There has been a scientific study carried out in Denmark.  It looked at 650,000 children born between 1996 and 2006. The study found that the children’s risk of having any type of autism spectrum disorder was increased, when certain mothers took valproate during pregnancy.

There is already a known risk with taking sodium valproate during pregnancy. It increases the risk of children being born with birth defects and thinking problems. The new research also shows that valproate significantly increases the risk of having a child with autism or an autism spectrum disorder.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and the world around them.

It is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in different ways. Asperger syndrome is a form of autism.

“The absolute risk of being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder was 4.4 per cent in children exposed to valproate. This is compared to 1.5 per cent in children not exposed. The absolute risk of being diagnosed with childhood autism was 2.5 per cent in children exposed to valproate. This is compared to 0.5 per cent in children not exposed to valproate,” said the author of the study, Jakob Christensen. The author is a consultant neurologist at Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Nicole Crosby-McKenna, Epilepsy Action’s senior policy and campaigns officer said: “It is vital that women and girls of child bearing potential taking any epilepsy medicine have access to specialist information and advice. This should cover contraception, conception and pregnancy.

“For some women, sodium valproate is the safest drug for them to take in pregnancy. This is because it is the only medicine that effectively controls their epilepsy. More research is needed to discover the best way to treat these women before and during pregnancy.

“Another researcher in this area raised an interesting question - do these children have true autism or is it actually foetal valproate syndrome? Is it a case that some of the common features of autistic spectrum disorder are also common features of foetal valproate syndrome?

“There is an urgent need for continuing studies in this area. We need to better understand the potential effects of exposure to maternal sodium valproate. This includes how to minimise these risks if possible, or identify the families at a higher risk of having a baby with foetal valproate syndrome. Research is also needed to highlight best practice care and interventions to use in children and adults with foetal valproate syndrome.”

Epilepsy Action does not advise women to stop taking sodium valproate unless their doctor advises them to do so.

A close friend of the main London Bridge Terrorist has been jailed for four and a half years today after making this ISIS propaganda video outside Windsor Castle pledging to kill 'non-believers'.

Taha Hussain, 21, from Slough, Berkshire, was in a group shouting 'Allahu Akbar' and 'baby butchers' at soldiers in the town's barracks.

He also pledged to topple a statue of Queen Victoria in the same way Saddam Hussein's fell in lraq in 2003 - but later told police he was in Windsor 'feeding the ducks'.

He and another extremist filmed themselves in a car outside the famous castle and at the nearby Coldstream Guards barracks as they made threats and vowed to 'liberate Windsor' saying: 'ISIS will last for ever'. Hussain was an associate of Khuram Butt, who went on to lead two other men on a vehicle and knife attack on London Bridge and in Borough Market in June, killing eight people. 

Hussain ran ran two Youtube channels and broadcast extremist material using Whatsapp and Telegram to circle of extremists and appeared on the notorious Jihadi Next Door documentary on Channel 4.

Among the material he shared was an ISIS guide to joining the fighting in Syria which advised followers to launch an attack in their own countries if they were prevented from making the journey.

He also spread terrorist propaganda which said politicians, police and soldiers were the 'best of all people to kill'. 

Judge Paul Dodgson told him: 'Most chillingly in the light of recent events there is a chapter containing advice to those who could not go to Syria.

'The advice includes to wait a few months and try again, steal from the kuffars [non-believers] and, most pertinently to the events we have endured this year, kill local kuffar in their own land.  Hussain and another friend filmed themselves in a car outside Windsor Castle and at the nearby Coldstream Guards barracks as they made threats and yelled ISIS slogans.

In court, the apprentice panel beater, who had become religiously observant at the age of 15, claimed he was in Windsor 'to feed the ducks.'

But, sentencing him to four and a half years in jail, the judge told him: 'The attitude that you then possessed is clearly demonstrated by the words of hatred that you used.'

He said the video 'demonstrates quite graphically what his state of mind was at the time, and his feelings towards his country are amply demonstrated in that video. 

A terror suspect arrested on Saturday night outside a takeaway in connection with the Parsons Green tube bomb has been released without charge.

Syrian student Yahyah Farroukh, 21, was arrested at the Aladdin's Fried Chicken in Hounslow, west London where he worked

Anti-terror detectives are still questioning five men and searching four properties. Five people, including a 17-year-old boy, continue to be questioned in connection with the Parsons Green terrorist attack.

The teenager was detained after officers raided what neighbours described as a 'halfway house' in Thornton Heath, south London, at around 12.05am on Thursday.

The investigation into the rush-hour bombing, which injured 30 people, has also seen three men aged 25, 30 and 48, detained in Newport, south Wales, and an 18-year-old man detained at the Port of Dover.

Scotland Yard said: 'A 21-year-old man arrested in connection with the investigation into the terrorist attack at Parson's Green Tube Station has been released from police custody with no further action.

'The man was arrested in Hounslow at 11.50pm on Saturday, 16 September.

'A warrant for his further detention had been granted by Westminster Magistrates' Court until today, Thursday, 21 September. He was subsequently released. 'A further five men remain in custody, under section 41 of the Terrorism Act in connection with the investigation.

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met Counter Terrorism Command, said: 'This continues to be a fast-moving investigation. A significant amount of activity has taken place since the attack on Friday.

'We have five males in custody and searches are continuing at four addresses. Detectives are carrying out extensive inquiries to determine the full facts behind the attack.

'We anticipate that the searches will take some days to complete and may cause further disruption. However, it is important that we continue with these searches and I'd like to thank all those affected for their support, patience and cooperation.'

Mahdi Ramadi, known as Bilal, was named locally as the first of three men detained yesterday in Newport, with witnesses saying he smiled when police moved in to arrest him. 

L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, the world's richest woman, has died at the age of 94, her family said today.

'Liliane Bettencourt died last night at home,' her daughter Francoise Bettencourt Meyers said in a statement. 'My mother left peacefully.'

Bettencourt, the cosmetics giant's principal shareholder, was the 14th richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, which estimated her net worth in March at $39.5bn (£29.1bn).

She was rarely seen in public since leaving the L'Oreal board in 2012, but her name remained in the headlines as members of her entourage were charged with exploiting her failing mental health.

Bettencourt had been declared unfit to run her own affairs in 2011 after a medical report showing she had suffered from 'mixed dementia' and 'moderately severe' Alzheimer's disease since 2006. The complex legal case involved a bitter feud with her only daughter and unscrupulous friends, and even dragged in former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Patrice de Maistre, who managed Bettencourt's vast fortune, was accused of getting her to hand over envelopes of cash to members of Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party during his 2007 presidential campaign.

The charges against Sarkozy were dropped in October 2013 due to lack of evidence. Bettencourt was born Liliane Schueller in Paris in 1922 to L'Oreal founder Eugene Schueller and Louise Madeleine Berthe - who died when Bettencourt was just five years old.

She started working for L'Oreal aged 15 as an apprentice labelling bottles of shampoo and rose through the ranks over the years. 

She married French politician and future cabinet minister Andre Bettencourt in 1950, the couple remained together for 57 years during which time they had one daughter.

She inherited L'Oreal after her father died in 1957 and remained at the helm of the company for more than five decades. 

An ex-Hugo Boss supermodel has been sentenced to life behind bars for the 2015 slaying of his celebrity TV attorney girlfriend in Redondo Beach.

Robert Reagan, 53, will have the option for parole after he serves 16 years in prison for killing Loredana Nesci, Los Angeles County prosecutors said Tuesday.

Reagan broke down in tears during last month's court hearing after the guilty verdict was announced for the July 2015 stabbing of the 47-year-old 'Loredana, Esq.' actress. According to People, prosecutors suspect that Reagan killed Nesci because they were on the verge of breaking up and 'he wanted to avoid an expensive and bitter custody battle' over their son Rocco, who was five at the time. 

Los Angeles County prosecutor Allyson Ostrowski said Reagan had an expensive divorce from his first wife and wanted to avoid a similar tussle in the courts. During the trial Ostrowski said that Reagan 'gutted' Nesci with a 'Rambo-style' hunting knife and according to the Daily Breeze her injuries were so severe that her insides looked like 'Swiss cheese'. An abdominal wound was 7 inches long.

Nesci's distraught father revealed in Torrance Superior Court Tuesday that his daughter's killing 'destroyed' the family - who will 'never' be the same.

'All of a sudden, in the dark of the night, everything was stolen from her and from all of us,' John Nesci said in the statement. 

It is believed Reagan killed Nesci around 3am on July 22 and called 911 around five hours later. 

During that time he went to his sister's home in San Diego to pick up his son and took a shower. Blood evidence was found in the shower drain. 

Reagan's attorney, Shephard Kopp, claimed his client acted in self-defense during the attack in the couple's California home. 

Kopp said that Nesci, a bodybuilder and former fitness competitor, attacked Reagan with a hunting knife during a heated argument.

'She was an avid bodybuilder, and was exceptionally strong. She attacked Robert with a hunting knife in the midst of a domestic dispute,' he said. 

'While defending himself against her assault with a deadly weapon, [Reagan] tried to disarm her, and in the intense struggle that ensued she tragically suffered a fatal wound,' Kopp said, according to Variety. 

'[Reagan] is not guilty of committing any criminal offense, he is devastated by this horrible event.' 

A friend of the prominent pair and real estate broker, Todd Bernstein, told the Daily Mail Reagan was 'a sweet guy' who was 'intimidated by Loredana,' which surprised him the most.

'While it's sad she's not with us any more, she was bossy, bitchy, dangerous, a real piece of work,' Bernstein said in the shocking interview.

'She was also a tactical fighter, she trained, she kick boxed, she used to be a cop ... Yes they were in love, but he was afraid of her, he told me as much.

A North Korean defector has revealed she watched as 11 musicians were blown to bits by anti-aircraft guns - and saw her teenage classmates dragged off to become Kim Jong-un's sex slaves.

Hee Yeon Lim, 26, opened up about how the tyrant nonchalantly orders executions of people - including family members.

The Pyongyang graduate risked her life by making the revelations but did so to expose sensitive information about the leader.  She claims he forces the upper classes in Pyongyang to watch the horrific killings and later enjoys £1,000 lunched. She spoke to the Mirror  from a secret location, revealing she knew from an early age 'never to question' the then leader Kim Jong- Il. 

She has changed her name for security reasons and said that she was 'scared' after 'seeing terrible things in Pyongyang'. 

Ms Lim said she was one of 10,000 people who witnessed the killing of 11 musicians after they were accused of making a pornographic film. She added: 'The musicians were brought out, tied up, hooded and apparently gagged, so they could not make a noise, not beg for mercy or even scream.

'What I saw that day made me sick in my stomach. They were lashed to the end of anti-aircraft guns. There were around 10,000 people ordered to watch that day and I was standing 200 feet from these victims. 

More then 104 people are dead after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico causing gas line explosions, toppling buildings and forcing thousands to be evacuated into the street.

The tremor hit just hours after emergency drills around the nation on the anniversary of another devastating quake that killed thousands in Mexico City in 1985.

Today's quake hit near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 76 miles southeast of Mexico City, at a depth of 32 miles, the US Geological Survey said.

Horrifying images coming out of the country's capital show rubble strewn across roads and enormous chunks of collapsed buildings laying on the ground with hundreds of terrified locals fleeing onto the streets. As structures fell around her, local resident Georgina Sanchez, 52, said: 'I'm so worried. I can't stop crying. It's the same nightmare as in 1985.'

It comes just days after a powerful 8.1 quake hit Mexico, killing at least 98 people.

These prayers for children have been taken from out-of-print prayer and clergy textbooks. Our prayer sections are a work in progress and we will continue to add more as time goes on. If you’re wondering how to teach your children about prayer, I commend you for your desire to teach such an important principle to your children.

Prayer is a powerful tool and if taught to children while they are young, it’s likely that they will pray throughout their whole lives.  Children will learn a great deal about prayer as they hear you pray. Pray in the morning, before meals, during family time, when someone is ill, at bedtime, or anytime for that matter!

As you boldly declare your faith in prayer to God, your children will be more apt to want to follow in your footsteps. They may even add to your prayers spontaneously. hildren might be apprehensive if they hear formal prayers and wonder if they could “pray” so eloquent.

Teach your children that praying simply means talking to God. Just like they would talk to their teacher, parent, or friend, they can talk to God. Let them know that there is really no right or wrong way to talk to God; they can simply share their feelings, thoughts, and concerns. 

Hurricane Maria has strengthened to a major category three hurricane, US forecasters say, as it heads towards the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.

It is due to hit on Monday night local time.

Maria is moving roughly along the same path as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month.

The authorities fear Maria could whip up and throw the debris left behind by Hurricane Irma.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Maynard, a Royal Marine deployed to the British Virgin Islands, told the Press Association the hurricane could pick the debris up, "spin it around, and throw it like ammunition". The UK's International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, said: "British troops, police and aid experts are working relentlessly to get help to the victims of Hurricane Irma. Those same individuals will now be tasked with also preparing for the impact of Maria."

Hurricane warnings have been issued for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Martinique, St Lucia and the US and British Virgin Islands.

A hurricane watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, St Martin, St Barts, Saba, St Eustatius and Anguilla.

Some of these islands are still recovering after being hit by Irma - a category five hurricane which left at least 37 people dead and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

In its latest update on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Maria had maximum sustained winds of 200km/h (125mph).

They warned that heavy rainfall caused by the hurricane "could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides".

The eye of the storm is 100 miles east of Martinique, and Maria is moving west-northwest at about 13mph.

"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the NHC said.

Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has been devastated by a war between forces loyal to the internationally-recognised government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and those allied to the Houthi rebel movement. More than 7,600 people have been killedand 42,000 injured since March 2015, the majority in air strikes by a Saudi-led multinational coalition that backs the president.

The conflict and a blockade imposed by the coalition have also triggered a humanitarian disaster, leaving 70% of the population in need of aid. 

The conflict has its roots in the failure of the political transition that was supposed to bring stability to Yemen following an uprising that forced its longtime authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to hand over power to Mr Hadi, his deputy, in November 2011.

Mr Hadi struggled to deal with a variety of problems, including attacks by al-Qaeda, a separatist movement in the south, the continuing loyalty of many military officers to Mr Saleh, as well as corruption, unemployment and food insecurity. The Houthi movement, which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority and fought a series of rebellions against Mr Saleh during the previous decade, took advantage of the new president's weakness by taking control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighbouring areas.

Disillusioned with the transition, many ordinary Yemenis - including Sunnis - supported the Houthis and in September 2014 they entered the capital, Sanaa, setting up street camps and roadblocks.

In January 2015, the Houthis reinforced their takeover of Sanaa, surrounding the presidential palace and other key points and effectively placing Mr Hadi and his cabinet ministers under house arrest.

The president escaped to the southern port city of Aden the following month. The Houthis and security forces loyal to Mr Saleh then attempted to take control of the entire country, forcing Mr Hadi to flee abroad in March 2015.

Alarmed by the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by regional Shia power Iran, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at restoring Mr Hadi's government. 

The coalition received logistical and intelligence support from the US, UK and France.