AP News in Brief
Authorities: Tornadoes kill at least 11 in deadly march across South as residents take cover
• TUPELO, Miss. (AP) -- After spawning deadly tornadoes that flattened homes and businesses in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, a storm system that also caused havoc in the Midwest had Georgia in its sights early Tuesday.
• At least 11 people in the South were killed Monday, bringing the overall death toll from two days of severe weather to at least 28.
• In Mississippi, Republican state Sen. Giles Ward huddled in a bathroom with his wife, four other family members and their dog Monday as a tornado destroyed his two-story brick house and flipped his son-in-law's SUV upside down onto the patio in Louisville.
• "For about 30 seconds, it was unbelievable," Ward said. "It's about as awful as anything we've gone through."
• The dangerous weather jangled nerves a day after the three-year anniversary of a historic outbreak of more than 60 tornadoes that killed more than 250 people across Alabama on April 27, 2011.
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Syrian state media say mortar shells have killed 14, wounded 86
• DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Four mortar shells exploded on Tuesday in central Damascus, killing 14 people and wounding scores, state media said.
• The attacks in the Syrian capital come a day after President Bashar Assad announced his candidacy for the June 3 presidential elections, a race he is likely to win amid a raging civil war that initially started as an uprising against his rule.
• The official SANA news agency said four shells struck in the capital's Shaghour neighborhood on Tuesday morning. State TV said 14 people were killed in the attacks and 86 were injured.
• An official at the Damascus Police Command told The Associated Press that two of the mortar shells hit a school complex. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.
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