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immigration bill. His challenge is to maintain the support of the tea party backers who lend him credibility and leverage in the immigration debate, while also getting credit for pushing a landmark piece of legislation that's opposed by many in the tea party but is a priority to the Latino voters who increasingly help determine the outcome of presidential elections.
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• ISTANBUL (AP) -- Turkey, a largely Muslim nation that bridges Europe and Asia, has a flourishing tourist industry based on ancient historical sites and ruins, a world-ranked metropolis in Istanbul, wide sandy Mediterranean beaches and stunning regions of natural beauty.
• A look at the industry as Turkey is hit by its largest anti-government demonstrations in years:
• THE NUMBERS
• Turkey attracted more than 37.7 million visitors in 2012, according to the Ministry

of Culture and Tourism, which says the country is among the top 10 most popular tourist destinations in the world. Over 5.2 million visitors have arrived already this year, a nearly 14 percent increase over the same period in 2012, it says.
• Some 378,000 U.S. residents visited Turkey in 2011, the latest year in which figures are available, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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• DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, regained control on Wednesday of the embattled strategic town of Qusair where fighting has raged with rebels for nearly three weeks, state TV and a local government official said.
• The capture of the town, which lies close to the Lebanese border, solidifies some of the regime's recent gains on the ground that have shifted the balance of power in Assad's favor in the Syrian civil war.
• It comes just a day after France and Britain made back-to-back announcements that the nerve gas sarin was used in Syria's conflict. A U.N. probe, also released

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