BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government shelling and offensives against rebel-held towns killed at least 74 people across the country on Saturday, activists said, as the U.S. posted online satellite images of troop deployments that cast further doubt on whether the regime intends to comply with an internationally sponsored peace plan. Syrian President Bashar Assad has accepted a cease-fire deadline brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for his forces to pull out of towns and cities by Tuesday and... Read more

HIGHLAND PARK, New Jersey (AP) — Inside the New Jersey church where he now lives, Saul Timisela recounted Friday how as a Christian youth leader, he fled his native Indonesia after finding the desecrated corpse of his brother-in-law following an attack by anti-Christian extremists that destroyed their city. Timisela, who has been ordered deported from the United States, has been given sanctuary by The Reformed Church of Highland Park, hoping that federal legislation sponsored by New York and New Jersey... Read more

HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. (AP) — Inside the New Jersey church where he now lives, Saul Timisela recounted Friday how as a Christian youth leader, he fled his native Indonesia after finding the desecrated corpse of his brother-in-law following an attack by anti-Christian extremists that destroyed their city. Timisela, who has been ordered deported from the United States, has been given sanctuary by The Reformed Church of Highland Park, hoping that federal legislation sponsored by New York and New Jersey lawmakers... Read more

CUBA: Royal Caribbean ship rescues 23 Cuban migrants SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A cruise ship departing from Jamaica has rescued 23 Cuban migrants after someone aboard spotted their small boat. A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. says officials on the Oasis of the Seas brought the Cubans aboard and provided them with food, water and medical treatment after alerting the U.S. Coast Guard. Cynthia Martinez says the Cubans were turned over to Mexican authorities when the ship... Read more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coca-Cola may be off the menu for the Passover feast — at least in California. As millions of Jews celebrate the Biblical story of the exodus from Egypt on Friday night, Coke says it’s been forced out of California by state laws on toxic chemicals. Coke directed its suppliers last year to change the way they manufacture caramel to reduce levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MEI, which California has listed as a carcinogen. Although the... Read more

2 Navy pilots eject from jet and send fighter careening into apartments, destroying buildings VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Two Navy pilots ejected from a fighter jet Friday, sending their unmanned plane careening into a Virginia Beach apartment complex and engulfing several buildings in flames. The plane had dumped loads of fuel before crashing, though it wasn’t clear if that was because of a malfunction or an intentional maneuver by the pilots, said Capt. Mark Weisgerber with U.S. Fleet Forces... Read more

GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) — A central Texas church spokeswoman says New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow is set to speak to an expected 20,000 people on Easter Sunday. Tebow is scheduled to address the Celebration Church in Georgetown, north of Austin. Church spokeswoman Tara (TAH’-ra) Wall tells The Associated Press that Tebow reached out to the church about a month ago and said he wanted to speak. People attending the non-denominational service will sit on lawn chairs and blankets. Wall... Read more

BALTIMORE (AP) — A man who once said he wanted to wage jihad against the United States renounced terrorism Friday as he was sentenced to 25 years for plotting to bomb a military recruiting center near Baltimore. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Manuelian told U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz that Antonio Martinez maintains the mindset that led him to place what he believed was a bomb in front of the recruiting center. However, Martinez said in a lengthy apology that... Read more

Around the world, Christians commemorated Good Friday with solemn observances, both large and small. In Jerusalem, a procession wound through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus. Volunteers dressed as Roman centurions drove nails through the palms of Catholic devotees in the Philippines, in a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ. Hundreds of processions took place in Spain during Easter Week, including one in Valencia where worshippers flocked to the icon of... Read more

HAVANA (AP) — Good Friday is an official holiday in Cuba for the first time in a half century, but few Catholics on the island seem to be using the day off to attend Mass. Cuba’s Communist government declared the holiday to honor a request that Pope Benedict XVI made during last week’s visit. But only a few more worshippers than usual were noted inside Havana’s Catholic churches on Friday. Authorities are also allowing Cardinal Jaime Ortega’s to transmit a... Read more