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WORLD BRIEFING extremism UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Confronting global tumult and Muslim anger, President Barack Obama exhorted world leaders Tuesday to stand fast against violence and extremism, arguing that protecting religious rights and free speech must be a universal responsibility and not just an American obligation. ''The impulse towards intolerance and violence may initially be focused on the West, but over time it cannot be contained,'' Obama warned the U.N. General Assembly in an urgent call to action underscored by the high stakes for all nations. The gloomy backdrop for Obama's speech — a world riven by deadly protests against an anti- Islamic video, by war in Syria, by rising tension over a nuclear Iran and more — marked the dra- matic shifts that have occurred in the year since the General Assembly's last ministerial meeting, when democratic upris- ings in the Arab world created a sense of excite- ment and optimism. Obama had tough words for Iran and condemned anew the violence in Syria as Bashar al-Assad tries to retain power. Obama presses world leaders to reject Six weeks before the U.S. presidential election, an unmistakable cam- paign element framed Obama's speech as well: The president's Republi- can rival, Mitt Romney, has tried to cast him as a weak leader on the world stage, too quick to apolo- gize for American values. Romney, speaking at a Clinton Global Initiative forum just miles from the U.N., avoided direct criti- cism of Obama in defer- ence to the apolitical set- tings of the day, but he said he hoped to return a year later ''as president, having made substantial progress'' on democratic reforms. war in Syria UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-Gener- al Ban Ki-moon demand- ed international action to stop the war in Syria, telling a somber gathering of world leaders Tuesday that the 18-month conflict had become ''a regional calamity with global ram- ifications.'' UN chief Ban demands international action to stop In sharp contrast to the U.N. chief, President Barack Obama pledged U.S. support for Syrians trying to oust President Bashar Assad — ''a dicta- tor who massacres his own people.'' Ohio's job growth helps Obama move ahead in a state Romney Wednesday, September 26, 2012 – Daily News 1D badly needs VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) — Ohio has emerged as the presiden- tial race's undisputed focus. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are making multiple stops this week alone in a state that's trending toward the presi- dent, endangering Rom- ney's White House hopes. The popularity of Obama's auto industry bailout, and a better-than- average local economy, are undermining Rom- ney's call for Ohioans to return to their GOP-lean- ing ways, which were cru- cial to George W. Bush's two elections. Ohio has 18 electoral votes, seventh most in the nation, and no Republican has won the White House without car- rying it. Romney is scrambling Opening the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meet- ing, Ban said in his state of the world speech that he was sounding the alarm about widespread insecurity, inequality and intolerance in many countries. mar's military rulers and became a political prisoner. The 49-year-old politi- cal refugee would like to return to his homeland one day, but he doesn't believe it will happen, even after hearing Myanmar opposi- tion leader Aung San Suu Kyi say she would work to make sure people like him could come back. Myint was among thou- sands of elated supporters who greeted Suu Kyi with cheers, tears and a standing ovation Tuesday as she took to the stage at the Allen County War Memor- ial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., the fourth stop on her 17-day U.S. tour. was imprisoned in 1989. But Myint, who spent 15 years as a political prisoner, said he doesn't believe Suu Kyi will be able to help him go back to Myanmar. That's because he says he's too well-known for work- ing against the junta, hav- ing been featured in an HBO documentary called ''Burma Soldier.'' ''She cannot do any- thing. She is not in the power,'' he said. Like Suu Kyi, Myint Putting the spotlight on Syria, the U.N. chief said ''the international com- munity should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control.'' ''We must stop the vio- lence and flows of arms to both sides, and set in motion a Syrian-led tran- sition as soon as possi- ble,'' he said. D U CK Y D E RB Y 23 RD ANNUAL ANNUAL DUCK DROP 1PM September 30 th CALDWELL PARK REDDING, CA Duck Sponsorship forms still available! Visit Rabobank in the Raley's Shopping center in Red Bluff or call (530) 528-3060 Proceeds from Duck Sponsorship sales through Red Bluff Rotary or Rabobank go to support the good works of Red Bluff Rotary! ALL THIS AND YOU COULD WIN GREAT PRIZES TOO! North Country Raft Rental CW TEN10 REDDING CHICO KLXR 1230 AM music and memories Published though a sponsorship agreement with the Daily News. to reverse the polls that show Obama ahead. On Tuesday, he made the first of his four planned Ohio stops this week, joining his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, for a rally near Dayton. On Wednesday, Obama will visit the col- lege towns of Kent and Bowling Green, and Romney's bus tour will stop in the Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo areas. ''If this president per- sists on the road of mak- ing it harder and harder for small businesses to grow and thrive, he's going to slowly but surely weaken our economy and turn us into Greece,'' Romney told supporters Tuesday in Vandalia. He said the Obama adminis- tration has put govern- ment between patients and their doctors, and is picking winners and losers in private business. ''That is not the Amer- ica that built Ohio!'' Romney declared. final weeks CHICAGO (AP) — Six weeks from Election Day, President Barack Obama's campaign has momentum — and a big case of nerves. Top advisers are both relishing in Obama's edge in key battleground state polling and warning it can change in an instant. They're wary of the many factors that still could derail the Democrat's campaign, from simmer- ing tensions in the Middle East to the three high- stakes presidential debates. They're worried, too, about a flood of neg- ative advertisements from Republican-leaning out- side groups and potential complacency among Democratic voters and volunteers who think the race is a lock for Obama. Also weighing on them: unforeseen domes- tic or international events that can shake up a close race in the homestretch. ''I can only worry about what I can control,'' says Jim Messina, Obama's campaign man- ager. For now, that means Obama has momentum in campaign's the overall campaign strategy. heyday over HOBYO, Somalia (AP) — The empty Somali piracy whiskey bottles and over- turned, sand-filled skiffs littering this once- bustling shoreline are signs the heyday of Soma- li piracy may be over. Most of the prostitutes are gone and the luxury cars repossessed. Pirates while away their hours playing cards or catching lobsters. ''There's nothing to do here these days,'' said Hassan Abdi, a high school graduate who taught English in a private school before turning to piracy in 2009. ''The hopes for a revitalized market are not high.'' Armed guards aboard Thousands of posters of Iran's leader rise up in Iraq BAGHDAD (AP) — After years of growing influence, a new sign of Iran's presence in Iraq has hit the streets. Thousands of signs, that is, depicting Iran's supreme leader gently smiling to a population once mobilized against the Islam- ic Republic in eight years of war. cargo ships and an inter- national naval armada that carries out onshore raids have put a huge dent in piracy and might even be ending the scourge. While experts say it's too early to declare victo- ry, the numbers are star- tling: In 2010, pirates seized 47 vessels. This year they've taken five. For a look at the reality behind those numbers, an Associated Press team from the capital, Mogadishu, traveled to the pirate havens of Galkayo and Hobyo, a coastal town considered too dangerous for Western reporters since the kid- nappers have turned to land-based abductions over the last year. country FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Myo Myint lost most of his right arm and right leg and several fingers fighting for the Burma army before he began working against Myan- Suu Kyi tells Burmese in US to look back to home The campaign under- scores widespread doubts over just how independent Iraq and its majority Shiite Muslim population can remain from its eastern neighbor, the region's Shiite heavyweight, now that U.S. troops have left the country. The posters of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei first appeared in at least six Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad and across Iraq's Shiite-dominated south in August, as part of an annual pro-Palestinian observance started years ago by Iran. They have conspicuously remained up since then. ''When I see these pic- tures, I feel I am in Tehran, not Baghdad,'' said Asim Salman, 44, a Shiite and owner of a Baghdad cafe. ''Authorities must remove these posters, which make us angry.'' In Basra, located 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of the capital, they hang near donation boxes decorated with scripts in both countries' languages — Arabic and Farsi. NYC schools offering morning- after birth It's a campaign believed to be unprecedented in its size and aggressiveness: New York City is dispens- ing the morning-after pill to girls as young as 14 at more than 50 public high schools, sometimes even before they have had sex. The effort to combat teen pregnancy in the nation's largest city con- trasts sharply with the views of politicians and school systems in more conservative parts of the country. Valerie Huber, presi- dent of the National Abstinence Education Association in Washing- ton, calls it ''a terrible case once again of bigotry of low expectations'' — presuming that teen girls will have sex anyway, and effectively endorsing that. But some doctors say more schools should fol- low New York's lead. control NEW YORK (AP) —