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SANA Destroyed statues are displayed at the damaged Palmyra Museum, in Palmyra city, central Syria. ByAlbertAjiand Bassem Mroue The Associated Press DAMASCUS, SYRIA There- capture of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group has brought new revelations of the destruction wreaked by the extremists, who decap- itated priceless statues and smashed or looted artifacts in the city's museum. Experts say they need time to assess the full ex- tent of damage in Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site boasting 2,000-year-old Roman-era colonnades and other ruins, which once at- tracted tens of thousands of tourists every year. Syr- ian troops drove IS out on Sunday, some 10 months af- ter the militants seized the town. The world knew through satellite images and IS vid- eos that the militants de- stroyed the Temple of Bel, which dated back to A.D. 32, the Temple of Baalsha- min, which was several sto- ries high and fronted by six towering columns, and the Arch of Triumph, which was built under the Roman emperor Septimius Severus between A.D. 193 and A.D. 211. But no one knew the ex- tent of the damage inside the museum until a Syrian TV reporter entered on Sun- day and found the floor lit- tered with shattered stat- ues. A sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena was decapitated, and the muse- um's basement appeared to have been dynamited or hit with a shell. Some of the damage may have been caused by shelling, which would have knocked the statues from their stands. In the Syr- ian TV footage from in- side the museum, a hole can be seen in the ceiling, most likely from an artil- lery shell. Unlike in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where IS militants filmed themselves with sledgehammers proudly de- stroying ancient artifacts, no militant video was re- leased from Palmyra's mu- seum. Before Palmyra fell to IS, authorities were able to re- locate more than 400 stat- ues and hundreds of ar- tifacts to safe areas, but larger statues couldn't be moved, according to the head of antiquities and mu- seums, Maamoun Abdul- Karim. He told the AP that about 20 statues were de- faced and others had their heads chopped off. State media had earlier reported that a 2nd century lion statue, previously thought to have been destroyed by IS, was damaged but could be restored. Retaking Palmyra reveals mo re s ha tt er ed a nt iq ui ti es SYRIA By Scott Mayerowitz The Associated Press NEW YORK Fliers will likely face massive secu- rity lines at airports across the country this summer, with airlines already warn- ing passengers to arrive at least two hours early or risk missing their flight. The Transportation Se- curity Administration had anticipated that its expe- dited screening program, called PreCheck, would speed up lines and require fewer agents to screen pas- sengers. But the agency has failed to enroll enough travelers, leaving TSA with too few screeners to quickly handle a growing number of fliers. The TSA tried to make up for that shortfall by randomly placing passen- gers into the express lanes. But it recently had to scale that back for fear danger- ous passengers were being let through. That's when the lines started growing, up to 90 minutes in some cases. The TSA is shifting some resources to tackle lines at the nation's biggest air- ports, but says there is no easy solution to the prob- lem with a record number of fliers expected this sum- mer. "We had unacceptable line waits at the majority of our hubs," says Robert Isom, chief operating offi- cer of American Airlines. "Based on what the TSA is telling us, there is no relief in sight." Launched nationwide in 2012, the program gives previously vetted passen- gers special screening. Shoes, belts and light jack- ets stay on. Laptops and liquids stay in bags. And these fliers go through standard metal detectors rather than the explosive- detecting full-body scan- ners most pass through. PreCheck lanes can screen 300 passengers an hour, twice that of stan- dard lanes. The TSA offered Con- gress a lofty goal of having 25 million fliers enrolled in the program. Based on that and other increased ef- ficiencies, the TSA's front- line screeners were cut from 47,147 three years ago to 42,525 currently. At the same time, the number of annual fliers passing through checkpoints has grown from 643 million to more than 700 million. As of March 1, only 9.3 million people were Pre- Check members. Applicants must pay $85 to $100 every five years. They must also trek to the airport for an interview before being ac- cepted. While 250,000 to 300,000 people are joining every month, it will take more than four years at that pace to reach the target. Without enough mem- bers, the TSA faced a prob- lem: PreCheck lanes were nearly deserted while other lines snaked throughout terminals. Keeping empty PreCheck lanes open was a waste of staff. But with- out them, passengers who paid to join would be ag- gregated. So the agency created workarounds to allow pas- sengers who hadn't been fully vetted to still get ex- pedited screening. Those who flew 50,000 miles a year or more with an airline sometimes got the PreCheck designation on their boarding pass at check-in. Others would ran- domly get it based on de- mographic information. As a further step, the TSA in 2013 created a pro- gram called Managed In- clusion where it randomly pulls people out of the nor- mal line when it grows too long. Fliers' behav- ior is monitored, they are screened for explosives and then allowed to use the faster PreCheck lane. The Associated Press has spent the last year fight- ing under the Freedom of Information Act for de- tails on how many fliers are allowed into PreChck through each method, but has been denied the infor- mation for unspecified se- curity reasons. Lines did get shorter. By Thanksgiving 2014 nearly 50 percent of fliers were getting expedited screen- ing. Then last year, two back- to-back embarrassing in- spector general reports came out, highlighting TSA security lapses. One dis- closed that the agency let a convicted domestic ter- rorist use PreCheck. The second revealed that in 67 out of 70 tests across the nation, screeners failed to find mock weapons and ex- plosives. In response, TSA agents stopped pulling passengers out of line unless there was an explosive-detecting ca- nine team present. That change went into effect in September, right after the Labor Day rush. The move forced about 10 percent of all passen- gers — some 70 million fli- ers a year — to go back to normal screening. TRAVEL A long wait: Fliers brace for big security lines at airports TED S. WARREN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Travelers authorized to use the TSA PreCheck expedited security line at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. By Kathy Gannon and Zarar Khan The Associated Press LAHORE, PAKISTAN In an emotional televised ad- dress, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed Mon- day to hunt down and de- feat the militants who have been carrying out attacks like the Easter bombing that targeted Christians and killed 72 people. "We will not allow them to play with the lives of the people of Pakistan," Sharif said. "This is our resolve. This is the resolve of the 200 million people of Pakistan." As the country began three days of mourning af- ter Sunday' suicide bomb- ing in the eastern city of Lahore in a park crowded with families, Sharif said the army would forge ahead with a military operation on extremist hideouts and police will go after what he called the "cowards" who carried out the attack. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway Taliban fac- tion that supports the Is- lamic State group, claimed responsibility and said it specifically targeted Chris- tians. But most of those killed were Muslims who also had been in the popular park for the holiday. Many women and children were among the victims, and dozens of families held tearful funer- als Monday for their slain relatives. At least 300 peo- ple were wounded. Sharif, who canceled a visit to the United States to attend a nuclear sum- mit, also warned extremists againstusingIslamtojustify their violence in the over- whelmingly Muslim nation. Pakistan has suffered a series of attacks in recent months, and Sharif said militants are hitting "soft targets" like playgrounds and schools because mili- tary and police operations are putting pressure on their operations. Sharif met with security officials earlier in the day, and raids and dozens of ar- rests were carried out in eastern Punjab province, where several militant or- ganizations are headquar- tered. The prime minister also visited hospitals in Lahore where many of the injured were being treated. The attack underscored both the militants' ability to stage large-scale attacks despite a government offen- sive and the precarious po- sition of Pakistan's minor- ity Christians. EASTER BOMBING As Pakistan mourns blast victims, prime minister vows to defeat militants Interland Business & Gifts Office (530) 824-5696 • Public Fax# (530) 824-6659 1122 Solano St, Corning, CA • Email: interlandbus@gmail.com Letusprintyour business cards...Local! 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