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he was "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex couples being legally wed.
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• DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Two strong explosions ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, killing more than 40 people and leaving scenes of carnage in the streets in an assault against a center of government power, officials said.
• Syria's state-run TV said 170 people were wounded in what one official said may have been the most powerful of a series of blasts that have hit the capital this year.
• The explosions, which ripped the facade off a military intelligence building, happened at about 7:50 a.m. when employees are usually arriving at work. The building is part of a broader military compound for a feared section of the intelligence ser

vices known as the Palestine Branch.
• An Associated Press reporter at the scene said paramedics wearing rubber gloves were collecting human remains from the streets after the explosions. Heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks stood smoldering in the area. The outer wall of the headquarters collapsed and some walls crumbled, although the basic structure inside appeared intact.
• The Syrian government blamed "terrorists" and said dozens were killed or wounded, most of them civilians.
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