Reuters - Police in the German state of Lower-Saxony will soon use their networks of Facebook "friends" to find missing persons and hunt out suspected criminals, according to the state's interior minister.
AP - Twenty-nine Chinese workers abducted by rebels in Sudan more than a week ago have been released and flown to Kenya by the Red Cross, the group said Tuesday.
AP - Americans facing trial in Egypt over activities of their pro-democracy groups have been caught in a dispute between the U.S. government and Egypt over aid, a lawyer representing the Americans said Tuesday. Angry American officials warn the clash could jeopardize more than $1 billion in annual foreign aid to Egypt.
Reuters - Russia won a promise from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday to bring an end to bloodshed in Syria, but Western and Arab states acted to isolate Assad further after activists and rebels said his forces killed over 100 in the city of Homs.
AP - Outmatched time and again at the polls by President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan's opposition leaders are trying a new strategy to unseat the populist leader this year, holding the nation's first presidential primary to choose the strongest challenger.
AP - Gov. Jerry Brown's appointee to head the department that oversees banking, financial and consumer regulations in California led a trade association that fought against tighter lending restrictions before the subprime mortgage crisis exploded and was an executive with Washington Mutual when the now-failed bank was among the most aggressive marketers of loans to high-risk borrowers.
Reuters - Stocks traded edged higher on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of discussions on a bailout package for Greece that would help the country avoid a chaotic default.
AP - A high-ranking official resigned Tuesday from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity after a dispute over whether the group should give funding to Planned Parenthood, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
AP - The entire staff at a Los Angeles elementary school is being removed while authorities investigate horrific allegations of sexual abuse by two of the school's teachers, one of whom is accused of blindfolding children, taping their mouths and photographing them in a classroom.
AP - The New York Giants are returning from their Super Bowl win to a celebration the likes that only New York can throw: a ticker-tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway, where the city has honored stars for almost a century.
Reuters - President Barack Obama will seek $80 million in new funding for a program to boost science and math education in U.S. schools, the White House said on Tuesday.
Reuters - President Barack Obama will seek $80 million in new funding for a program to boost science and math education in U.S. schools, the White House said on Tuesday.
Reuters - The number of jobs waiting to be filled rose in December as employers tried to ramp up hiring in factories, retail and business services, the government said on Tuesday.
Reuters - Iranian buyers have defaulted on payments for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from their top supplier India, exporters and rice millers said on Tuesday, a sign of the mounting pressure on Tehran from a new wave of Western sanctions.
Reuters - A senior advisor to the breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure has resigned in the wake of a public outcry over the group's decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, which provides birth control and abortion services.
Time.com - Whether or not Newt Gingrich can carry on a real campaign against Mitt Romney depends in large measure on his political guardian angel, the Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson
AP - Former Sen. Bob Kerrey said Tuesday he will not run for the Nebraska Senate seat he gave up more than a decade ago, shutting down hopes for a bid both parties called Democrats' best chance to hold the seat.
AP - Former Sen. Bob Kerrey said Tuesday he will not run for the Nebraska Senate seat he gave up more than a decade ago, shutting down hopes for a bid both parties called Democrats' best chance to hold the seat.
Reuters - Greece's government is preparing a document with a list of painful reforms needed to clinch a new financing package, a government official said on Tuesday, moving Athens one step closer to a deal needed to avoid a chaotic debt default.
AP - Before setting his house ablaze and killing himself and his two young sons, Josh Powell left a voicemail for family members saying he couldn't live without the boys and didn't want to go on anymore.
Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday renewed a pledge to prevent Europe's financial crisis from damaging the U.S. economy in testimony before Congress that mirrored remarks he made last week.
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | As reported in an article by the Sun Sentinel, two lawmakers in Florida, Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood and Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, are attempting to pass legislation that would ban the use of food stamps to purchase soda, sweets, and junk food. While they feel that taxpayers shouldn't have to "foot the bill for Mountain Dew," a sentiment shared by many Americans, some people, including Plakor and Storms' fellow GOP colleagues, feel it's not up to the government to decide what people can and cannot eat.
Reuters - Coca-Cola Co reported better-than-expected quarterly results and announced a new cost-savings program on Tuesday that it will use to boost its brands and mitigate higher commodity costs.
AP - Adm. Bill McRaven said Tuesday that special operations forces in Afghanistan are preparing for a possible expanded role as overall U.S. forces begin to draw down after a decade of war.
AP - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is asking top fundraisers to support a Democratic-leaning outside group that is backing his bid for a second term, reversing Obama's opposition to "super" political action committees that can spend unlimited amounts of cash to influence elections.
Reuters - At least two top 10 shareholders in miner Xstrata plan to vote against a takeover by commodities trader Glencore, threatening the creation of a powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.
Reuters - A crash between a flatbed truck and a van carrying migrant farm workers on a rural crossroads in southwestern Ontario killed 11 people, media reported on Tuesday, in one of the most deadly vehicle accidents in Canadian history.
Reuters - President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, widely credited with bringing democracy to the hideaway resort islands, resigned on Tuesday after weeks of opposition protests erupted into a police mutiny and what an aide said amounted to a coup.
Reuters - Beyond the reach of regulators, and about half the size of the world's banking industry, a thriving breed of "shadow banks" is emerging that could trigger the next chapter in the global financial crisis.
AP - Coca-Cola Co.'s fourth-quarter net income dropped 71 percent, weighed down by restructuring charges and a difficult comparison with last year's fourth quarter, when the beverage maker had a hefty benefit from buying its bottlers.
AP - A political adviser to President Barack Obama said Tuesday the administration didn't intend to "abridge anyone's religious freedom" with its regulation requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control for their workers.
AP - A political adviser to President Barack Obama said Tuesday the administration didn't intend to "abridge anyone's religious freedom" with its regulation requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control for their workers.