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8A Daily News – Wednesday, March 28, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING Captain yells 'they're going to take us down' during Vegas flight LAS VEGAS (AP) — A JetBlue captain who ranted about Iraq and Afghanistan and claimed that a bomb was on a Las Vegas-bound flight was locked out of the cockpit, tackled and restrained by passengers Tuesday, pas- sengers said. The captain of Flight 191 from New York's John F. Kennedy Interna- tional Airport had a ''medical situation,'' and the co-pilot, who subse- quently took command of the aircraft, diverted the plane to land in Amarillo, Texas, around 10 a.m., JetBlue Airways said in a statement. Josh Redick, a passen- ger sitting near the middle of the plane, said the pilot ''stormed out'' of the cockpit. Tony Antolino, a 40- year-old executive for a security firm, said the captain walked to the back of the plane, that he seemed disoriented and agitated, then began yelling about an unspeci- fied threat linked to Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. ''They're going to take us down, they're taking us down, they're going to take us down. Say the Lord's prayer, say the Lord's prayer,'' the cap- tain screamed, according to Antolino. Syria accepts UN envoy's peace plan QAA, Lebanon (AP) — Syria accepted a cease-fire drawn up by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday, but the diplo- matic breakthrough was swiftly overshadowed by intense clashes between government soldiers and rebels that sent bullets flying into Lebanon. Opposition members accuse President Bashar Assad of agreeing to the plan to stall for time as his troops make a renewed push to kill off bastions of dissent. And the conflict just keeps getting deadlier: The U.N. said the death toll has grown to more than 9,000, a sobering assess- ment of a devastating year-old crackdown on the uprising that shows no sign of ending. Annan's announce- ment that Syria had accepted his peace plan was met with deep skep- ticism. ''We are not sure if it's political maneuvering or a sincere act,'' said Louay Safi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council. ''We have no trust in the cur- rent regime. ... We have to see that they have stopped killing civil- ians.'' Annan's plan calls for an immediate, two-hour halt in fighting every day to allow humanitarian access and medical evac- uations. The plan also outlines a complete cease-fire, but that will take more time because Syria must first move troops and equipment out of cities and towns, gov- ernment forces and the divided opposition must stop fighting, and a U.N.- supervised monitoring mission must be estab- lished. Pope prays for more freedom and 'renewal' in Cuba HAVANA (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal ''for the greater good of all Cubans'' before the nation's patron saint Tuesday, but the island's commu- nist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader's appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule. The exchange came hours before Benedict was to meet President Raul Castro, and possi- bly his brother and pre- decessor Fidel, behind closed doors in Havana on the pontiff's second day on the island. Days after dismissing the Marxist ideology on which the Cuban system is based, Benedict con- tinued to gently press themes highly sensitive to Cuban government in his prayer and short speech at the sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre near the east- ern city of Santiago. ''I have entrusted to the Mother of God the future of your country, advancing along the ways of renewal and hope, for the greater good of all Cubans,'' the pope said. ''I have also prayed to the Virgin for the needs of those who suffer, of those who are deprived of freedom, those who are separated from their loved ones or who are undergoing times of difficulty.'' It wasn't long before a top official back in Havana responded. Tighter security imposed for SAT and ACT after cheating MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — The millions of students who take the SAT or ACT each year will have to submit pho- tos of themselves when they sign up for the col- lege entrance exams, under a host of new security measures announced Tuesday in the aftermath of a major cheating scandal on Long Island. The two companies that administer the tests, the College Board and ACT Inc., agreed to the precautions under pub- lic pressure brought to bear by Nassau County District Attorney Kath- leen Rice, who is over- seeing the investigation. The measures take effect in the fall. ''I believe these reforms, and many oth- ers which are happening behind the scenes, will prevent the kind of cheating that our inves- tigation uncovered and give high schools and colleges the tools they need to identify those who try to cheat,'' Rice said. Rice has charged 20 current or former stu- dents from a cluster of well-to-do, high-achiev- ing suburbs on Long Island with participating in a scheme in which teenagers hired other people for as much as $3,500 each to take the exam for them. The five alleged ringers arrested in the case were accused of flashing phony IDs when they showed up for the tests. All 20 have pleaded not guilty. In one instance, a young man allegedly produced ID and took the test for a teenage girl who had a name that could have been either male or female. The North State's premier supplier of stoves STOVE JUNCTION The Over 25 years of experience COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES Smog Check starting at $ (most cars and pick-ups) 2595 + cert. Pass or FREE retest 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. Accessories with purchase of any stove 20% OFF Stove Good through March 31, 2012 Tues-Sat 9am-5pm • Closed Sun & Mon 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Memos detail bid by gay marriage foes The leading national organization opposing same-sex marriage has sought to split the Demo- cratic Party base by pit- ting African-Americans and Hispanics against gay-rights groups, accord- ing to confidential strate- gy memos made public by court officials in Maine. ''The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks — two key Demo- cratic constituencies,'' says one of the memos. It also suggests ''interrupt- ing'' the process of cultur- al assimilation for His- panics in hopes of curtail- ing support for same-sex marriage. The documents, dating from 2009, were written by the National Organiza- tion for Marriage and had been kept from the public until Monday, when they were unsealed by court officials in Maine. They were part of a two-pronged legal chal- lenge of Maine's financial disclosure laws. Still unresolved is whether the NOM will have to release the names of donors to its successful 2009 campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Maine. The Human Rights Campaign, a major gay- rights organization, first circulated the documents Monday night, and its president, Joe Solmonese, assailed the strategies that they detailed. Va. man gets new face BALTIMORE (AP) — After 15 years of wearing After Tax Time is Over April 17th We will still be here • Extension • Prior Year Taxes • Bookkeeping • Payroll • Financial Services P. Ralph Campbell, EA Enrolled Agent Daniele Jackson 530-529-9540 855 Walnut St. #2, Red Bluff CA Insurance Lic. 0C73069 SATURDAY ROUND- UP PERFORMANCE 2:30 PM 1921 ~ 2012 APRIL 20, 21, 22, 2012 NEW START TIME FOR Special offer this week only $50 class 530-527-4997 - KIDS SPECIAL - Babysitting Classes Saturday, April 14th Ages: 8 to 12 welcome Call to register 80 Gurnsey Ave. - Red Bluff, CA 96080 (Behind Guy Rents) margescpr@juno.com a mask and living as a recluse, a 37-year-old Vir- ginia man disfigured in a gun accident got a new face, nose, teeth and jaw in what University of Maryland physicians say is the most extensive face transplant ever per- formed. Richard Lee Norris of Hillsville is recovering well after last week's surgery, beginning to feel his face and already brushing his teeth and shaving, University of Maryland Medical Center officials announced Tues- day. He's also regained his sense of smell, which he had lost after the acci- dent. Norris, who was select- ed from among five possi- ble candidates for the surgery, has been living as a recluse, doing his shop- ping at night. It's hoped the transplant will give him his life back, said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, the lead surgeon. ''It's a surreal experi- ence to look at him. It's hard not to stare. Before, people used to stare at Richard because he wore a mask and they wanted to see the deformity,'' Rodriguez said. ''Now, they have another reason to stare at him, and it's really amazing.'' Rodriguez showed a 1993 prom photo of Nor- ris, ''as we all want to be remembered,'' beside a pre-transplant photo of Norris' shortened face with a sunken mouth and flattened nose. He then revealed a photo of Norris taken on Monday, where his face appears ordinary, other than stiches along his hairline and neck and scarring around his eye- lids. Although he now has the donor's face, he does- n't resemble the donor, Rodriguez said. Albertson Training Center Kate Winslet, James Cameron in London for premiere of 3D 'Titanic' LONDON (AP) — Actress Kate Winslet and director James Cameron walked the red carpet in London on Tuesday for the premiere of the 3D version of the hit movie ''Titanic.'' The 1997 drama — one of the highest grossing films of all time — will be avail- able in British cinemas in 3D in April, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's doomed maiden voyage from southern Eng- land's Southampton in April 1912. ''The 3D enriches all of Titanic's most thrilling moments and its most emo- tional moments,'' Cameron told reporters. ''It kicks the whole experience up to another level.'' The director came to London fresh from his latest venture, which saw him descending seven miles (11 1/4 kilometers) below the surface of the Pacific to the deepest place on Earth. ''One of the reasons I made Titanic was that I was fascinated by deep sea exploration,'' he said. ''It was an opportunity to dive in a submarine very deep at that time.'' 'Hamburglar' strikes at McDonald's AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A real-life Ham- burglar has struck at a Maine McDonald's. Police say a young man, seemingly inspired by the pattie purloining character once featured in McDonald's advertising campaigns, ran between a car and the takeout win- dow at the Augusta restaurant Sunday night as an employee handed a bag of food to a driver. A witness flagged down an officer leaving a nearby convenience store. Lt. Christopher Massey, acting on a description of the hungry thief, found him in the parking lot of a rival fast food restaurant diving into a McDonald's bag. Massey tells the Ken- nebec Journal the suspect swore and ran into the woods. He was never caught. 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