GRAHAM, Wash. (AP) - Josh Powell's boys were coming for a visit, and he had preparations to make. He boxed up their books and toys and brought them to a charity. He carried heavy cans of gasoline inside his house.
BEIRUT (AP) - The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Monday in a new Western push to get President Bashar Assad to leave power and halt the murderous grind in Syria - now among the deadliest conflicts of the Arab Spring. Although the diplomatic effort was stymied at the U.N. by vetoes from Russia and China, the moves by the U.S. and Britain were a clear message that Western powers see no point in engaging with Assad and now will seek to bolster Syria's opposition.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Targeting Iran's economy, the U.S. ordered tough new penalties Monday to further pinch the country's financial system and encourage Israel to give sanctions more time before any military action against Iran's nuclear program. The new, stricter sanctions, authorized in legislation that President Barack Obama signed in December, will be enforced under an order he signed only now. They give U.S. banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to move money despite earlier restrictions imposed by the U.S. and Europe.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The faculty at Miramonte Elementary School will be removed following allegations of child sex abuse against two teachers, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy said Monday night at a meeting with parents. The move follows the arrest of the two teachers on lewd conduct charges.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - Sensing a possible threat, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized rival Rick Santorum's time in the Senate as "not effective" because of his past support for spending on pork-barrel projects as he worked to fend off an unexpected challenge in the next states to vote. Santorum countered that Romney "should not be our nominee" because he was "dead wrong on the most important issue of the day" when, as governor, he signed a health care overhaul into law in Massachusetts.
DENVER (AP) - Long skeptical of Mitt Romney, tea party activists are either warming up to the GOP presidential front-runner or reluctantly backing him after abandoning hope of finding a nominee they like better. Whatever the reason, the former Massachusetts governor who is coming off of back-to-back victories in Florida and Nevada now is picking up larger shares of the tea party vote than he did when the Republican nomination fight began. And that fact alone illuminates the struggles of the nearly three-year-old movement to greatly influence its first presidential race.
DETROIT (AP) - People rarely pick a fight with Dirty Harry. But Chrysler's "Halftime in America" ad featuring quintessential tough guy Clint Eastwood has generated fierce debate about whether it accurately portrays the country's most economically distressed city or amounts to a campaign ad for President Barack Obama and the auto bailouts. The 2-minute ad holds up Detroit as a model for American recovery while idealistic images of families, middle class workers and factories scroll across the screen.
SANGER, Texas (AP) - Country singer Randy Travis has apologized after being arrested on a charge of public intoxication outside a North Texas church. Denton County sheriff's spokesman Tom Reedy says police in the town of Sanger arrested Travis early Monday after spotting a vehicle parked in front of a church and finding an open bottle of wine and Travis smelling of alcohol.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (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. In a deal brokered by Qatar, Abbas will head an interim unity government to prepare for general elections in the Palestinian territories in the coming months. The agreement appeared to bring reconciliation - key to any statehood ambitions - within reach for the first time since the two sides set up rival Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza in 2007.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Bill Belichick gave clear instructions to his defensive unit: Let the runner score. Playing the odds and inviting critics, the calculating coach of the New England Patriots told his players to get out of the way, open a wide path for Ahmad Bradshaw and give Tom Brady a chance to win the Super Bowl in the final 57 seconds.
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