BEIRUT (AP) — Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed more than 50 people as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings, fired on crowds and left bleeding corpses in the streets in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said Friday. Much of the violence was focused in Homs, where heavy gunfire hammered the city Friday in a second day of chaos. A day earlier, the city saw a flare-up of sectarian kidnappings and slayings, and pro-regime... Read more

BEIRUT (AP) — Armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad barraged residential buildings with mortars and machine-gun fire, killing at least 30 people, including a family of women and children during a day of sectarian killings and kidnappings in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, activists said Friday. The violence erupted Thursday, but important details were only emerging a day later. Video posted online by activists showed the bodies of five small children, five women of varying ages and a... Read more

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An epic French documentary about the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime has appeared on Turkish television to mark international Holocaust Remembrance Day — the first time the film has been aired on public television in a majority-Muslim country. State television TRT’s documentary channel showed the first episode of filmmaker Claude Lanzmann’s “Shoah” late Thursday — the eve of the day of remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. The film has been... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly faced the media Friday for the first time since reports surfaced that a woman had accused his son of rape, refusing to discuss the headline-grabbing case and referring questions to Manhattan prosecutors. “I’m not going to … with all due respect, answer any questions on this matter,” Kelly said at a news conference at police headquarters when queried about the case involving his son Greg, an anchor for the popular morning show... Read more

JERUSALEM (AP) — It’s a huge question for observant Jews: How can one still believe in a merciful God after suffering through the worst genocide in history? As the world marks Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, members of Israel’s most devout group will remember the victims with prayer, study of scripture and a deep conviction in a grand plan that is beyond their earthly comprehension. Many notable survivors, including Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, have famously questioned where God was during... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Muslim groups are calling for New York’s police commissioner to step down because of his appearance in a film they say paints their religion and its adherents in a bad light. About 20 activists held a news conference on the steps of City Hall on Thursday and criticized Ray Kelly for giving an interview to the producers of the movie “The Third Jihad.” The movie uses dramatic footage to warn against the dangers of radical Islam.... Read more

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gay rights activists in the state of Maine, the only state in the northeastern region of New England that doesn’t allow gay marriage or civil unions, moved Thursday toward forcing a second statewide vote on the marriage question, and their opponents say they’ll be ready for a fight. If Maine residents approve gay marriage this time around, the state would be the first to do so by a popular vote. After the Legislature approved gay marriage... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — A CIA operative’s unusual assignment inside the New York Police Department is being cut short after an internal investigation that criticized how the agency established its unprecedented collaboration with city police, The Associated Press has learned. In its investigation, the CIA’s inspector general faulted the agency for sending an officer to New York with little oversight after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and then leaving him there too long, according to officials who have read or... Read more

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Governments that call themselves democratic often fear democracy in practice, leaving it up to their people to seize the initative, as last year’s Arab Spring revolutions across the Muslim world have shown. That was one conclusion from a lively “democracy debate” of global leaders hosted by The Associated Press on Thursday at the World Economic Forum. It explored the recent failure of democratic governments to meet people’s economic needs, how political Islam will function in democratic... Read more

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Governments that call themselves democratic often fear democracy in practice, leaving it up to their people to seize the initative, as last year’s Arab Spring revolutions across the Muslim world have shown. That was one conclusion from a lively “democracy debate” of global leaders hosted by The Associated Press on Thursday at the World Economic Forum. It explored the recent failure of democratic governments to meet people’s economic needs, how political Islam will function in democratic... Read more