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4B Daily News – Wednesday, March 14, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING Syrian regime tries to keep journalists out ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — Explosions illu- minated the night as we ran, hoping to escape Syria after nearly three weeks of covering a con- flict that the government seems determined to keep the world from seeing. Tank shells slammed into the city streets behind us, snipers' bullets whizzed by our heads and the rebels escorting us were nearly out of ammunition. It seemed like a good time to get out of Syria. EDITOR'S NOTE: Award-winning journal- ists Rodrigo Abd and Ahmed Bahaddou sneaked into Syria and spent nearly three weeks reporting from opposi- tion-held territory. Abd, an Associated Press pho- tographer, is based in Guatemala. Bahaddou is a video journalist on assignment for the AP, based in Turkey. Born-again Christians, conservatives dominate WASHINGTON (AP) — White born-again and evangelical Christians were dominating Alaba- ma's and Mississippi's Republican presidential primaries on Tuesday, showing up in numbers unsurpassed by any state where voters have been polled so far this year, according to preliminary results of exit polls of vot- ers. Around 8 in 10 Missis- sippians participating in Tuesday's contest were white evangelical or born- again Christians, the largest share measured in any state so far. Those same voters accounted for nearly three-quarters of those surveyed in Alaba- ma, a proportion reached previously only in Ten- nessee and Oklahoma. People in the two Deep South states were also strongly conservative, though they were not the most conservative to have cast ballots in presidential contests this year. Around 7 in 10 in both states con- sidered themselves con- servative, including about 4 in 10 who said they are very conservative — pro- portions that have been matched or exceeded by several other states. As in every state so far, the economy was the top issue on peoples' minds, with just over half in each state naming it as their foremost concern. And around 4 in 10 in both states cited the abili- ty to defeat President Barack Obama in the November election as their main concern for selecting a candidate. Afghan villagers recount shooting B ALANDI, Afghanistan (AP) — As bullets flew, the Afghan woman scooped up her 3- year-old niece and ran for their lives. Moments later, the woman was dead and the girl lay bleeding from a gunshot wound. It was the closing scene of a massacre that left 16 civilians, including nine children, dead in two villages in southern Kan- dahar province. The U.S. is holding an Army staff sergeant that military officials say slipped off a U.S. base before dawn Sunday, walked to the villages, barged into their homes and opened fire. Some of the corpses were burned. Eleven were from one family. Five other people were wounded. The military said Tues- day there was probable cause to continue holding the soldier, who has not been named, in custody. U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has said he could face capital punish- ment. D NEWSAILY AUTO ROUTE RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY DRIVERS WANTED Los Molinos & Gerber areas Villagers — angry at foreign troops, frustrated with their government and tired of war — recounted the tragedy to a delegation sent to the scene by Presi- dent Hamid Karzai. Two who lost relatives insisted that not one — but at least two — soldiers took part in the shootings. US starting to calculate final stages of Afghan troop pullout WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama adminis- tration is only beginning to calculate the pace of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan beyond this summer, facing an endgame fraught with political risk and compli- cated by shocking set- backs like the alleged U.S. slaughter of Afghan civilians. At stake is not only President Barack Obama's pledge to pre- vent Afghanistan from reverting to the terrorist haven it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but also his commitment to wind down the war while crafting a long-term security relationship with the Afghans. U.S. military comman- ders want to keep as many troops in the country as possible until the Dec. 31, 2014, target date for hav- ing all combat forces out. They fear a too-rapid pull- out would risk surrender- ing the security gains they have made in recent years. But the White House faces the prospect of intensifying political pressure to end the mili- tary mission, especially after events such as the burning of Muslim holy books by U.S. troops last month that triggered a wave of Afghan violence, including the killings of at least six U.S. troops by Afghan troops. Rep. Adam Smith, D- Wash., a top Democrat on the House Armed Ser- vices Committee, is among those calling for a faster withdrawal. Worship goes on at Crystal Cathedral GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — The soar- ing, glass-paned megachurch built decades ago by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller will keep airing its weekly ''Hour of Power'' television broad- cast and hold services, despite a bitter breach of contract dispute that has torn the storied congrega- tion apart. In a statement Tuesday, Crystal Cathedral Min- istries said it would hold regular worship services on Sunday and air the television program both domestically and interna- tionally, although Schuller and his family have been fired or have cut ties with the church. The services will fea- ture the ''traditional wor- ship style on which the ministry was founded,'' John Charles, the chair- man of the ministries' board of directors said in the statement. The church and its Must be 21 or older & bondable. GREAT PAY Call or apply in person Circulation Dept. Red Bluff Daily News (530)527-2151 sprawling campus of reli- gious statues, gardens and winding walkways sold in bankruptcy last month to the Roman Catholic Dio- cese of Orange, which is giving the current tenants three years to vacate the property. The diocese pur- chased the shimmering cathedral and its 31-acre campus in the heart of Orange County for more than $57 million after an intense bidding war. The comment from the church is the latest devel- opment in a protracted dispute over copyright claims that emerged dur- ing bankruptcy proceed- ings. Officials: 2- year-old NJ girl found dead inside septic tank LAKEWOOD, N.J. (AP) — A toddler whose body was found inside a septic tank behind her home, just hours after being reported missing by her mother, died of acci- dental drowning, an autopsy showed Tuesday. A preliminary investi- gation found ''no indica- tion of foul play or trau- ma,'' Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said. The 2-year-old vic- tim, identified by author- ities only by the initials J.C., was reported miss- ing by her mother, Mari- na Matias, shortly before 5 p.m. Monday. She had been playing in the yard with her four siblings. Search teams quickly found a 3-foot-wide hole in the yard that led to a septic tank, and the Pub- lic Works Department was called to pump water from the tank. The girl's body was found inside it around 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, toys were strewn about the yard of the ramshackle property, and the front door of the small house sat wide open. Police tape cordoned off the area where the top of the tank had been covered with dirt. The tank sat just a few feet outside the back door to the home, next to an out- building. Jennie Garth, Peter Facinelli to split after 11 years LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli say they are divorcing after 11 years. In a statement Tues- day, the couple said they decided to end their marriage but share ''the same deep love and devotion to our chil- dren.'' Garth and Facinelli said they remain ''dedi- cated to raising our beautiful daughters together,'' and asked for privacy and respect. The Southern California couple are parents to 14-year-old Luca, 9- year-old Lola and 5- year-old Fiona. The 39-year-old Garth came to fame in the 1990s TV series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' and appeared in the 2008-10 sequel. The 38- year-old Facinelli is a co-star in the ''Twi- light'' movie franchise. The couple married in January 2001. Garth competed in ''Dancing With the Stars'' in 2007, with Facinelli applauding her from the audience. Romney increasingly hits Obama LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — Mitt Romney isn't waiting to lock down the GOP presidential nomina- tion to begin focusing his campaign chiefly on Pres- ident Barack Obama. The trend is born of strategy and necessity. The more Romney por- trays himself as a formi- dable challenger to Obama, the more he may be able to persuade luke- warm Republican voters he's the most ''electable'' candidate. ''I'm the one guy in this race who can beat Barrack Obama,'' he told 400 sun-drenched people Tuesday in Liberty, Mo. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards Novem- ber, and Romney is loath to wait any longer to start denting Obama's armor. But his inability to pull cleanly away from former Sen. Rick Santorum is forcing Romney to spend precious time and money in states he'd prefer to ignore. He made several campaign stops in Alaba- ma and Mississippi, which are solidly in the GOP column in Novem- ber. He will spend much of the weekend in Puerto Rico, another place that doesn't factor into general election strategies. And the chief pro-Romney super PAC is buying ads in Louisiana, which fits the same category. The former Massachu- setts governor is doing his best to pretend Santorum and his fellow rivals Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul hardly exist. Romney ignored them Tuesday at his two public events, in Missouri, which holds caucuses Saturday. Instead he ripped into Obama on health care, gasoline prices, foreign policy, the deficit and other issues. ''I wish, as a president, he would finally take responsibility,'' Romney told an outdoor crowd in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis. ''Take responsi- bility for 24 million peo- ple out of work or under- employed in this country. Take responsibility for not having drilled for more oil when he could have. Take responsibility for home values having gone down, down, down.'' In Liberty, Romney said: ''The president has failed. He's not a bad guy. He's just over his head.'' On Monday, Romney briefly referenced Santo- rum and Gingrich without naming them. ''A couple of guys'' running against him have spent their careers in Washington, Romney told a crowd in Mobile, Ala. He said his background in business, the Winter Olympics and Massachu- setts makes him better able to attack the nation's problems. In a Fox News inter- view Monday, Romney dismissed Santorum as a potential running mate if he were choosing a con- servative for the ticket, saying Santorum wasn't ''an economic conserva- tive.'' He said that Santo- rum's record ''does not suggest he has the fiscal conservative chops that I have.'' Romney is willing to criticize Santorum and Gingrich, sometimes forcefully, when asked about them in radio and TV interviews, which he mostly grants to local sta- tions. But he can go for long stretches in public appearances with barely a mention of them. His allies say Rom- ney's steady collection of GOP delegates makes it almost impossible for Santorum, Gingrich or Paul, to catch him. But revised party rules, which allow many states to allo- cate delegates proportion- ately instead of winner- take-all, make it difficult for Romney to secure the 1,144 he needs before mid-summer, if then. Iowa Republican mistakenly pitches Democrats ALBIA, Iowa (AP) — A Republican congressional candidate says he's learned to double check his cam- paign schedule after he mis- takenly spoke at a Democ- ratic convention in Iowa. Dan Dolan told the Quad-City Times (http://bit.ly/A8c9GR) he arrived early Saturday at the county courthouse in Albia for a Republican conven- tion. He says his staffer asked the crowd if he could speak, and when he fin- ished, ''a guy raises his hand and says, 'I think you want to talk to the Republi- cans.''' Turns out, Democrats were meeting in the same place two hours before the Republican event was to start. Dolan, of Muscatine, Iowa, says everyone was nice about the mix-up, but he now asks ''Is this the Republican convention?'' before he starts talking. Dolan is running for the GOP nomination for Iowa's 2nd Congressional District seat. Kan. House squashes bid to make Toto breed top dog TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — There may be no place like home, but don't tell Toto. A Kansas House com- mittee squashed a bid Monday to make the cairn terrier, a breed perhaps best known as that of Dorothy's canine sidekick in ''The Wizard of Oz,'' the state's official dog. Democratic state Rep. Ed Trimmer told the Wichita Eagle he plans to reintroduce the bill next year. And Brenda Moore, a South Central Kansas Kennel Club official who first proposed the idea, says she plans to drum up public support for it this summer.