct women to conduct regular self-examinations. The Preventive Services Task Force said that while early screening had saved some lives, it had disrupted many others, as women with false positives in cancer tests underwent unnecessary surgery and suffered needless anxiety. The new advice caused an uproar, with many women and their physicians saying they would continue to follow the earlier guidelines. “I would be cautious about changing a practice that seems to work,” said Dr. Annekathryn Goodman of Massachusetts General Hospital.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Chicago

School chief suicide: Police this week found the body of Chicago’s schools chief, a close associate of Mayor Richard Daley, floating in the Chicago River, hours after his family had reported him missing. The death, by a single gunshot to the head, was ruled a suicide. Michael Scott, 60, was president of the Chicago Board of Education, as well as a real estate developer and a key player in the city’s failed bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. He had been investigated for using Board of Education funds to travel to Copenhagen to lobby Olympics officials, and was one of several officials recently subpoenaed in an investigation of admissions policies at Chicago’s top public schools.

Fort Hood, Texas

Investigating Hasan: The Army has opened an investigation into whether authorities missed warning signs that should have alerted them to the danger posed by Major Nidal Hassan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the Fort Hood massacre. The inquiry will reportedly focus on Hasan’s six years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where colleagues say he often expressed fervent Islamic views and deep opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With a government-wide review ordered by President Obama and a U.S. Senate inquiry also under way, evidence is mounting that Hassan had been acting erratically, but no complaints had come to the attention of his superiors. Police say Hasan, frustrated over his inability to find a wife, had visited a strip club near Fort Hood at least three times in the days leading up to the killings. “Everything’s clear with hindsight,” said an Army official, “so the question is whether clues were missed along the way.”

New London, Conn.

Corporation jilts town: Pharmaceutical maker Pfizer said this week it was closing its New London research center, built adjacent to private property seized in a landmark “eminent domain’’ case. In 2001, city officials lured Pfizer to New London with incentives that included rights to private property the city seized from homeowners. But property owners sued, and the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled 5–4 that governments are allowed to seize private property to encourage development that would result in tax revenue and new jobs. “They stole our home for economic development,” said local resident Michael Cristofaro. “It was all for Pfizer, and now they get up and walk away.” The company said that to cut costs, it would relocate most of the 1,400 employees to nearby Groton.

Fayetteville, N.C.

Child murder: Police this week identified the body of a girl found alongside a country road as that of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, and police have charged her mother, Antoinette Davis, with selling her into sexual slavery. Another suspect, Mario McNeil, has been charged with kidnapping. Antoinette Davis reported her daughter missing from her Fayetteville home last week. Murder charges have not yet been filed. Shaniya’s aunt, Carey Lockhart-Davis, said Antoinette, 30, had been a “neglectful” mother, but had recently claimed she was ready to care for her child after overcoming financial problems.