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Morsi won’t rest until Syrian war ends, calls it ‘tragedy of the age’
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Egypt’s new President Mohammed Morsi, making his debut on the global stage at the United Nations, said Wednesday that he will not rest until the civil war in Syria is brought to an end.
He called the fighting there, which opposition groups say has killed at least 30,000 people, the "tragedy of the age" and one that "we all must end." And he invited all nations to join an effort to stop the bloodshed that began about 18 months ago when opposition figures rose up against President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Morsi, an Islamist and key figure in the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, opened his remarks to the U.N. General Assembly by celebrating himself as Egypt’s first democratically elected leader who was swept into office after what he called a "great, peaceful revolution."
He said the first issue for the world body should be certifying the rights of the Palestinian people.
"The fruits of dignity and freedom must not remain far from the Palestinian people," he said, adding that it was "shameful" that U.N. resolutions are not enforced. He decried Israel’s continued building of settlements on territory that the Palestinians claim for a future state in the West Bank.
Wooing college students and working-class, Romney, Obama crisscross Ohio
WESTERVILLE, Ohio
With polls showing the president ahead in key swing states that will decide the race, the White House expressed confidence. "As time progresses, you know, the field is looking like it’s narrowing for them," campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama headed for his own rallies in Ohio. "And so in that sense we’d rather be us than them."
Obama was stopping at two college campuses in the hunt for the state’s 18 electoral votes, while Romney was here for a second straight day on a bus emblazoned with, "More Jobs, More Take-Home Pay." Losing the state would dramatically narrow Romney’s path to the 270 Electoral College votes it takes to win the White House -- and no Republican has ever lost Ohio and won the presidency.
Romney’s pitch for working-class men was far from subtle. He campaigned at a factory that makes commercial spring wire, touring the noisy plant floor in goggles and rolled-up shirt sleeves alongside television’s king of macho, Discovery Channel’s "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe. The pair spoke later from a stage set with hard hat-wearing workers, giant coils of steel wire, open metal cross beams and yellow caution signs in the background.
The economy during Obama’s presidency has been especially hard on male blue-collar workers. But secretly recorded video of Romney telling donors he doesn’t need to worry about the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes and "believe that they are victims" has distracted from his argument that blue-collar men should throw Obama out over his fiscal record.
Case of man with many tumors could lead to customized cancer treatments
It’s a medical nightmare: a 24-year-old man endures 350 surgeries since childhood to remove growths that keep coming back in his throat and have spread to his lungs, threatening his life. Now doctors have found a way to help him by way of a scientific coup that holds promise for millions of cancer patients.
The bizarre case is the first use in a patient of a new discovery: how to keep ordinary and cancerous cells alive indefinitely in the lab.
The discovery allows doctors to grow "mini tumors" from each patient’s cancer in a lab dish, then test various drugs or combinations on them to see which works best. It takes only a few cells from a biopsy and less than two weeks to do, with materials and methods common in most hospitals.
Although the approach needs much more testing against many different types of cancer, researchers think it could offer a cheap, simple way to personalize treatment without having to analyze each patient’s genes.
"We see a lot of potential for it," said one study leader, Dr. Richard Schlegel, pathology chief at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington. "Almost everyone could do it easily."
’Moon River’ crooner Andy Williams dies after yearlong battle with bladder cancer
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) -- For many Americans, particularly those on the older -- OK, squarer -- side of the generation gap, Andy Williams was part of the soundtrack of the 1960s and ‘70s, with easy-listening hits like "Moon River," the "Love Story" theme and "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from his beloved Christmas TV specials.
The singer known for his wholesome, middle-America appeal was the antithesis of the counterculture that produced rock and roll.
"The old cliche says that if you can remember the 1960s, you weren’t there," Williams once recalled. "Well, I was there all right, but my memory of them is blurred -- not by any drugs I took but by the relentless pace of the schedule I set myself."
The entertainer, who died Tuesday night at his Branson home following a yearlong battle with bladder cancer, had a plaintive tenor, boyish features and clean-cut demeanor that helped him outlast many of the decade’s rock stars and fellow crooners such as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. He remained on the charts into the 1970s and continued to perform into his 80s.
Williams became a major star in 1956, the same year as Elvis Presley, with the Sinatra-like swing number "Canadian Sunset." For a time, he was pushed into such Presley imitations as "Lips of Wine" and the No. 1 smash "Butterfly."
Children believed dead in Tenn. fire now considered missing; remains not found
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Two children initially believed to have perished in a Tennessee farmhouse fire along with their step-grandparents are now considered missing and perhaps in danger, investigators said on Wednesday.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the remains of 9-year-old Chloie Leverette and 7-year-old Gage Daniel were not found and the agency issued an endangered child alert for them on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators said neighbors last saw the children Sunday evening, hours before a fire destroyed the home in Bedford County about 40 miles southeast of Nashville.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said the district attorney asked the agency to investigate the fatal fire and the whereabouts of the children. She said there is no evidence yet that the children were not in the house, but investigators are speaking with family members, friends and people at the children’s school.
"Under an abundance of caution we decided to issue an endangered child alert for the two children if they are not in fact found in the fire," Helm said.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office said in a statement that it has concluded "that there are no remains of the two children in the structure. The children’s location at this time is unknown."
Myspace tries another revamp with the help of Justin Timberlake
NEW YORK (AP) -- "Who am I to say I want you back? When you were never mine to give away."
Those are the opening lines of a song that accompanies a "New Myspace" promotional video. The once-mighty social network is trying to stage yet another comeback with the help of Justin Timberlake. The new site, for which people can request an invitation, looks a bit like an entertainment-focused version of Pinterest, with a dash of Twitter and Facebook thrown in.
But Myspace has tried redesigns before, to no avail. Will it work this time?
"If you break my heart a second time, I might never be the same," continues the song, "Heartbeat," by the group JJAMZ.
From the sound if it, Myspace wants to win the hearts and minds of tech-savvy hipsters. Founded in 2003 and initially a fast-rising star, Myspace attracted mostly teenagers and twentysomethings, offering them a place to express themselves online. It peaked in 2008 with some 76 million U.S. visitors in October. The site lost its footing as the fun of customizing profile pages began to bore its users and the site’s heavy use of banner advertisements slowed the speed at which pages loaded. At the same time, people were already migrating to Facebook, which counted users 35 and older among its fastest-growing demographic.
UK court issues interim injunction to prevent extradition of radical cleric
LONDON (AP) -- A British court issued an interim injunction Wednesday blocking the extradition of a radical cleric to the United States on terror charges, granting a court hearing for an appeal.
Mustafa Kamal Mustafa -- who is better known as Abu Hamza al-Masri -- challenged his extradition on charges that include helping set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon. The appeal marked yet another legal twist in a case that has wound its way through the courts for eight years.
Khaled Al-Fawwaz, a second terror suspect, has also mounted a legal challenge before Britain’s High Court.
Britain’s Home Office immediately challenged the appeals.
Judicial authorities said in a statement that a hearing would be held Tuesday to consider the two men’s applications. Sonn Macmillan Walker, a London law firm representing al-Masri, declined to provide details "given the sensitive nature of this matter."
