Cancer Spike: Breast cancer is leading a worldwide spike in cancer deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Overall cancer deaths in 2012 were up 8 percent from the last survey in 2008. But breast cancer rose 14 percent in the same time period. The survey says 522,000 women worldwide died of breast cancer last year. The Western lifestyle of eating and drinking too much while exercising too little is believed to be a contributing factor. The most common cancers are lung, breast and colorectal.

World: Ousted President Mohamed Morsi and al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri spoke on the telephone about cooperation between Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, according to reports in the daily newspaper al Watan. Morsi was a leader of the Brotherhood before he was elected. The story looks legitimate, but could also be the product of a disinformation campaign against Morsi.

The paper said it received transcripts of the tapped calls from a high government source. In one transcript Zawahiri says, and Morsi agrees, that Shariah religious law must be imposed in Egypt and other countries. According to the report, the two also talked about winning the release of the “blind sheik” who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US for the first World Trade Center bombing. In one of the last conversations between Zawahiri and leaders of the Brotherhood, shortly before Morsi was arrested, Zawahiri demands that several Western embassies and the Egyptian security headquarters be blown up.

Syria: The US suspended shipments of non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels after supply warehouses were taken over by Islamists. The US is worried that moderate rebels are getting squeezed out in the fight again Bashar al Assad’s regime and doesn’t want to supply extremists.

Down Under: Australia’s highest court overturned a law allowing gay marriage in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which includes the capital city Canberra. The court said the issue should be decided by the national parliament.

Spare the Pill: The Food and Food and Drug Administration announced a rule to phase out the overuse of antibiotics in raising cows, pigs, and chickens for human consumption. The FDA believes antibiotics in meat are contributing to human resistance to antibiotics. Antibiotics make livestock grow larger, and therefore more profitable.

Up North: The Canadian postal service announced it will end almost all home deliveries within five years. Apartment dwellers will continue to receive mail in their buildings, but people who live in houses will have to take a hike to a community mailbox.

Career Moves: Forbes Magazine, better known for ranking the rich, published a web listing of the 20 biggest career crashes of 2013, even though there are still 20 days left in the year to crash a career. At the top is Southern cooking diva Paula Deen who admitted using a bad word for people who are not white like her. #2, Toronto’s crack smoking Mayor Rob Ford, and #3, 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan who was suspended after getting a big story wrong. It has to hurt to be higher on the list than San Diego’s Bob “The Groper” Filner, and Anthony “Underwear Bomber” Weiner.

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