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LOCAL TICKET OUTLETS: Bible Books and More Redding, CA 530.222.2944 Family Christian Stores Chico, CA 530.894.1650 First Church of God Red Bluff, CA 530.527.5717 Appeals court is next step for Virginia same-sex marriage WASHINGTON (AP) — With Virginia's gay marriage ban overturned, the legal fight over same- sex unions in that state goes to a court that has shifted to the left since President Barack Obama's election. It's no accident that the state has become a key testing ground for federal judges' willingness to embrace same-sex mar- riage after last year's strongly worded pro-gay rights ruling by the Supreme Court. Judges appointed by Democratic presidents have a 10-5 edge over Republicans on the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, formerly among the nation's most conserv- ative appeals courts. Nationally, three other federal appeals courts will soon take up the right of same-sex couples to marry, too, in Ohio, Col- orado and California. The San Francisco-based 9th circuit is dominated by judges appointed by Democratic presidents. The Denver-based court, home of the 10th circuit, has shifted from a Repub- lican advantage to an even split between the parties, while the 6th circuit, based in Cincinnati, remains relatively unchanged in favor of Republicans during Obama's tenure. U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen's ruling Thursday, that same-sex couples in Vir- ginia have the same con- stitutional right to marry as heterosexuals, repre- sented the strongest advance in the South for advocates of gay mar- riage. She put her own ruling on hold while it is being appealed. Jon Davidson of the gay rights group Lambda Legal said the ''very dra- matic'' shift in the 4th cir- cuit under Obama was an important reason behind the decision to sue for marriage rights in Vir- ginia, which also twice voted for Obama. Uganda's president to sign bill that would allow life sentences for some homosexuals KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan Presi- dent Yoweri Museveni plans to sign a bill into law that prescribes life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, officials said Friday, alarming rights activists who have condemned the bill as draconian in a country where homosexuality already has been crimi- nalized. Museveni announced his decision to governing party lawmakers, said government spokesman Ofwono Opondo. In Twit- ter posts on Friday, Opon- do said the legislators, who are holding a retreat chaired by Museveni, ''welcomed the develop- ment as a measure to pro- tect Ugandans from social deviants.'' Museveni's decision was based on a report by ''medical experts'' pre- sented at the retreat, say- ing that ''homosexuality is not genetic but a social behavior,'' said Opondo. Evelyn Anite, a spokeswoman for the governing party, said the report, which had been requested by the presi- dent, was prepared by more than a dozen scien- tists from Uganda's Health Ministry. Opondo and Anite both said the president did not indicate when he will sign the legislation into law. Princes William, Harry help set sandbags LONDON (AP) — Prince William and Prince Harry helped flood-hit British villagers protect their homes Friday, unloading sandbags alongside soldiers in a River Thames village. The princes, who have both served in the armed forces, joined a work crew In Datchet, west of London, from about 6 a.m. on what aides said was a private visit. The princes were not the only royals helping out. Their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, has sent feed and bedding from the royal farms at Windsor to farmers whose land has been inundated. England, which has been lashed by wind and rain since December, had its wettest January since records began in 1766, and the rain has continued this month. Storms this week have brought wind gusts of more than 100 mph (160 kph). Floods have drenched the southwestern coast of England, the low-lying Somerset Levels and the Thames Valley west of London, where hundreds of properties have been swamped after the river burst its banks. Feds say banks may do business with legal marijuana sellers WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama adminis- tration on Friday gave banks a road map for con- ducting transactions with legal marijuana sellers so these new businesses can stash away savings, make payroll and pay taxes like any other enterprise. It's not clear banks will get on board. Guidance issued by the Justice and Treasury departments is the latest step by the federal gov- ernment toward enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in states that approve it. The intent is to make banks feel more comfortable working with marijuana businesses that are licensed and regulated. Others have a keen interest, too, in a regulat- ed financial pipeline for an industry that is just emerging from the under- ground. Marijuana busi- nesses that can't use banks may have too much cash they can't safely put away, leaving them vul- nerable to criminals. And governments that allow marijuana sales want a channel to receive taxes. But a leading financial services trade group immediately expressed misgivings and others, too, said the guidelines don't go far enough in protecting banks. ''After a series of red lights, we expected this guidance to be a yellow one,'' said Don Childears, president and CEO of the Colorado Bankers Asso- ciation. ''This isn't close to that. At best, this amounts to 'serve these customers at your own risk' and it emphasizes all of the risks. This light is red.'' Record flight cancellations this winter NEW YORK (AP) — The relentless snow and ice storms this winter have led to the highest number of flight cancella- tions in more than 25 years, according to an analysis by The Associat- ed Press. U.S. airlines have can- celed more than 75,000 domestic flights since Dec. 1, including more than 14,000 this week. That's 5.5 percent of the 1.37 million flights sched- uled during that period, according calculations based on information pro- vided by flight tracking site FlightAware. It's the highest total number and highest per- cent of cancellations since at least the winter of 1987-1988, when the Department of Trans- portation first started col- lecting cancellation data. The nation's air traffic system was still recover- ing Friday from the latest bout of bad weather. Flights were taking off again but thousands of passengers weren't. ''This year is off to a brutal start for airlines and travelers,'' says FlightAware CEO Daniel Baker. ''Not only is each storm causing tens of thousands of cancella- tions, but there's been a lot of them.'' Comcast- TWC merger worries consumers LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cable subscribers don't give Comcast and Time Warner Cable good grades when it comes to customer satisfaction. So after Comcast announced its $45 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable Thursday, it didn't take long for consumers to start venting their frustra- tions over high prices, spotty service and fears of a monopoly. The pairing of the nation's two biggest cable companies spurred a cas- cade of sarcastic tweets and satirical memes in which people likened the new entity to the killer Death Star battle station from ''Star Wars'' and the evil Eye of Sauron from ''The Lord of the Rings.'' Some people recalled a ''South Park'' snippet in which character Eric Cartman and friends are tormented by cable employees before a logo curiously similar to Time Warner Cable's own. The jokes reflect a more serious sentiment among consumers. J.D. Power said in September that in multiple surveys about pay TV service that it conducted over the pre- vious year, Comcast and Time Warner Cable ranked below the industry average in every region of the country. Time Warner Cable ranked dead last among providers in every region but the West. The t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s industry as a whole places 9th out of 10, above only utilities. The acquisition means Comcast will serve more than 30 million TV and Internet subscribers. The company said the deal will allow it to boost Internet speeds and relia- bility, spread its latest Internet-connected set-top boxes over more homes and help save it money on TV programming costs. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the combina- tion will be ''pro-con- sumer and pro-competi- tive.'' Comcast's expected argument before antitrust regulators: Comcast and Time Warner Cable don't directly compete with each other in any region. Therefore, the deal won't reduce competition and should be approved. But it is that lack of overlap, and absence of choice, which is at the root of customer frustra- tion, according America Customer Satisfaction Index managing director David VanAmburg. Cable companies that purposely don't compete against each other to provide fast Internet or reliable TV service can get away with not fully meeting cus- tomer needs in markets where they dominate. ''It's almost subcon- sciously built into their business model that they don't have to worry so much you're going to leave for a competitor,'' said VanAmburg. ''It's definitely a big factor.'' Crimes against humanity committed in NKorea WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.N. panel has found that crimes against humani- ty have been committed in North Korea and will call for an international criminal investigation, The Associat- ed Press has learned. The report, to be released Monday, is the most author- itative account yet of rights violations by North Korean authorities, and it is bound to infuriate the country's unpredictable leader. But justice remains a distant prospect, not least as North Korea's ally, China, would be likely to block any refer- ral to the International Criminal Court. The commission, which conducted a yearlong inves- tigation, has found evi- dence of an array of crimes, including ''extermination,'' crimes against humanity against starving popula- tions and a widespread campaign of abductions of individuals in South Korea and Japan. Its report does not exam- ine in detail individual responsibility for crimes but recommends steps toward accountability. It could also build interna- tional pressure on North Korea, whose dire rights record has drawn less cen- sure at the U.N. than its nuclear and missile pro- grams have. North Korea's hereditary regime has shrugged off years of con- tinuous outside pressure, including tough U.N. and U.S. sanctions directed at its weapons programs. WORLD BRIEFING