AP - Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed at least 74 people, including small children, as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings and fired on crowds in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said Friday.

AP - Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney urged conservatives to back off aggressive anti-immigration policies as the Republican presidential candidates vied for Hispanic votes Friday, a day marked by heightened tensions entering the final weekend before Florida's primary.

AP - President Barack Obama fired a warning at the nation's colleges and universities on Friday, threatening to strip their federal aid if they "jack up tuition" every year and to give the money instead to schools showing restraint and value.

AP - The American economy may not be truly healthy yet, but it's healing.

AP - A U.S. citizen kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta has been freed after a week in captivity, the U.S. Embassy said.

AP - When Facebook makes its long-expected debut as a public company this spring, the social-networking company will likely vault into the ranks of the largest public companies in the world, alongside McDonald's, Amazon.com and Bank of America.

AP - The two teens had a detailed plot, blueprints of the school and security systems, but no explosives. They had hours of flight simulator training on a home computer and a plan to flee the country, but no plane.

AP - The voyage of a cargo boat that carries space rocket components to Florida's coast for NASA and the Air Force has stalled in a western Kentucky river after it slammed into an aging traffic bridge.

AP - Demi Moore smoked something before she was rushed to the hospital on Monday night and was convulsing and "semi-conscious, barely," according to a caller on a frantic 911 recording released Friday by Los Angeles fire officials.

AP - On serve and when whipping his forehand, Novak Djokovic's grunt is that of a bullfrog, "WooooAH-UH." Rafael Nadal goes for a throatier, "AAArrgggHH." Occasionally, Andy Murray offers up a more hushed, constricted, "Eeeeeehhh." From Roger Federer, of course, we tend to get the sound of silence.

Reuters - Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the Republican presidential race on Friday as two new polls showed him falling behind rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida primary.

Reuters - The economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a rebuilding of stocks by businesses and slower business spending warned of weaker growth in early 2012.

Reuters - Security forces killed over 40 people in Syria on Friday, activists and residents said, as people in Homs mourned 14 members of a family they said were slain by militiamen in one of the worst sectarian attacks in a 10-month revolt.