■ United States
Mother violates privacy
In a victory for rebellious teenagers, the state Supreme Court ruled that a mother violated Washington's privacy law by eavesdropping on her daughter's phone conversa-tion. Privacy advocates hailed the Thursday ruling, but the mother was unrepentant. "My daughter was out of control, and that was the only way I could get information and keep track of her. I did it all the time." The Supreme Court ruled that Dixon's testimony against a friend of her daughter should not have been admitted in court because it was based on the intercepted conversation.
■ United Nations
Children face new threat: UN
Advances in children's survival, health and education are being reversed by a "triple whammy" of AIDS, conflict and poverty, according to the UN children's agency, UNICEF. The disease is driving the destruction of basic services for one billion children and violating their right to grow and develop, said Carol Bellamy, the organization's executive director. "We believe AIDS is the worst catastrophe ever to hit the world," she told the London-based Guardian newspaper. "It is just ripping up systems, be it health or education. Childhood is being robbed from them."
■ United States
Depression gene discovered
Scientists in North Carolina have discovered a genetic variation that could predis-pose people to depression and may help explain why some people who develop the condition get no relief from drug treatments. The findings, which were posted Thursday in the online edition of the journal Neuron, may allow researchers to develop a test for genetic vulnerability to depression and to create more effective treatments. "The results need to be replicated, but they suggest that we may be able to personalize the treatment of depression," said Dr Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which helped finance the study.
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