The Syrian government on Sunday denied responsibility for killing

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government on Sunday denied responsibility for killings in a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead, blaming the killings on "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen" who also attacked soldiers in the area.

Friday's assault on the central area of Houla was one of the bloodiest single events in Syria's 15-month-old uprising, and gruesome images of dozens of children killed in the attacks prompted a wave of international outrage.

The U.N. said 32 children under the age of 10 were among the dead and issued a statement appearing to hold the Syrian regime responsible. Persistent violence has cast doubt about the future of international efforts to halt 14 months of bloodshed between the regime and forces fighting against it.

The U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session for late Sunday to discuss the killing. Diplomats said Russia blocked a strong statement condemning the killing, insisting on a briefing from the head of the observer mission first.

Activists from Houla said Saturday that regime forces had peppered the area with mortar shells after large demonstrations against the regime on Friday. That evening, they said, pro-regime fighters known as shabiha stormed the villages, gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi disputed those accounts, saying Syria is being subjected to a "tsunami of lies."

"We categorically deny the responsibility of government forces for the massacre," Makdissi said Sunday during a news conference in Damascus.

Giving the regime's version of events, Makdissi said "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen carrying machine guns, mortars and anti-tank missiles" launched a simultaneous attack against five army positions from several locations, starting about 2 p.m. and continuing for nine hours. Three soldiers were killed and 16 were wounded, he said.
"There were no Syrian tanks or artillery in the vicinity" of Houla, Makdissi said. He said that gunmen used anti-tank missiles and "Syrian troops retaliated in defense of their positions."
"Children, women and other innocent people were killed in their homes, and this is not what the Syrian army does," Makdissi said. "The method of killing was brutal."
Makdissi said a committee was set up to investigate the attack, and results should be out within three days. He added that Kofi Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, will fly to Syria on Monday.

But a senior Arab League official said Syria has denied permission for Annan's deputy to travel to Damascus. Syria insisted the decision against former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa was not personal, but rather because it did not want to deal with the Arab League, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The Houla attacks sparked outrage from American and other international leaders, and renewed concerns about the relevance of a 6-week-old international peace plan that has not stopped almost daily violence. The U.N. put the death toll weeks ago at more than 9,000. Hundreds have been killed since.
U.N. observers, among more than 250 who were dispatched in recent weeks to try to salvage the cease-fire plan, found spent artillery and tank shells at the site Saturday — a finding that points toward the government's heavily armed mechanized units.
On Sunday, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said he would summon Syria's most senior diplomat in the U.K. on Monday so the Foreign Office's political director could "make clear our condemnation of the Syrian regime's actions."
Syria says the Arab League has become a tool of the West. The group suspended Syria's membership and approved sanctions against it late last year.
Kuwait, which currently heads the 22-member Cairo-based Arab League, announced it is calling for an Arab ministerial meeting that aims to "take steps to put an end to the oppressive practices against the Syrian people."
Late Saturday, Foreign Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates condemned the killings in Houla and called for an urgent meeting of the Arab League.
Activists said government troops shelled residential areas in other areas of central Syria on Sunday.
The shelling hit neighborhoods in the central city of Hama and the rebel-held town of Rastan north of Homs, the Local Coordination Committees and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The two groups also reported clashes between troops and rebels in Hama, in the Damascus suburb of Harasta and in the capital's central Midan district. They said a bomb struck a security vehicle in the capital's upscale district of Mazzeh, near a military airport, according to the LCC.
The Observatory said the vehicle bombing caused casualties but did not have further details.
Damascus is tightly controlled by regime forces but has been hit by a wave of bomb blasts over recent months that killed scores of people. Most of the blasts have targeted Syrian security agencies.

Nicole Kidman's red carpet date travelled for 35 hours to join her in Cannes.

CANNES, France (AP) — Nicole Kidman's red carpet date travelled for 35 hours to join her in Cannes.

The actress's husband — musician Keith Urban — made the trip from Sydney, where's he's been filming "The Voice," to escort her up the famous Palais stairs at the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of her film, "The Paperboy."

And Kidman says his effort meant "everything" to her: "As long as he's there, he's my rock, everything's fine. I feel a little out to sea if he's not there."
Not that she didn't know what she was doing. It's the star's fifth time in Cannes, so she's used to the huge photo calls, press conferences and international interviews in the palm-tree scattered French coastal resort.
This time Kidman has two movies showing — "The Paperboy," which is competing for the Palme d'Or top prize, and, outside of competition, the HBO movie "Hemingway & Gellhorn."

"The Paperboy," director Lee Daniels' steamy Southern noir in which she stars with Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey, received mixed reactions at press screenings before the premiere — so the cast were delighted when the audience took to their feet to clap for 15 minutes after seeing it.

While a teary Efron described the ovation as one of the most profound moments of his life and the rest of the cast was overwhelmed, Kidman remained dry-eyed — if appreciative.
"We got an amazing standing ovation, which was great. This is my fifth time so I've had many, many, many different reactions," she said in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday. "That's the longest standing 'O' I've ever gotten at Cannes."
"Lee was crying, but I wasn't crying. I cry at my kids, I cry with my family, I don't really cry outside of that — that's the stuff that brings me to tears!" Kidman said. "All of this other stuff, the glitter, and those sort of things, I'm more sort of immune to at this stage. It's probably because I've been doing it for so long."
She credits putting showbiz further down her list of priorities with keeping her relationship on an even keel, even if it does involve a lot of international travel.
"Keith and I have been at this for a long time. We know where it all stands, so there's kind of a practicality in a sense," she explained.
While that doesn't sound very romantic, Kidman says they manage to keep it going, even on the road.

"We can have a really cool life together because that's what matters. In terms of romance, for us, that's so much more important than any of this," she says, gesturing to the lights and the cameras pointing at her.

The 65th Cannes Film Festival runs to Sunday, when the jury sits down to choose its prizewinners.

Born this way? Lady Gaga meets Thai 'lady boys'

BANGKOK (AP) — Lady Gaga has met Thailand's premier "lady boys" at a Bangkok drag show featuring busty dancers who were not born that way.

Diving in to the city's nightlife, the pop diva and an entourage from her "Born This Way Ball" took in a show at the well-known Calypso Cabaret, where she cheered on a transvestite review of Broadway show tunes.

"A million people have to pay to see a Gaga concert, but Gaga paid to see our show!" cabaret manager Nipon Boonmasuwan told Friday's Thairath newspaper. When the performance ended, she took the stage to shake hands with the dancers and handed out six tickets to her Friday night show.

Born This Way, the title track of Lady Gaga's latest album, has become a gay anthem. It includes the line, "Don't be a drag, just be a queen." Transvestites and transsexuals are known in Thailand as lady boys.

Promoters confirmed Lady Gaga visited the cabaret Wednesday night, just hours after her arrival in Bangkok.

Lady Gaga's Asian tour has generated publicity and often controversy at nearly every stop.

In Seoul, fans younger than 18 were banned from Lady Gaga's concerts after Christian groups complained that her lyrics and costumes were too sexually provocative.

It remains unclear if her June 3 show in Jakarta will take place after Muslim hard-liners threatened violence. Indonesian police initially denied a permit but later hinted the show could go on if she tones it down.

Not a chance, said her manager Troy Carter, who told the Straits Times in Singapore on Friday that Lady Gaga "plays the show as it is" and has no plan to self-censor.