Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/41837
Monday, September 12, 2011 – Daily News 3B WORLD BRIEFING America gathers to remember At churches, we prayed. At fire stations, we laid wreaths. At foot- ball stadiums, hands and baseball caps over hearts, we lifted our voices in song and familiar chants of ''USA!'' — our patrio- tism renewed once more as we allowed ourselves to go back in time, to the planes and the towers and the panic and the despair, to the memories that scar us still. On Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the nation's worst terror attack, Americans remembered — in our own ways, all across the land — a day that is sim- ply impossible to forget. ''Would it be nice not to see the planes fly into the buildings all the time? Yes. But we can honor all the people,'' said 37-year- old Lea Pfeifer, who marked the anniversary by participating in a ''Freedom Walk'' at Vir- ginia's Arlington National Cemetery along with her husband and 2-year-old son. ''I think we carry that horror with us every day.'' Far from the main cer- emonies in New York, Pennsylvania and Wash- ington — on small-town main streets and in court- house squares, in big-city parks and on statehouse steps — thousands upon thousands gathered to unveil monuments, pledge allegiance and cel- ebrate resilience. The anniversary was remembered with public gatherings and private ceremonies, with gestures large and small. Facebook profile pictures were changed to American flags. Online tributes allowed people to recall where they were that morning a decade ago when American life for- ever changed. Said one in a Yahoo news tweet: ''Heard about it in geog- raphy class. Saw footage in a piano lesson later — not a note played for the entire hour.'' Obama pays quiet tribute WASHINGTON (AP) — On a day of serenity and remembrance, Presi- dent Barack Obama hon- ored the dead of Sept. 11 with his quiet presence Sunday at the three most tangible reminders of both the incredible loss and dauntless resilience of a country rebuilding a decade later. At New York's ground zero, Obama touched the names of the lost etched into bronze at a memorial pool created in the foot- print of one of the downed World Trade Center tow- ers. In a field in rural Penn- sylvania, he walked the marbled Wall of Names and placed a wreath memorializing the 40 people who crashed at Shanksville after fighting back against the hijackers and driving their plane into the ground. At the Pentagon, too, the president placed a wreath at a memorial where each of 184 victims is remembered with a bench and small reflect- ing pool. A brass quartet played a soulful rendition of ''Amazing Grace'' as the president greeted visi- tors to the memorial. This was not a day cen- tered on presidential speechmaking. Rather, Obama's principal role was simply to be there as the nation paused to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost and pon- der all that has transpired. Military jets escort flight to NYC NEW YORK (AP) — Two fighter jets escorted a New York-bound Ameri- can Airlines flight from Los Angeles after three passengers locked them- selves in the bathroom Sunday, the 10th anniver- sary of the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said. A law enforcement official said it wasn't thought to be terrorism, and American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said, ''In our eyes, it's a big nothing.'' The North American Aerospace Defense Com- mand scrambled two F-16 jets to shadow Flight 34 until it landed safely at New York's Kennedy Air- port at 4:10 p.m. Sunday, the Transportation Securi- ty Administration said in a statement. The nature of the inci- dent was unclear, but the passengers locked them- selves in the bathroom and were still inside when the plane landed, the law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to speak pub- licly and spoke to The Associated Press on con- dition of anonymity. Law enforcement met the flight and will inter- view passengers, the TSA statement said. The FBI responded to the airport. Truck bomb wounds 77 US soldiers KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A powerful Tal- iban truck bomb that wounded 77 American soldiers and killed five Afghans outside a combat outpost served as a reminder on Sunday that 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, nearly 100,000 U.S. troops are still fight- ing a war that shows no signs of slowing down. No U.S. troops were killed when the massive bomb loaded on a truck filled with firewood exploded Saturday night just outside the gates of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in eastern Wardak province. NATO said a protective barrier at the entrance absorbed most of the force of the blast, although the area outside the base was hit hard. Officials said the Afghans killed included a policeman and four civil- ians, including a 3-year- old girl. Another 17 Afghans — 14 civilians and three policemen — were wounded. The provincial governor said the blast was so powerful it damaged about 100 shops in the nearby Sayed Abad bazaar. Although Saturday's truck bombing occurred outside the base, the num- bers of injuries it caused was significant. Combat outposts usually house about 200 troops. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, they had issued a statement vowing to fight until all foreign troops leave. The radical Islamic movement, which gave shelter to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida when it ruled Afghanistan, also stressed that it had no role in the Sept. 11 attacks, and it accused the U.S. of using them as a pretext to invade the country. Gadhafi son arrives in Niger in convoy NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — A convoy carrying ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son al-Saadi has crossed into neighboring Niger, a spokesman for Niger's government said Sunday, one of the highest-profile former regime figure to flee to the landlocked African nation. Al-Saadi, the fugitive ruler's 37-year-old son, entered Niger in a convoy with nine other people, said Niger Justice Minis- ter Amadou Morou. The vehicles were traveling south toward the outpost of Agadez, where other fleeing Libyan loyalists are believed to be holed up in a hotel. ''I wish to announce that one of Gadhafi's sons — al-Saadi Gadhafi — was intercepted in the north of Niger by a patrol of the Nigerien military,'' Morou told reporters late Sunday. He said al-Saadi ''has no status at all'' in Niger, indicating that he has not been granted refugee sta- tus, which would guaran- tees him certain rights. Since last week, sever- al convoys carrying senior officials of the former Libyan regime as well as civilians and soldiers have made their way across the porous desert border into Niger. Among them were several of Gadhafi's top military officers, includ- ing his chief of security and the head of his south- ern command. Cleric in Iraq asks followers to cease attacks on US BAGHDAD (AP) — An anti-American cleric is urging his followers to stop attacking U.S. troops in Iraq so that their with- drawal from the country isn't slowed down, a call meant to ramp up pres- sure on Baghdad's politi- cal leaders who are con- sidering asking some American forces to stay. In a statement posted on his website, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his militias to halt attacks against U.S. forces till the withdrawal is finished at the end of the year as required under a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. ''Out of my desire to complete Iraq's indepen- dence and to finish the withdrawal of the occupa- tion forces from our holy lands, I am obliged to halt military operations of the honest Iraqi resistance until the withdrawal of the occupation forces is com- plete,'' al-Sadr said in the statement, posted late Sat- urday. Sadrist lawmaker Mushraq Naji confirmed the statement on Sunday. However, al-Sadr warned that ''if the with- drawal doesn't happen ... the military operations will be resumed in a new and tougher way.'' The statement fol- lowed last week's notice by U.S. officials in Bagh- dad, announcing the start of the withdrawal. 1,550 homes destroyed in Texas fires BASTROP, Texas (AP) — The number of homes destroyed by a Texas wild- fire has risen to 1,554 and is expected to further increase as firefighters enter more areas where the blaze has been extin- guished, officials said Sun- day. Seventeen people remain unaccounted for. Bastrop County offi- cials joined by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett sought to provide new information to hundreds of residents evacuated from their homes a week ago when blustering wind whipped up by Tropical Storm Lee swept across parched, drought-stricken Texas, helping to spark more than 190 wildfires statewide. The worst of the fires has consumed more than 34,000 acres in this area 30 miles southeast of Austin. While sharing the bad news that the tally of destroyed homes will increase, officials also told some 100 residents who gathered at a news confer- ence on Sunday that peo- ple would begin going back into the scorched areas on Monday. A detailed plan will allow residents to slowly enter the evacuated areas over the coming week as fire- fighters and emergency responders ensure the land has properly cooled, hotspots are extinguished and the blaze is contained. Tensions and frustra- tions boiled over at a simi- lar gathering on Saturday when residents demanded to be allowed to return to their neighborhoods to see what remains of their homes and attempt to sal- vage a few belongings. Many people were given only minutes to evacuate as the raging blaze sur- rounded homes and neigh- borhoods. Some had time to only gather a few impor- tant belongings. Others left with only the clothes on their back. Tampa debate to kick off GOP Florida push WASHINGTON (AP) — Take a breather, Iowa and New Hampshire. Florida is about to get into the Republican presiden- tial race big time, starting with a televised debate Monday in Tampa and ending with an early pri- mary in 2012 that con- ceivably could wrap up the nomination. It's quite plausible that front-runners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney could roughly divide the first four contests, in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. If that happens, Florida could prove the virtual tie-breaker, a prize so big in a state so central to presidential elections that the loser might struggle to stay afloat. Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 527-2151 D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 PHONE: (530) 527-2151 FAX: (530) 527-5774 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080