were once the closest living relatives of modern humans, ranging across a vast area from Europe to western Asia and the Middle East. Their lineage went extinct about the same time modern humans expanded across the world, leading to speculation that modern humans wiped them out.

Scientists Bienvenido Martnez-Navarro and Policarp Hortol at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Tarragona, Spain, noted the migration of modern humans across the globe may have played a role in the extinction of more than 178 of the world's largest mammal species or megafauna, such as . Homo sapiens can essentially be considered "a worldwide pest species," they write in the May 8 issue of the journal Quaternary International. "No other species has ever developed such a killing potential." []

No evidence

Humans today also hunt and eat chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, humans' closest remaining living relatives, the researchers noted. As such, they suggest ancient modern humans may have killed and even devoured Neanderthals to extinction to get rid of competition. There is also fossil evidence that Neanderthals at timesand ancient modern humans sometimes ate other ancient modern humans, they added.

However, there is no clear evidence that ancient modern humans ever ate Neanderthals, they noted. For instance, scientists have not discovered Neanderthal bones with cut marks on them from ancient modern human stone tools.

There is even very little evidence there was any violence between ancient modern humans and Neanderthals, "and the two or three possible examples there are are controversial and can be interpreted different ways," paleoanthropologist Chris Stringer at the Natural History Museum in London, who did not take part in this study, told LiveScience. "I would not say this has been one of the mainstream arguments for ."

For instance, in Shanidar Cave in Iraq, "there's a rib wound that's suggested to be from a spear that came from above, and spear-throwing appears to be an advance linked with modern humans," Stringer said. "The problem is, we don't know if there were any modern humans in the vicinity at the time, so that could've been produced by another Neanderthal, perhaps one standing over and thrusting downward against a victim who is on the ground."

Human-Neanderthal contact?

Moreover, there is growing doubt there was ever much overlap between ancient modern humans and Neanderthals. For instance, recent findings suggestthousands of years earlier than before thought, perhaps never crossing paths with modern humans there.

"Even if Neanderthals and modern humans overlapped in terms of territory, they may not have contacted each other that much," Stringer said. "When modern humans came out of Africa, they did so in quite small groups, and they were spread out."

Recent genetic evidence suggests there was some interbreeding between ancient modern humans and Neanderthals, confirming there was at least some contact. "However, while such interactions could've been violent encounters, they could also have been peaceful as well," Stringer said. "We don't know for sure." []

When ancient modern humans encountered Neanderthals, "it may have been near the end of their time," Stringer said. "They were rather thin on the ground by then the level of genetic diversity we see in Neanderthals suggests their population size from Spain to Siberia was at most 20,000 people, which by modern standards would make them an endangered species, really."

"In my view of the Neanderthal disappearance, we don't need to invoke violent causes for their demise," Stringer said. "There are already two main factors they had to contend with."

The first factor is very rapid climate change.

"Most of the north Atlantic was switching from bitterly cold to nearly as warm as the present day every few thousand years, sometimes in less than a decade, and so Neanderthals had to deal with an extremely unstable climate in western Europe before modern humans arrived there," Stringer said.

Second, Neanderthals had to compete for resources with modern humans.

"Modern humans were hunting the same animals and wanting to live in the best real estate. You don't have to kill off other species intentionally just take over their environments, take away their food, and they die without lethal warfare."

There might have been some violent encounters between ancient modern human and Neanderthal groups, or within those groups "that's human nature, and has happened throughout history," Stringer added. "But the evidence is pretty thin that violence was a major mechanism for their disappearance."

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The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said that although delinquency rates are low, the tax agency should beef up the penalties against IRS workers who misuse individually billed travel cards.

"As its mission includes requiring taxpayers to pay taxes owed on time and voluntarily, the IRS should take further steps to address employees who do not voluntarily pay their travel card bills on time," said J. Russell George, the inspector general. "Identified misuse should be met with appropriate disciplinary action."

Under federal law, misuse of government-issued credit cards to pay for travel includes using the card for personal expenses, purchase from an unauthorized merchant, and failure to pay the bill on time, among other infractions.

It said the IRS identified about 1,000 cardholders who "misused" their travel cards in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, but they didn't detail the misuse. In all, the IRS travel card program had about 52,000 individual billed accounts with $121 million in charges for fiscal year 2011, the report said.

The agency has about 90,000 employees.

The inspector general's audit this month detailing a "be on the lookout" list for conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status has fueled a furor in Washington, with congressional hearings and an FBI probe. The fracas led President Barack Obama to force the acting IRS commissioner to resign, with another IRS official retiring early and a third put on administrative leave.

The travel card report said that when the IRS disciplines employees for card misuse, they generally impose less severe penalties than their internal guidelines suggest.

It said the delinquency rate was low at less than 1 percent but current processes "do not include any steps designed to detect inappropriate or personal use while employees are on official travel."

The report said "hundreds of cardholders" with evidence of significant financial problems, were not referred to re-evaluation for national security clearance or background checks.

The IRS said in its response it was already implementing the recommendations to correct the problems.

(Reporting by Kim Dixon; Editing by Howard Goller and Doina Chiacu)

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Accused Colorado theater gunman James Holmes, who could face execution if convicted of killing 12 moviegoers last summer, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Tuesday, and a judge accepted his plea.

Holmes, 25, is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder. He is accused of killing 12 people and wounding dozens more in a gun rampage inside a suburban Denver cinema during a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" last July.

Holmes, seated with his lawyers, said little during the latest proceedings in Arapahoe County District Court, but he appeared attentive and answered "no" when the judge asked him whether he had any questions about the ramifications of his plea.

The judge, Carlos Samour Jr., had delayed ruling on whether to accept such an insanity plea until legal questions surrounding the matter were resolved.

Among those issues was a challenge to the state's insanity-defense law by public defenders. They argued that a provision of the statute that requires a defendant mounting an insanity defense to submit to an examination by court-appointed psychiatrists is unconstitutional.

Compelling a defendant to divulge information that could be used against him at trial and at sentencing violates his right against self-incrimination, they argued. But Samour upheld the law last week, setting the stage for Tuesday's hearing.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the former University of Colorado-Denver graduate student if he is convicted.

Public defender Daniel King said in court last month that defense psychiatrists had obtained a complete diagnosis on Holmes' mental illness.

Twice since his arrest, Holmes has been hospitalized, his lawyers said, once for apparent self-inflicted head injuries and again when he was held in restraints in a psychiatric ward.

At a preliminary hearing in January, before a judge ordered the defendant to stand trial, investigators testified that Holmes spent months amassing firearms and bomb making materials in preparation for committing mass murder.

At the same time he was assembling his arsenal, Holmes failed his oral examinations and was told by a university professor that perhaps he was not a good fit for his neuroscience doctoral program, prosecutors said.

Also expected to be decided at Tuesday's hearing is the issue surrounding a package Holmes sent to a university psychiatrist who treated him that was delivered to a university mail room two days after the killings.

A notebook included in the package sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton reportedly contained details of a planned massacre. Holmes' lawyers have argued that the package is protected by physician-patient privilege and should not be turned over to prosecutors.

Defense attorneys submitted numerous pre-trial pleadings that were made public on Tuesday, including a notice to the judge that they plan to seek a change of venue for the trial on grounds that pretrial publicity could prejudice the jury. They also asked the judge to sequester the jury.

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman, Cynthia Johnston and Grant McCool)

The event was designed to encourage those struggling with mental illness to seek treatment, although some attendees noted the government needs to provide more resources to meet that goal.

Despite its origins, there was a notable lack of discussion of gun violence at the conference. The president never mentioned the matter as he opened the gathering from the East Room, instead stressing that he wants to make it clear that the majority of the mentally ill are not violent. He said his main goal in hosting the conference is "bringing mental illness out of the shadows" and encouraging those suffering to get help, particularly veterans and young people.

"We whisper about mental health issues and avoid asking too many questions," the president said. "The brain is a body part, too. We just know less about it. And there should be no shame in discussing or seeking help for treatable illnesses that affect too many people that we love. We've got to get rid of that embarrassment. We've got to get rid of that stigma."

The conference comes after Obama's effort to pass gun control, including more background checks for purchases and a ban on assault weapon sales, was voted down in the Senate. The need to improve the country's mental health care system is something all sides of the gun debate, including the National Rifle Association, have advocated.

"It's really something that uniquely can bring our country together, whether the issue is health care, gun control, media violence, however they want to characterize it," said Gordon Smith, a former Republican senator from Oregon whose son, Garrett, suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1998 a few days after his 13th birthday. Smith now heads the National Association of Broadcasters, which announced as part of the conference a new campaign to reduce negative perceptions of mental illness through television and radio ads and social media.

Smith's passing mention of guns, during a panel discussion, was the only mention of the issue in the daylong convention that came out of Obama's executive orders following the shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School.

There's been little publicly disclosed about the mental health of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza, although it's been documented that other gunmen involved in mass shootings suffered from mental illness. Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but the background check system is woefully incomplete and Obama is trying to get more mental health records included.

The conference featured around 150 invited attendees including mental health advocates and patients, educators, health care providers, faith leaders, lawmakers and local government officials from across the country. The two celebrities seemed impressed to be at the White House, with Close snapping a photo of Obama on her Iphone and Cooper gushing, "Wow," as he began to speak as part of the closing remarks with Vice President Biden.

Cooper has been promoting mental health awareness since his Oscar-nominated leading role as a man with bipolar disorder in last year's "Silver Linings Playbook."

"I'm sort of here by accident. It's not that I didn't know about mental illness. I think it's just that I just didn't see it as a part of my life," Cooper said. But he said since his performance, he learned people around him have been suffering in silence, including a close friend who is bipolar. "I want to be part of the solution," he said to applause.

Close's experience is more personal. Her sister, Jessie, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 51 and Jessie's son, Calen, spent two years in a psychiatric hospital with schizoaffective disorder. In 2009, Close's family battles led her to help start a non-profit called Bring Change 2 Mind, which produces public service announcements to fight the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.

"The truth is the stigma has hardly budged," Close said during a panel discussion on how to address negative attitudes moderated by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Close referred to studies showing the public doesn't want to have those with mental illness as neighbors, supervising them at work or taking care of their children and believe they are violent.

The conference comes after public spending on mental health services has been slashed across the country in recent years, driven by the recession and in some cases a zeal to shrink government. That has led to the closure and cutbacks at state-run psychiatric hospitals and cuts to services for the poor and people in the criminal justice system.

But the trend may be turning around in the wake of last year's mass shootings at Sandy Hook and the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. There are moves to restore funding in several states, and Obama pointed out that his signature health care law includes improvements for mental health coverage, including a ban beginning next year against denying coverage to those who are mentally ill.

Wayne Lindstrom, president and CEO of nonprofit Mental Health America, rose from the audience during a Q-and-A session of Sebelius' panel to express concerns about cuts in public services coinciding with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

"We will have millions of more Americans with coverage, potentially increasing the demand at a time when we are still far under capacity," Lindstrom said, appealing to members of Congress present to increase funding. "Unless we have additional resources we will not have the kind of access that we're all advocating for here today."

There were other concerns expressed by attendees Lindstrom pressed for rules being developed by the Obama administration to end insurance discrimination against people with mental illness and drug and alcohol addictions. Former Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, who had high-profile struggles with substance abuse and mental health while in office, pressed Sebelius to require insurance companies to publicly disclose data about their mental health coverage.

"Insurance companies will make all of us do the runaround unless they know that someone's looking at them," Kennedy said in an impassioned appeal from his seat in the audience that was met by loud applause from attendees.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., added that until community mental health and substance abuse are funded like other medical problems, the stigma can't be eliminated. "If we don't have services, we're not going to get this done," she said, standing from her front-row seat, among more than a dozen other members of Congress who have fought for mental health funding.

Sebelius said she hopes the conference will help raise awareness of funding gaps so that there will be more public pressure on lawmakers to fill them. As for the mental health parity rules, she said she's aware there are a lot of unanswered questions and she's committed to finalizing them by the end of the year.

Biden cited HHS figures that the country needs 8,000 more mental health professionals. "Think of the irony here if through your great efforts, we encourage people to come forward and they find out there's no one there to help them or they have to wait a long time," he said.

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

NEWARK (Reuters) - A homeless man who briefly gained Internet fame when he thwarted an attack on a woman in California by rushing to her assistance wielding a hatchet pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he killed a 73-year-old man in New Jersey, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.

The man, 24-year-old Caleb McGillvary, was arrested in May after police charged him with killing attorney Joseph Galfy, who was found bludgeoned to death in his house in Clark.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office had previously said there had been considerable evidence that led police to McGillvary, including a video of him with the victim at a train station.

Lorraine Stanley, the public defender representing McGillvary, pled not guilty on his behalf before Judge Brenda Coppola Cuba. The source said the case would now go before a grand jury, which can typically take up to two months when dealing with a homicide charge.

McGillvary, a lanky redhead known to roam the streets with a large backpack, rocketed to fame on You Tube in February after he pulled out a hatchet and rescued a woman being threatened in Fresno, California.

He was arrested near a Greyhound bus terminal in Philadelphia on May 16 after a witness from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contacted police and reported seeing Galfy with a man matching McGillvary's description, prosecutors said last month.

(The story corrects paragraph four to add dropped word "not".)

(Editing by Scott Malone, Toni Reinhold)

In its regular assessment of the country, the Washington-based IMF also called for a more proactive immigration policy to increase the labor force and warned Berlin that overzealously slashing spending could dent growth further.

The revised 2013 growth forecast of 0.3 percent, down from 0.6 percent only two months earlier, is a result of the persistent uncertainty stemming from the debt crisis in the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, the IMF said. This has led to a worse-than-expected first-quarter performance and hurt both export prospects and investment, it added.

"This could be a drag on investment for longer than we expected," said the IMF's Germany mission chief, Subir Lall, at a news conference in Berlin. The IMF's 2014 growth forecast for Germany of 1.5 percent will therefore also be revised downward, probably to about 1.3 percent, he said.

If German growth slows down further this year as predicted by the IMF, it will make it more difficult for Europe as a whole to emerge from the present recession.

Germany's government expects the country's economy to grow by 0.5 percent this year and 1.6 percent in 2014. It grew by 0.7 percent in 2012 much slower than the two previous years but still a positive spot in contrast with much of Europe.

The IMF which has the reputation of lecturing governments to trim deficits and keep their budgets in order said in light of the bleak outlook, Germany should stick to its current prudent budget policies and "avoid overperforming on (fiscal) consolidation" which would harm growth.

Germany last year achieved a budget surplus under the EU's debt criteria, thanks to a robust economy, low unemployment and exceptionally low borrowing costs. The country's overall deficit stands at about 80 percent of GDP.

Lall said the IMF anticipates a "marginal loosening" in Germany's budget policy and only modest austerity measures in the coming years to ensure that "fiscal policy will not act as a drag on the recovery of the economy."

The IMF also urged Berlin to lower workers' tax burden, increase the availability of full-time high-quality childcare and help the immigration of skilled labor to promote growth and keep its workforce healthy.

Germany has a low fertility rate and an aging population, which is already resulting in labor shortages. The country is attracting more talent from the countries hit hard by Europe's debt crisis, but experts say more immigration would be needed to reverse the trend of the country's declining demography.

"There have to be continuous measures to increase the labor force," Lall insisted.

The IMF's warning came on the backdrop of new census data published last week that found Germany's population was about 80 million, or 1.5 million people less than had been thought.

___

Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

, which is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) wide, cruised within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million km) of Earth at 4:59 p.m. EDT (2059 GMT) today, then slipped silently off into the depths of space once again.

The huge space rock never posed any danger of hitting Earth on this pass, scientists say. Indeed, at its closest approach this afternoon, 1998 QE2 was still about 15 times farther away than the moon is from Earth. []

Francis urged prayers for "beloved Syria" as he spoke from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square on Sunday to a crowd below. He lamented that the war there has stricken a defenseless people aspiring to peace.

Francis decried the "plague of kidnappings." Both rebels and pro-regime forces have abducted political foes, members of rival sects and others, including journalists, to settle scores or for ransom.

Among those snatched were two Orthodox bishops who were abducted in April.

The pope assured families of hostages of his prayers.

Francis expressed strong concern that the conflict has dragged on for more than two years.

The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

Hardcover Fiction Last Week

1. "Whiskey Beach" by Nora Roberts - (Putnam, $27.95)

2. "Daddy's Gone a Hunting" by Mary Higgins (Simon & Schuster, $26.99) 1

3. "Talking Eve" by Iris Johansen - (St. Martin's, $27.99)

4. "Starting Now" by Debbie Macomber (Ballantine, $26.00) 3

5. "Don't Go" by Lisa Scottoline (St Martin's, $27.99) 2

6. "Six Years" by Harlan Coben (Dutton, $27.95) 5

7. "Unintended Consequences" by Stuart Woods (Putnam, $26.95) 4

8. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (Crown, $25.00) 7

9. "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson (L.B./Reagan Arthur, $27.99) 6

10. "The Burgess Boys" by Elizabeth Strout (Random House, $26.00) 9

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. "Lean In" bySheryl Sandberg (Knopf, $24.95) 1

2. "LeaderShift" by Orrin Woodward & Oliver DeMille (Grand Central/Business Plus, $25.99) -

3. "The One Thing" by Gary Keller (Bard Press, $24.95) 13

4. "The Fast Metabolism Diet" by Haylie Pomroy (Harmony, $26.00) 2

5. "It's All Good" by Gwyneth Paltrow (Grand Central, $32.00) 3

6. "The Duck Commander Family" by Willie & Korie Robertson (Howard Books, $23.99) 4

7. "The Athena Doctrine" by John Gerzema & Michael D'Antonio (Jossey-Bass, $27.95) -

8. "Life Code" by Dr. Phil McGraw (Bird Street Books, $26.00) 5

9. "Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha" by John Romaniello & Adam /Bornstein (HarperOne, $27.99) -

10. "Relish" by Daphne Oz (William Morrow, $27.50) -

Week ended April 21, 2013, powered by Nielsen BookScan (c) 2012 The Nielsen Company.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Bill Trott)

Saturday's ambush, which targeted Congress party politicians returning from a campaign event with the area's indigenous tribal community, appeared to be a warning to officials to stay away from the rebels' main base of support.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party President Sonia Gandhi visited some of the 37 people who were injured in the attack in a hospital Sunday in the Chhattisgarh state capital and said the government would take firm action against the perpetrators.

"We are devastated," said Gandhi, who denounced what she called a "dastardly attack" on the country's democratic values.

Rajnath Singh, president of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said the country should unite in its fight against the Maoist insurgency.

The convoy was attacked in a densely forested area about 345 kilometers (215 miles) south of Raipur, Chhattisgarh's capital, as the Congress members were returning from a party rally.

Four state party leaders and eight police officers were among the 24 people who were killed. Other victims were party supporters.

Police officer R.K. Vij said 11 of the 37 injured were in serious condition.

Police identified one of those dead as Mahendra Karma, a Congress party leader in Chhattisgarh who founded a local militia, the Salwa Judum, to combat the Maoist rebels. The anti-rebel militia had to be reined in after it was accused of atrocities against tribals indigenous people at the bottom of India's rigid social ladder.

The dead also included state Congress party chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son. The injured included former federal minister Vidya Charan Shukla, 83, police said.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the attackers blocked the road by felling trees, forcing the convoy to halt. Vij said the suspected rebels triggered a land mine that blew up one of the cars. The attackers then fired at the Congress party leaders and their supporters before fleeing.

Congress is the main opposition party in the state. It has stepped up political activities, trying to win the support of tribals, ahead of state elections scheduled to be held by December.

K.P.S. Gill, a former police chief of Punjab state who has written widely on reform, said the attack was "a very horrifying incident."

However, Gill said the state government was incapable of devising a strategy to tackle the Maoist threat. "They don't have the political will and bureaucratic and police set-up to prevent such attacks," he said.

He said the state government had ignored the need for special forces to tackle the threat. "Most of the special forces in the state are being used for non-operational duties like guarding state politicians," he said.

Prime Minister Singh has called the rebels India's biggest internal security threat. They are now present in 20 of India's 28 states and have thousands of fighters, according to the Home Ministry.

The rebels, known as Naxalites, have been fighting the central government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor. They take their name from the West Bengal village of Naxalbari where the movement began in 1967.

The fighters were inspired by Chinese Communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong and have drawn support from displaced tribal populations opposed to corporate exploitation and official corruption.

The government has offered to begin peace talks with the rebels, but without success. The Maoists demand that it first withdraw thousands of paramilitary soldiers deployed to fight the rebels.

Maoist rebels carried out two major attacks in Chhattisgarh in 2010. They ambushed a paramilitary patrol in April that year, killing 76 troops in their worst attack ever. A month later, they triggered a land mine under a bus carrying civilians and police, killing 31 people.