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ByJillLawless TheAssociatedPress LONDON A radical Mus- lim killed a soldier out- side Canada's Parliament. A right-wing extremist opened fire on buildings in Texas' capital and tried to burn down the Mexican Consulate. An Al-Qaida-in- spired assailant hacked an off-duty soldier to death in London. Police said all three were terrorists and motivated by ideology. Authorities and family members said they may have been mentally ill. A growing body of re- search suggests they might well have been both. New studies have chal- lenged several decades of thinking that psychologi- cal problems are only a mi- nor factor in the making of terrorists. The research has instead found a significant link between mental prob- lems and "lone wolf" ter- rorism. Now academics and law enforcement officials are working to turn that re- search into tools to pre- vent deadly attacks. "It's never an either-or in terms of ideology ver- sus mental illness," said Ramon Spaaij, a sociologist at Australia's Victoria Uni- versity who conducted a major study, funded by the U.S. Justice Department, of lone wolf extremists. "It's a dangerous cocktail." The study preceded Tuesday's ending of a 16- hour siege involving a gunman who took hos- tages in a cafe in Syd- ney. The gunman, Ira- nian-born Man Haron Monis, was already fac- ing charges including sexual assault and acces- sory to murder in separate cases, and his former law- yer said the standoff was "not a concerted terror- ism event" but the work of "a damaged-goods in- dividual." With groups like Is- lamic State spreading vio- lence in Syria and Iraq — and bloodthirsty rhetoric on the Internet — authori- ties around the world have issued increasingly insis- tent warnings about the threat posed by lone wolf attackers. They can be difficult to stop with a counterter- rorism strategy geared to- ward intercepting com- munications and disrupt- ing plots. Solo terrorism "doesn't take an awful lot of organiz- ing. It doesn't take too many people to conspire together. There's no great complexity to it," London Police Chief Bernard Hogan-Howe told the BBC recently. "So what that means is that we have a very short time to interdict, to actually intervene and make sure that these peo- ple don't get away with it." MEDICAL RESEARCH Can identifying mental illness stop terror attacks? THECANADIANPRESS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Radical Muslim Michael Zehaf-Bibeau killed a soldier outside Canada's parliament. VANCOUVER POLICE VIA THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, who shot a soldier to death at Canada's national war memorial day. By Matthew Daly and Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Sen- ate on Monday approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as U.S. surgeon general, despite opposition from Repub- licans and some Demo- crats over his support for gun control and past state- ments that gun violence is a public health issue. Murthy, 37, a physician at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and in- structor at Harvard Med- ical School, won confir- mation on a vote of 51-43. He's a co-founder of Doc- tors for America, a group that has pushed for afford- able health care and sup- ports Obama's health care law. Sen. John Barrasso, R- Wyo., said most of Mur- thy's career has been spent as an activist focused on gun control and other po- litical issues, rather than on treating patients. "Americans don't want a surgeon general who might use this position of trust to promote his own personal campaign against the Second Amendment of the Constitution," Barrasso said. Supporters said Murthy is well-qualified and noted his promise not to use the position as a bully pulpit for gun control. The nation has been without a Senate-con- firmed surgeon general since July 2013. The sur- geon general does not set policy but is an advocate for the people's health. Murthy's confirmation "makes us better posi- tioned to save lives around the world and protect the American people here at home," President Barack Obama said in a state- ment. Murthy "will also help us build on the prog- ress we've made combat- ting Ebola, both in our country and at its source" in West Africa. Murthy's confirmation represented a rare defeat for the National Rifle As- sociation, which told sena- tors that a vote for Murthy would be scored against them when they rate law- makers' votes during elec- tion campaigns. Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Murthy has been "pilloried and excoriated" by the NRA and its sup- porters for his backing of stricter gun laws, includ- ing an assault weapons ban, and statements that gun violence is a public health issue. Murthy has made clear he is not "aspiring to be the leading doctor in America to engage in a political de- bate, but rather to engage in public health debates about obesity and tobacco and things that make a dramatic difference to the lives of so many people who live in this country," Durbin said. Murthy expressed sup- port for gun control in a letter to Congress after the Newtown, Connecti- cut, school shooting. His nomination was en- dorsed by more than 100 health organizations, in- cluding the American College of Physicians, the American Heart Associa- tion and the American Di- abetes Association. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., a staunch supporter of gun rights, did not men- tion guns in a statement opposing Murthy but said he does not believe it's ap- propriate for America's top doctor to participate in po- litical activism. Obama surgeon general pick approved by Senate WASHINGTON CHARLES DHARAPAK — ASSOCIATED PRESS Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next U.S. Surgeon General, listens on Capitol Hill in Washington. www.redbluff.mercy.org redbluff.mercy.org Light up a Life 7pm-8:30pm 12/17 Coyne Center For more information, please call 528.4207 5th Annual Cookie Extravaganza 10am-2pm 12/18 Main Hall across from Café Raymond Grief Support Group 3pm-5pm 12/18 Thursdays Coyne Center Kristin Hoskins 528.4207� Endsnoring An estimated 80 million people in North America snore. Taking into account the snorer's spouse and children, as many as 160 million people are negatively affected by snoring. 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