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AP U.S. NewsBrief at 3:18 a.m. EDT
[October 24, 2011]

AP U.S. NewsBrief at 3:18 a.m. EDT


(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Torch cams to give masses views from Lady LibertyNEW YORK (AP) _ Give me your tired, your poor _ your Internet-connected masses yearning to see. Lady Liberty is getting high-tech gifts for her 125th birthday: webcams on her torch that will let viewers gaze out at New York Harbor and read the tablet in her hands or see visitors on the grounds of the island below in real time. The five torch cams are to be switched on Friday during a ceremony to commemorate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty on Oct. 28, 1886. The ceremony caps a week of events centered around the historic date, including the debut of a major museum exhibition about poet Emma Lazarus, who helped bring the monument renown as the "Mother of Exiles." 'Miracle' tornado survivor denied workers' compJOPLIN, Mo. (AP) _ By all accounts, Mark Lindquist is a hero, an underpaid social worker who nearly gave his life trying to save three developmentally disabled adults from the Joplin tornado. Both houses of the Missouri legislature honored Lindquist, the Senate resolution calling him "a true hero and inspiration to others." But heroism doesn't pay the bills. The tornado's 200 mph winds tossed Lindquist nearly a block, broke every rib, obliterated his shoulder, knocked out most of his teeth and put him in a coma for about two months.



Religion claims its place in Occupy Wall StreetBOSTON (AP) _ Downtown Dewey Square is crammed with tents and tarps of Occupy Boston protesters, but organizers made sure from the start of this weeks-old encampment that there was room for the holy. No shoes are allowed in the "Sacred Space" tent here, but you can bring just about any faith or spiritual tradition.

BPA in pregnant women might affect kids' behaviorCHICAGO (AP) _ Exposure to BPA before birth could affect girls' behavior at age 3, according to the latest study on potential health effects of the widespread chemical. Preschool-aged girls whose mothers had relatively high urine levels of bisphenol-A during pregnancy scored worse but still within a normal range on behavior measures including anxiety and hyperactivity than other young girls.


Civil rights icon Shuttlesworth to be buriedBIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, often eclipsed by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in life, was scheduled to be laid to rest Monday after a weekend of remembering the way he catalyzed the civil rights movement in Birmingham and launched King into immortality. Those who knew him best urged others to continue the tireless example he set, working long after victory in the 1963 campaign to liberate the segregated Southern city he called home. Fellow preachers, foot soldiers from the movement and members of his family told a crowd gathered Sunday at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church that for all of his heroic efforts, the fiery minister's work remains undone.

AP Essay: Leaders, once mythic, reduced in deathNEW YORK (AP) _ It may be true, it may be myth. But in 1967, when Che Guevara faced the Bolivian army sergeant who was about to execute him, history records the legendary revolutionary's final words like this: "Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man." Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu, Liberia's Samuel Doe, Benito Mussolini and, now, Moammar Gadhafi. No matter how much a mythologized despot or mastermind builds up a cult of personality in life, when an undignified death arrives, the incontrovertible reality is hard to avoid: We are, in the end, merely lumps of flesh.

Declining numbers of blacks seen in math, scienceWith black unemployment reaching historic levels, banks laying off tens of thousands and law school graduates waiting tables, why aren't more African-Americans looking toward science, technology, engineering and math _ the still-hiring careers known as STEM? The answer turns out to be a complex equation of self-doubt, stereotypes, discouragement and economics _ and sometimes just wrong perceptions of what math and science are all about.

Clinton to Iran: Don't misread departure from IraqWASHINGTON (AP) _ Iran should not misread the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq as affecting the U.S. commitment to the fledgling democracy, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday. President Barack Obama's announcement Friday that all American troops would return from Iraq by the end of the year will close a chapter on U.S.-Iraq relations that began in 2003 with the U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Calif. officer shooting suspect dies in custodySACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ A man suspected of shooting and wounding a northern California police officer died in the custody of Sacramento police, following a foot chase, authorities said Sunday night. Tyrone Smith, 32, was unresponsive in the back of a patrol car after being caught late Saturday night some seven hours after the shooting of the Twin Rivers police officer, Sacramento police said in a statement.

Obama: Libyans can celebrate 'new era of promise'WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama hailed the declaration of freedom in Libya on Sunday, saying "a new era of promise" is under way in the African nation. He also urged its new leaders to turn their attention to the political transition ahead. The leader of Libya's transitional government, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, declared the country liberated Sunday, three days after the capture and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

(c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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