Human Race

Born

A woman who in 2013 received an experimental womb transplant gave birth to a healthy baby boy in September, according to the Swedish doctors who performed the radical procedure. The 36-year-old woman, who wants to remain anonymous, received a uterus from a 61-year-old friend. Doctors say it can be used for one or two pregnancies before they will have to remove it. The woman named the baby Vincent, which means “to conquer.”

Settled

The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities reached an undisclosed agreement with its former president, Edward O. Blews Jr., to settle a contractual dispute, almost a year after it fired him 10 months into a five-year contract. Internal turmoil marked Blews’ tenure (see “Long search, short tenure,” Feb. 8, 2014), but in its announcement the council said it found “no legal or financial wrongdoing nor any moral turpitude.” The council cited philosophical differences in priorities and leadership style as the reason for the change.

Sued

Descendants of the woman who allegedly served as the model for the Aunt Jemima breakfast products have sued Quaker Oats for $2 billion. Anna Short Harrington’s great-grandchildren claim the company stole recipes from her in the 1930s and broke a contract to pay her a portion of the profits from their pancake and syrup products. The company says no contract ever existed and insists the “Aunt Jemima” character was never based on any one person but on a compilation of people and personalities.

Won

Seventeen-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai on Oct. 10 became the first teenager ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She was in chemistry class when she received the news. Yousafzai, a Pakistani now living in England, became an international sensation after Taliban militants shot her in the head because she publicly advocated for girls’ education. The attempt on her life has only amplified her message. Yousafzai shared the award—and the $1.1 million prize money—with 60-year-old Kailash Satyarthi of India, an activist against child slavery.

Named

A North Carolina woman gave birth to six of seven septuplets, but the babies only lived about two hours after she went into premature labor at 21 weeks. Former NFL player Steve Justice and his wife Lindsey turned down medical advice to selectively abort some of the babies, saying they believed all of them were a gift from God. Lindsey miscarried one baby, whom they named Isaac, at 12 weeks, and the other six, all girls, received names with first letters that spell the word Messiah. The couple said they are in deep mourning but have no regrets about their decision.

Denied

The Hannah Overton saga is not finished. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in September overturned Overton’s 2007 conviction and life sentence for the salt poisoning death of her adoptive son, but on Oct. 8 the court denied her motion for early release on bail. The court did not issue an opinion to explain its decision. The ruling means Overton, a 37-year-old mother of five, will remain in prison until the Nueces County (Texas) district attorney decides to prosecute her for a lesser charge, drop all charges, or retry the capital murder charge.