US closes Syrian embassy as diplomacy collapses (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:51:44 GMT
AP - The U.S. closed its Syrian embassy and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus Monday in a dramatic new Western push to get President Bashar Assad to leave power as diplomatic efforts to resolve one of the deadliest conflicts of the Arab Spring collapsed.

US levies tougher sanctions on Iran's Central Bank (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:23:56 GMT
AP - President Barack Obama levied tough new sanctions on Iran's Central Bank Monday amid increased tensions over Tehran's nuclear program and the specter of an Israeli attack on the Islamic republic.

Gingrich shunned lobbying, but hired lobbyists (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:36:32 GMT
AP - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says his consulting group never lobbied for clients. But his business hired state and federal lobbyists to work with clients, and some staff left to take lobbying jobs, according to lobbying disclosures and corporate reports.

Granddad: Boys played happily before fatal visit (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:55:53 GMT
AP - The maternal grandparents of Josh Powell's two sons say the boys were playing happily Sunday and didn't want to visit their father.

Iraq's al-Qaida claims 2 deadly attacks on Shiites (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:29:11 GMT
AP - An al-Qaida front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the two deadliest attacks on Shiites since the U.S. military completed its withdrawal last month, underlining an escalating sectarian security and political crisis that threatens to drive the country toward civil war.

Palestinians take step toward unity (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:44:55 GMT
AP - After months of wavering, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took a decisive step Monday toward reconciliation with the Islamic militant group Hamas, a move Israel promptly warned would close the door to any future peace talks.

Tax reform in this election year: It's not likely (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:43:26 GMT
AP - Tax reform sounds like a good idea to lots of people, but where to start? Eliminate the popular deduction for home mortgages? End the write-off for charitable contributions? How about expanding the Social Security payroll tax?

Mo. teen describes killing as amazing, enjoyable (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:41:25 GMT
AP - A Missouri teenager who admitted stabbing, strangling and slitting the throat of a young neighbor girl wrote in her journal on the night of the killing that it was an "ahmazing" and "pretty enjoyable" experience — then headed off to church with a laugh.

Randy Travis arrested for public intoxication (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:25:57 GMT
AP - Country singer Randy Travis has apologized after being arrested on a charge of public intoxication outside a North Texas church.

Super Bowl draws record 111.3M viewers on NBC (AP)
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:58:56 GMT
AP - For the third consecutive year, the Super Bowl set a record as the most-watched television show in U.S. history.