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Despite rebel unity deal, Syria has enough firepower to fight
• BEIRUT (AP) -- Nearly 20 months into the Syrian uprising, President Bashar Assad's message to the world has been nothing if not consistent: His military is strong, his enemies are mere terrorists and he will prevail in the end.
• And despite a unity deal signed by Syrian rebels this weekend, which they hope will persuade foreign backers to send more powerful weapons to use to battle the regime, Damascus still has enough firepower and resources to keep up the fight.
• "Syria has more than enough weapons for fighting the rebels," said Igor Korotchenko, a retired colonel of Russia's military general staff who is now editor of National Defense magazine. "As long as Bashar Assad has the money to pay his military, it will keep fighting."
• He said Syria has more than 1,000 tanks, along with a system of repair shops created during Soviet times and enough experienced personnel to service the weapons.
• Analysts say it is difficult to come up with reliable figures on the Syrian air force and air defenses because of the extreme secrecy surrounding its military matters. Assad's regime -- its forces stretched thin on multiple fronts -- has significantly increased its use of air power against Syrian rebels since the summer.
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Expert questions idea that faulty furnace may have caused deadly Indianapolis house explosion
• INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- As investigators try to determine what caused a deadly explosion that ravaged an Indianapolis subdivision, an expert says people shouldn't be alarmed by a homeowner's suggestion that his faulty furnace could be to blame.
• Investigators have been looking at gas meters and pipelines as they try to figure out what happened Saturday night when a blast killed two people, obliterated two homes and left dozens more uninhabitable.
• John Shirley and his ex-wife own one of the homes leveled in the explosion. Shirley, 50, of Noblesville, said his daughter told him recently that the furnace had gone out in the house she shares with her mother and her mother's boyfriend. He said his daughter told him the furnace was working again, but he wondered if a leak from the furnace could have led to the explosion that killed a couple next door. No (Continued on page 42)
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