Syrian forces attack 3 towns, killing 9

Syrian forces attack 3 towns, killing 9

CAIRO

Syrian forces attacked several towns Sunday, killing at least nine people as protests continued against the embattled regime of President Bashar Assad, activists said.

Syrian troops and security forces stormed the central town of Rastan, using tanks and armored vehicles and shooting randomly, the activists said. At least four people were killed in the town of 80,000 and several injured, some critically, according to Wissam Tarif, executive director of the Beirut-based human-rights group Insan.

Elsewhere in the same central Homs province, troops entered the towns of Teir Maaleh and Talbiseh on Sunday, with five deaths reported in the area, activists said.

Cost of fuel keeps air fares climbing

NEW YORK

To fly someone from New York to Los Angeles and back, airlines spend close to $330 these days — just on fuel.

That’s a 48 percent increase from last year and the main reason vacationers face record costs to fly this summer. To offset their single-biggest expense, airlines have raised fares seven times this year and raised fees for checking bags and other services.

A decade ago, fuel accounted for about 15 percent of airline operating expenses. Five years ago, it was 29 percent. Today, it’s 35 percent.

Ga. pastor looks ahead after scandal

LITHONIA, Ga.

The crowd still cheered for Bishop Eddie Long as he took the pulpit Sunday, but gone was the air of defiance that defined his appearance eight months ago when he rallied his congregation to battle amid lawsuits accusing the megachurch pastor of sexual misconduct.

Just days after settling the lawsuits filed by four young men who used to attend New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, the message was one of progress and prosperity to the several hundred gathered.

Long addressed a far smaller group than the one gathered back in September, when he vowed to fight like David versus Goliath against accusations that he abused his spiritual authority and coerced four young men into sexual relationships with gifts including cars, cash and travel.

NY rep says hacker sent lewd photo

NEW YORK

A lewd photograph of a crotch sent from the Twitter account of U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is just “a distraction” perpetrated by a hacker, his spokesman said Sunday.

Dave Arnold told The Associated Press in an email that the tweet, directed at a woman, was “a distraction” from the married New York Democrat’s “important work representing his constituents.”

“Anthony’s accounts were obviously hacked,” Arnold said. “He doesn’t know the person named by the hacker, and we will be consulting on what steps to take next.”

It first was reported Saturday by BigGovernment.com, a website run by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart.

The photo quickly was deleted.

Libyan rebels face new challenges

MISRATA, Libya

Fighting on their home turf, Misrata’s rebels overcame the heavier firepower of Moammar Gadhafi’s forces in punishing street battles that expelled them from the western Libyan city. They now face what could prove a far tougher task — defeating a better-armed military in open terrain.

Opposition forces have expanded the territory under their control over the past month, pushing the front lines 15 miles in a sweeping arc around the port city and putting Misrata out of range of Gadhafi’s heavy weapons.

But the rebels face new challenges as they shift from street battles to fighting in the olive groves, wheat fields and sandy desert that surround the city.

Combined dispatches