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8A Daily News – Tuesday, July 3, 2012 2 million ask: Why aren't the lights back on yet? WASHINGTON (AP) — From North Carolina to New Jersey, 2 million peo- ple without electricity are asking the same question: Why will it take so long to get the lights back on? Nearly three full days after a severe summer storm lashed the East Coast, utilities warned that many neighborhoods could remain in the dark for much of the week, if not beyond. Friday's storm arrived with little warning, so util- ity companies have had to wait days for extra crews traveling from as far away as Quebec and Oklahoma. And the toppled trees and power lines often entan- gled broken equipment in debris that must be removed before workers can even get started. Adding to the urgency of the repairs are the sick and elderly, who are espe- cially vulnerable without air conditioning in the sweltering triple-digit heat. Many sought refuge in hotels or basements. Officials feared the death toll, already at 22, could climb because of the heat and widespread use of generators, which emit fumes that can be danger- ous in enclosed spaces. Syrian opposition makes new push to unite CAIRO (AP) — The Arab League chief urged exiled Syrian opposition figures to unite at a meet- ing Monday as a new Western effort to force President Bashar Assad from power faltered. Another 85 soldiers, WORLD BRIEFING some voters in key states appear uncomfortable with his record at a corporate restructuring firm before he became Massachusetts gov- ernor. National polls suggest that Obama holds a small, perhaps meaningless lead as he awaits a new jobs report Friday that could bring bad news similar to last month's. Romney is offer- ing few details of his own health and economic pro- posals for now, perhaps thinking outside forces will dislodge the president. Andolou news agency said the group of defec- tors also included 14 other officers, ranging from one colonel to seven captains. It is one of the largest groups of Syrian army defectors to cross into Turkey since the uprising against Assad began. including a general, fled to Turkey in a growing wave of defections. Turkey's state-run The stakes are high for calming the crisis in Syria, which NATO Sec- retary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Mon- day called ''one of the gravest security chal- lenges the world faces today.'' But more than one year into the Syrian revolt, the opposition is still hobbled by the infighting and frac- tiousness that have pre- vented the movement from gaining the kind of political traction it needs to present a credible alter- native to Assad. ''There is an opportu- nity before the conference of Syrian opposition today that must be seized, and I say and repeat that this opportunity must not be wasted under any cir- cumstance,'' Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby told nearly 250 members of the Syrian opposition at the opening of the two- day conference in Cairo. Romney hopes to quiet outsourcing conversation WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidential race is entering the sultry summer, a final lull before the sprint to Election Day, with Presi- dent Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney neck and neck and no sign that either can break away. As both candidates take a breather this week — Romney at his lakeside compound in New Hamp- shire and Obama at the Camp David presidential retreat — each sees prob- lems he'd like to cure before Labor Day. Obama and his allied groups aren't keeping pace with Romney and the Republican fundraising machine, and that places more pressure on the presi- dent to solicit huge sums himself. And the Supreme Court ruling that saved Obama's signature health care initiative last week did- n't change the fact that most Americans don't like the law. impressive. But, in a sign of his hurdles, he's spending heavily in North Carolina, a state he almost certainly must win to have a chance at the White House. And Romney's fundraising is Egypt's new president portrays himself as simple man CAIRO (AP) — Stand- ing before tens of thousands of adoring supporters in Tahrir Square, President Mohammed Morsi opened his jacket in a show of bravado to prove he was not wearing a bullet-proof vest. The message was clear: He has nothing to fear because he sees himself as the legiti- mate representative of Egypt's uprising. In the week since he was named president, Morsi has portrayed himself as a sim- ple man, uninterested in the trappings of power and refusing to take up resi- dence in the presidential palace Drawdown in Afghanistan CAMP LEATHER- NECK, Afghanistan (AP) — For today's drill, an instructor explains, the Tal- iban will be played by U.S. Marines, and the ''village'' will be just down from the driving practice loop. An Afghan police officer uses a stick to point out tar- gets to his team on a map drawn in the dirt. They grab their weapons and head out, taking cover behind a berm. A pickup truck drives up. The Afghans take aim and mimic the sound of a machine gun. The Marines tumble out of the vehicle, grabbing their chests as they fall to the ground. That's a successful day at the U.S. Marine-run Joint Sustainment Academy in southwestern Afghanistan, which has been offering supplementary training on weapons, specialized skills and unit leadership to Afghan soldiers and police since 2009. The Afghans who attend the academy say they learn things that were never taught in their official training: how to handle dif- ferent weapons and how to organize a patrol or an ambush. But now, even as U.S. His speeches reveal a populist bent, filled with generous promises many are skeptical he can keep. And although he began as an awkward and uninspir- ing speaker, Morsi appears to be striving to reinvent his uncharismatic public per- sona. After eking out a narrow victory in last month's runoff, Morsi has claimed the mantle of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak last year. officials talk about their commitment to training and advising Afghan security forces well past 2014, the Joint Sustainment Academy is preparing to shut down. Officials in the U.S. talk- ing about the need to decrease combat operations in Afghanistan have been much more reticent to high- light one aspect of the draw- down: that plenty of U.S. advisers and mentors are also leaving. McConnell: Odds long against But his Muslim Brother- hood did not join the upris- ing until it had gained irre- versible momentum. And its critics say the Islamic fundamentalist group has hijacked the movement that was led by secular and liber- al youths, and abandoned demonstrators during dead- ly clashes with security forces in the months that followed Mubarak's Febru- ary 2011 ouster. lawmakers seeking to gut health Ky. (AP) — It's on his to-do list, but U.S. Senate Minori- ty Leader Mitch McConnell says the odds are against repealing the health care law championed by Presi- care law ELIZABETHTOWN, HAD A SMASHING WEEK? WE WILL GIBBS GIBBS NOW OFFERS RENTAL CARS M-F 8AM-5PM 527-2649 780 EAST AVE. (behind Food Maxx) STRAIGHTEN IT OUT. Voted BEST in Tehama County all 7 years 2006~2012 AUTO BODY REPAIR dent Barack Obama. The Kentucky Republi- can said Monday it's hard to unravel something of the magnitude of the 2,700- page health care law, WHAS-TV reports. ''If you thought it was a good idea for the federal government to go in this direction, I'd say the odds are still on your side,'' McConnell said. ''Because it's a lot harder to undo something than it is to stop it in the first place.'' the law in comments to about 50 people at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Eliza- bethtown. The state's senior senator was making stops at Kentucky hospitals dis- cussing what's next since last week's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court's that the law was constitutional. The high court upheld McConnell discussed Researchers to announce evidence of tists believe the ''God parti- cle'' that might explain the underpinnings of the uni- verse is real, and they are about to present their evi- dence to the world. Physicists at the world's biggest atom smasher plan to announce Wednesday that they have nearly confirmed the primary plank of a theory that could shape the scientif- ic understanding of all mat- ter. 'God particle' GENEVA (AP) — Scien- gravity and Isaac Newton's discovery: It was there all the time before Newton explained it. But now scien- tists know what it is and can put that knowledge to further use. The idea is much like the law's crucial mandate that individuals buy health insurance or face a penalty. The focus of the excite- ment is the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle that, if confirmed, could help explain why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give an object weight. Researchers at the Euro- pean Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, say that they have compiled vast amounts of data that show the footprint and shad- ow of the particle — all but proving it exists, even though it has never actually been glimpsed. TATTOO FIRST LOVE New for Summer Fresh line of Accessories & Clothing 648 Main St. Downtown Red Bluff (530) 528-8288 Published through a co-sponsorship agreement with The Daily News