Scientists have recreated a 1985 study of birds in Peru that shows climate change is
pushing them from their natural environment.
Thirty years ago, researchers studied more than 400 kinds of birds living on a mountainside
in Peru.
In 2017, researchers looked again at the bird populations.
They found that almost all had moved to higher places in the mountain.
Almost all had decreased in size.
And, the scientists say at least eight bird groups that started at the higher elevations
had died out completely.
John W. Fitzpatrick is director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and a co-writer
of the study.
He said, "Once you move up as far as you can go, there's nowhere else left."
The researchers say the birds might have moved up the mountain because of temperature changes.
Or, they say, changes to food sources may have forced them to go higher.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Past research has documented birds and other animals moving up in elevation in reaction
to warming temperatures.
Mark Urban is director of the Center of Biological Risk at the University of Connecticut.
He said this recent study was the first to prove that rising temperatures and moving
to avoid them can lead to extinction.
In 1985, Fitzpatrick and a team of scientists established a camp alongside a river running
down a mountainside in southeastern Peru.
He wanted to document where tropical bird groups there lived.
His team spent several weeks using nets to catch and release birds.
They kept detailed notes of birds they caught, saw or heard.
In 2016, Fitzpatrick passed his notes, photos and other records to Benjamin Freeman.
He is with the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia.
Freeman has been researching tropical birds for more than 10 years.
He set out in August and September of 2017 to copy Fitzpatrick's study.
His team used the same methods, searching the same places in the same time of year.
Freeman's team wanted to see how things had changed for the bird groups since 1985.
The average temperatures on the mountain had risen 0.42 degrees Celsius.
Freeman's team placed 20 sound recording devices on the mountain to record the sounds
of birds that might not easily be seen.
Freeman said that the birds moved an average of 98 meters further up the mountain.
He said he believes that temperature is the main cause of the birds' movement.
Fitzpatrick noted that birds used to living in areas with little temperature change may
be especially at risk because of climate change.
He said, "We should expect that what's happening on this mountain top is happening
more generally in the Andes, and other tropical mountain ranges."
I'm Jonathan Evans.
The Democratic Party is set to take control of the United States House of Representatives,
following the country's midterm elections Tuesday.
The Republican Party will keep its majority in the U.S. Senate.
Republicans had gained control of both the Senate and the House in the 2016 elections.
The election is called the midterm because it comes in the middle of the president's
four-year term.
Midterm elections are historically difficult for the party that holds the presidency.
Americans voted to fill all 435 seats in the House, and 35 of the 100 Senate seats.
Americans also voted to fill many local offices, including governorships, and to decide important
local issues.
Political experts had mostly expected the Democrats' win of the House.
Democrats, however, did not see the success they had hoped for in some of the closely
competitive Senate and gubernatorial races.
In fact, they lost ground in the Senate.
Democrats' hopes of winning the Senate majority as part of a so-called "blue wave" were
ended after losses in Indiana, Texas, Tennessee and North Dakota.
The color blue traditionally represents the Democratic Party.
Red represents the Republican Party.
Democrats needed to win 23 Republican-held seats in the House of Representatives to gain
a majority.
They picked up more than 30.
With House control for the first time in eight years, Democrats have improved chances of
blocking some of the goals of President Donald Trump, who is a Republican.
They will have the power to investigate Trump's tax returns and possible conflicts of interest,
and challenge Trump's policies toward North Korea, Russia and other countries.
They also could slow or block the president's legislative goals related to immigration,
tax cuts and building a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., to declare victory
for the Democrats.
"We have all had enough of division, the American people want peace, they want results, they
want us to work for positive results for their lives."
She added, "Tomorrow will be a new day in America."
Trump called Pelosi late Tuesday to congratulate her.
The president also tweeted Tuesday night that the election had been a "tremendous success."
He wrote, "Thank you to all."
Health care and immigration were the top issues for voters, public opinion studies from the
Associated Press showed.
The AP's VoteCast also showed a majority of voters considered Trump a factor in their
choices Tuesday.
A record number of women ran for Congressional office, including 185 Democrats and 52 Republicans.
Sixteen women ran for governships.
At least nine of them won, including Republican Kristi Noem, who will be South Dakota's
first woman governor.
Many female candidates were energized by reports of Trump's behavior toward women, the rise
of the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and the possible threats to reproductive rights.
Two Democrats became the first Native American women elected to Congress.
In Kansas, Sharice Davids beat Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder.
And in New Mexico, Deb Haaland defeated Janice E. Arnold-Jones.
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan also made history, becoming the
first Muslim women to be elected to Congress.
Women candidates began the winning wave for Democrats in the House.
In northern Virginia, Democrat Jennifer Wexton defeated Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock.
Soon after, Donna Shalala of Florida won an open House seat that had been held by a Republican.
She defeated Maria Elvira Salazar, another woman candidate.
Later in the night, Texas Democrat Lizzie Fletcher defeated nine-term Republican incumbent
John Culberson for a House seat.
But Texas Republicans had an important victory in a closely contested Senate race.
Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, who also was a 2016 presidential candidate, narrowly beat
Democrat Beto O'Rourke.
Texas is a majority Republican state, but observers have said that its fast-changing
population may affect that.
Continued Republican control of the Senate means Trump's judicial and other nominees
will likely win confirmation to office.
The Republican-led Senate also could prevent Congress from removing Trump from office if
the House seeks an impeachment process.
I'm Ashley Thompson.
And I'm Caty Weaver.
The Roman Catholic Church on the American island of Guam is officially declaring financial
failure, or bankruptcy.
The move means the Church can avoid trial in more than 20 child sex abuse legal actions
against its clergy.
Now, the two sides can seek settlements.
Archbishop Michael Byrnes made the announcement.
He said that cost of the discussions between the Church and victims that began in September
caused the bankruptcy.
"This path will bring the greatest measure of justice to the greatest number of victims,"
Byrnes said.
"That's the heart of what we're doing."
Byrnes said the bankruptcy will provide "finality for victim survivors that they've been heard
and understood."
Lawyer Leander James represents the reported victims.
He said the decision will help settle more than 180 claims of abuse.
"We welcome the announcement," James said in a statement.
"Bankruptcy provides the only realistic path to settlement of pending and future claims."
James says the bankruptcy will create a time limit for victims to take legal action.
Lawyer Anthony Perez is also representing victims.
He says the bankruptcy does not mean the Roman Catholic Church in Guam will close.
Instead, Perez said, the local offices can reorganize and remain operational after settlements
are completed and the bankruptcy case is closed.
Earlier this year, the Roman Catholic Church removed from office the suspended leader of
its Guam headquarters and ordered him to stay out of Guam.
The Church found him guilty of charges connected to its own sex abuse trial.
The Church did not say what Archbishop Anthony Apuron was found guilty of nor has Guam's
government charged him with any crime.
Apuron is 72 years old.
Pope Francis named a temporary administrator for Guam in 2016 after some people said Apuron
had sexually abused them as children.
Apuron denied the accusations.
Similar accusations against other clergy followed.
The local Church faces more than $115 million worth of legal actions.
Church lawyer Keith Talbot says two Guam cases have been settled.
Some Catholics on Guam said they were not surprised by the bankruptcy announcement.
"I knew it was going to happen," said 68-year-old Judith Salas.
"Eventually they would have to pay."
I'm Susan Shand.
More than 100 women were elected to United States legislative office in mid-term elections
Tuesday.
A record number will serve in the new Congress.
The results came almost two years after women marched in Washington and cities across the
country to oppose the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The Associated Press reported that a record 237 women ran for the House of Representatives
this year.
As of Wednesday, at least 100 won their House races, easily beating the old record of 84.
The number of female winners is expected to grow, as results had not been called for more
than ten races with women candidates.
Most of the women who won were Democrats who helped the party capture a majority in the
House.
Christopher Borick is director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
He says the role women played in this election lived up to expectations.
Borick said, "We are seeing a vast increase in the percentage of women that will be within
the House of Representatives.
I'll give you an example in Pennsylvania, which is kind of, one of the most striking
scenes.
Before this election we had zero, not one member of an 18-seat congressional delegation
that was a woman.
Tonight, just in suburban Philadelphia, in the Lehigh Valley where I'm speaking from,
four women won in a really tight area."
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib from Michigan became the first two Muslim
women to win election to Congress.
Other winners Tuesday included Sharice Davids from Kansas, one of the first two Native American
woman elected to Congress, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the youngest woman
ever elected to Congress.
Texas is set to send its first Hispanic women to Congress, as Democrats Veronica Escobar
and Sylvia Garcia both won their races.
Ayanna Pressley became the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.
She talked about the historic nature of the election.
Pressley said, "Now, listen, I know for a fact none of us ran to make history, we
ran to make change.
However, the historical significance of this evening is not lost on me."
There was also an historic gender gap that showed women more supportive of Democrats
than Republicans.
VoteCast reported that more women voted for Democratic candidates than men.
About 6 in 10 voted for the Democrat in the race, compared with 4 in 10 for the Republican
candidate.
Men were more evenly divided in their vote.
Women also reached a record number in the United States Senate.
The Associated Press reported 24 women were set to serve in the Senate starting in January,
one more than before.
The decisive record-breaker came from the Republican Party.
U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn defeated the state's former Governor, Democrat Phil
Bredesen.
Blackburn will become the first woman to represent Tennessee in the Senate.
Blackburn said in her victory speech, "Now you don't have to worry if you are going
to call me congressman or congresswoman or congress lady.
Now, senator will do."
Several women Democrats captured governorships currently held by Republicans, including Laura
Kelly in Kansas and Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan.
I'm Ashley Thompson.
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned.
Sessions announced his resignation in a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
He wrote, "At your request, I am submitting my resignation."
Trump announced on Twitter that Session's chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, a former
United States attorney from Iowa will become acting attorney general.
Trump thanked Sessions for his service and said "a permanent replacement will be nominated
at a later date."
The resignation brings to an end a difficult relationship between the two men.
Trump strongly criticized Sessions' decision to step aside from the investigation into
Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Sessions did so after it was reported that he met with Russian officials before the election.
Sessions had also served on Trump's election campaign team.
Sessions' admission angered Trump who said he never would have nominated the former Alabama
senator if he knew he would have stepped aside.
Sessions decided to step aside in March of 2017 and left Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein in charge of the investigation.
Rosenstein then appointed special counsel Robert Mueller who has investigated a wide
number of possible crimes including failure to pay taxes and lying to investigators.
Trump has criticized the investigation as a "witch hunt."
The Justice Department did not announce a departure for Deputy Attorney General Rod
Rosenstein.
However, spokeswoman Sarah Flores said Whitaker would be "in charge of all matters under
the purview of the Department of Justice."
Whitaker once discussed a situation in which Trump could fire Sessions and then appoint
an acting attorney general.
The appointee could then reduce funding for Mueller's investigation.
Whitaker told CNN in July 2017, "So I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced
with a recess appointment and that attorney general doesn't fire Bob Mueller, but he
just reduces his budget to so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt."
Whitaker also wrote, "Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling
investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing."
Senator Mark Warner is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Warner wrote on Twitter, "Given Mr. Whitaker's public comments on the Special Counsel's
investigation and the President's obvious self-interest in appointing him to the Acting
AG role, Mr. Whitaker should recuse himself."
He added, "While the President may have the authority to replace the Attorney General,
this must not be the first step in an attempt to impede, obstruct or end the Mueller investigation."
Several Republican Party lawmakers had warned Trump not to dismiss Sessions.
However, support for the attorney general seemed to decrease over this year.
Sessions served for 20 years in the U.S. Senate before taking the office of the nation's
top law enforcement official.
I'm Pete Musto.
China is developing a system that recognizes individuals by their body shape and walking
movements.
Systems that recognize human faces are already being used to identify people in crowds or
as a secure way to unlock personal devices.
The new system, known as "gait recognition," is already being used by police on the streets
of Beijing and Shanghai.
The Chinese technology company Watrix developed the system.
The company announced last month that it had raised $14.5 million to speed up the development
and sale of the technology.
The system works in a similar way to face recognition.
Cameras capture video of people in public places.
Then, machines powered by artificial intelligence (AI) examine and study the video.
Facial recognition systems identify the shapes and expressions on a person's face to identify
them.
Gait recognition uses a person's body shape and their way of walking to identify them.
The system records a person's shape and movements and then creates a model of the
way they walk.
Huang Yongzhen is a former researcher who co-founded Watrix in 2016.
He told the Associated Press his system can identify people from up to 50 meters away.
It is designed to work even when a person's face is covered or hidden.
Successful facial recognition usually requires clear, close-up images of a person's face.
Currently, the Watrix system is not able to identify people in real-time.
Users have to enter video into the system, which then takes about 10 minutes to process
each hour of video.
Huang says his gait recognition system is correct 94 percent of the time.
This is below the success rate of many face recognition systems.
But he says the system can still be helpful to police and for other commercial purposes.
He also believes the system can be effective when used together with face recognition.
"You don't need people's cooperation for us to be able to recognize their identity,"
Huang told the AP.
"People still don't recognize they can be recognized by their gait, whereas everybody
knows you can be recognized by your face," he added.
He said the system would not easily be misled by a person changing their usual way of walking
or other body movements.
This is because the AI system is designed to examine all movements over the entire body.
"We believe you are totally unique in the way you walk," Huang said.
Gait recognition is not new.
The technology has been researched by scientists in Japan and Britain and by U.S. defense officials
for about 10 years.
But attempts to sell the technology have been slow.
One of the reasons the technology has not developed further is because the systems are
more complex than facial recognition.
Mark Nixon is a leading expert on gait recognition at Britain's University of Southampton.
He told the AP the technology requires bigger computers.
"Because you need a sequence of images rather than a single image," he said.
Security officials in China's far-western province of Xinjiang have reportedly expressed
interest in the system.
Muslim ethnic minorities in the province are already subject to intense government surveillance
and control.
Shi Shusi is a Chinese writer and commentator.
He told the AP he is not surprised that the technology would launch in China before the
rest of the world.
He said this is because of the Chinese government's use of social control methods.
"Using biometric recognition to maintain social stability and manage society is an
unstoppable trend," Shi said.
He added: "It's great business."
I'm Bryan Lynn.
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