Singer lobbies against sex tourism

United Nations — Pop star Ricky Martin came to the United Nations to appeal to governments to declare war on tourists who sexually exploit children around the world.

Millions of children are drawn into prostitution every year, according to the U.S. State Department. One form of exploitation is child sex tourism by adults who travel to foreign countries.

“This is war. This is a battle we need to win,” Martin said at a luncheon Wednesday attended by U.N. ambassadors and activists trying to end the practice. “This one is worth it. … We’re talking about the lives of children.”

Cosby focused on parental duty

Milwaukee — Bill Cosby won cheers as he carried a serious message to the city’s black community, urging parents to take up the responsibility of educating and raising their children.

“It is not all right for your 15-year-old daughter to have a child,” the comedian said Wednesday night. “I’m 67 years old. I’m not talking to you any different from a grandfather who would say, ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”‘

Cosby was warmly received by a crowd of about 2,400 people at North Division High School in Milwaukee’s inner city.

He asked parents to talk with their children, spend time with them and encourage them to study hard and prevent teen pregnancy. He said parents shouldn’t leave the responsibility of raising their children to television and CDs.

“These are your children,” Cosby said. “You’re supposed to raise them.”

‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ to live on

Los Angeles — Jimmy Kimmel will keep up the late-night banter for another year.

ABC said Wednesday it has renewed “Jimmy Kimmel Live” through 2005.

“I’m delighted that ABC has exhausted all other options and picked up mine for another year,” Kimmel joked in a statement released by the network.

The program, which debuted in January 2003 and follows “Nightline,” has featured guests such as Britney Spears, Serena Williams and Billy Bob Thornton.

Duke’s birthplace site to expand

Des Moines, Iowa — During his film career, John Wayne played many Western and war hero characters who celebrated independence, courage and patriotism.

Now the John Wayne Birthplace Society is hoping to expand a complex that includes the tiny Victorian house in Winterset where he was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907. His family lived in the four-room house until he was 3. They then moved 12 miles north to Earlham for three years, then on to California, where the legend of John Wayne was born.

David Trask, chairman of the John Wayne Birthplace Society, said the birthplace now drew about 40,000 visitors a year.

The organization is working on an application for a state grant to help with construction, which could start late next year.