Wild gorillas seen using tools

For the first time, biologists have documented gorillas in the wild using simple tools, such as poking a stick in a swampy pool of water to check its depth.

Until now, scientists had seen gorillas use tools only in captivity. Among the great apes, tool use in the wild was thought to be a survival skill reserved for smaller chimpanzees and orangutans.

The research in the Republic of Congo’s rainforests was led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, which released details of his study. Details of the findings are being published in the online journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) Biology. Video of the gorillas will be broadcast Saturday on the PBS program “Wild Chronicles.”

Same-sex marriage bill vetoed in California

Sacramento, Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger followed through Thursday on his promise to veto a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, leaving the issue up to voters or judges who will likely face the volatile issue in the next year.

“This bill simply adds confusion to a constitutional issue,” the governor said in a veto message.

Schwarzenegger had announced his intention on Sept. 7, a day after the Legislature became the first in the country to approve a bill allowing gays and lesbians to wed.

Drug will carry warning about suicidal thinking

Washington The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors Thursday about reports of suicidal thinking in some children and adolescents who are taking Strattera, a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co. announced that a black-box warning will be added to the drug’s label in the United States. The company said a study showed instances of suicidal thinking were rare.

In a statement, the FDA said it “is advising health care providers and caregivers that children and adolescents being treated with Strattera should be closely monitored for clinical worsening, as well as agitation, irritability, suicidal thinking or behaviors, and unusual changes in behavior, especially during the initial few months of therapy or when the dose is changed.”

Eli Lilly said it provided the FDA results from a Strattera clinical trial of 1,357 patients that found five youths taking the medication reported having suicidal thoughts, while none of 851 patients taking a placebo reported having any. One young person taking Strattera attempted suicide, the company said.

Harassment reported in Guard, Reserves

Washington Six in 10 women who have served in the National Guard and Reserves said they were sexually harassed or assaulted, but less than a quarter reported it and many who did were encouraged to drop the complaint, according to a survey released Thursday.

The survey, done by the Department of Veterans Affairs and released by Democratic members of Congress, found that nearly half of the women who responded said the sexual trauma occurred while they were on duty. Fifty-two percent of the cases involving women were verbal harassment and 8 percent involved rape or attempted rape, while the rest were for other types of incidents.

Five killed attempting to leave Morocco

Melilla, Spain Climbing ladders fashioned from tree branches, hundreds of Africans from the continent’s poorest countries threw themselves over razor-wire fences Thursday to gain a foothold in Europe – the latest human avalanche seeking entry into a pair of barren Spanish enclaves in Morocco.

Five people were killed trying to enter the city of Ceuta, two reportedly shot from the Moroccan side.

Spain called out army troops with automatic weapons to patrol the frontier there and in Melilla, another centuries-old Spanish city on the northern coast of the only African country with land bordering a member of the European Union.