GRAHAM, Wash. (AP) -- The sons of a missing Utah woman suffered severe chopping injuries to their heads or necks as they died in a house fire set by their father, authorities in Washington state said Monday evening....

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....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Chris Brown will perform at this year's Grammy Awards, the event where his career almost ended three years ago....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Many children stayed home Monday while parents demanded more protection at an elementary school where two teachers are suspected of molesting students in class....

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....

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....

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....

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....

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....

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Bill Belichick gave clear instructions to his defensive unit: Let the runner score....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Alexis McKenzie's mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife's sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store....

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A federal judge ruled Monday that the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that wounded former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will spend four more months at a federal prison facility where officials are forcibly medicating him....

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (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....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Less than a second stood between British singer M.I.A. giving the finger to 114 million people watching the Super Bowl halftime show and no one noticing at all....

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- The Patriots say there's no finger-pointing after their Super Bowl loss, even if supermodel Gisele Bundchen won't abide by that code....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Phone company Verizon Communications Inc. will challenge Netflix and start a video streaming service this year with Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks....

WASHINGTON (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....

WASHINGTON (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?...

NEW YORK (AP) -- For the third consecutive year, the Super Bowl has set a record as the most-watched television show in U.S. history....

BAGHDAD (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....