BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian forces unleashed a barrage of mortars and artillery on the battered city of Homs for hours before dawn on Saturday, sending terrified residents fleeing into basements and killing more than 200 people in what appeared to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said. The government denied the assault. It said the reports are part of a "hysterical campaign" of incitement by armed groups against Syria, meant to be exploited at the U.N. Securi...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A confident Mitt Romney is looking past his GOP opponents and Nevada's caucuses the day the state votes. Chief rival Newt Gingrich is bracing for defeat in a state the former Massachusetts governor won in 2008. Romney was scheduled to fly to Colorado Saturday morning for a campaign rally before returning to Las Vegas for a party with supporters at a casino a few miles from the Las Vegas Strip. In a sign that he expects to lose, Gingrich planned a simple statement instead of...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday. Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for more than three-quarters of the civilian deaths in 2011, the fifth year in a row in which the death toll went up, the U.N. said....

MUNICH (AP) - The Obama administration on Saturday called for stepped up U.S.-European cooperation to isolate tyrannies like the Assad regime in Syria, promote democracy in the Arab World and beyond and repair damage from the global financial crisis. And, as America shifts its primary strategic focus to Asia and reduces its military presence in Europe, President Barack Obama's top two national security aides - attending an international security conference here together in a demonstration o...

DENVER (AP) - The most powerful storm of the winter season pounded Colorado with up to 6 feet of snow in the Rocky Mountain foothills and forced the cancellation of more than 600 flights in Denver before heading east toward the central plains. Blizzard conditions that hit the eastern Colorado plains, including 5-foot drifts in parts of Elbert County, began easing with forecasters advising of blowing snow early Saturday....