AP - The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council says it is pulling its ambassadors from Syria because of President Bashar Assad's refusal to accept Arab attempts to end the country's bloodshed.

AP - Volunteers poured onto frozen rivers and lakes in the northern Netherlands on Tuesday to shovel away snow that is one of the major hurdles in the way of a grueling speedskating race being held for the first time in 15 years.

Reuters - Stocks were little changed on Tuesday as Greece's government said it was preparing the text of an agreement on a 130-billion euro bailout that will be put to the nation's leaders later in the day.

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.

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.

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 - Greek party leaders will seek Tuesday a long-delayed agreement on harsh cutbacks that bailout creditors demanded to save the country from bankruptcy but which have fueled nationwide outrage — a general strike snarled public services and thousands of protesters took to the streets of Athens.

AP - Abandoned by her mother and missing a father in prison, Alyssa Bustamante had plunged to the depths of depression before, once overdosing on a large bottle of painkillers, slicing her skin hundreds of times and carving the word "hate" in her arm. She recovered from her suicide attempt and was prescribed an antidepressant drug.

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.

AP - Republican presidential challenger Rick Santorum is hoping that his weeks of criticism of GOP front-runner Mitt Romney will pay off Tuesday when Colorado and Minnesota hold nominating caucuses. Romney, in turn, is looking to continue his winning streak after back-to-back victories in Florida and Nevada last week.

AP - Striking police officers in Brazil's third-largest city are refusing to leave a legislature building they've occupied for a week.

AP - U.S. officials say a senior U.S. military commander will visit Pakistan this month in what could be an important step in healing the rift between the two nations.

Reuters - Iran castigated its U.S. adversary on Tuesday over new financial measures to disrupt Iranian commerce, and a default on payment for rice purchases highlighted the encroachment of sanctions on the staples of everyday life.

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 - Toyota's quarterly profit slid 13.5 percent on production setbacks caused by last year's tsunami disaster and the flooding in Thailand, but Japan's top automaker raised its annual earnings forecast, saying a recovery is on track.

AP - A small group of Marines trudged onto the beach sands in pitch-black night with an armada of U.S. Navy warships sailing just off the shore. Their mission: root out insurgents that threatened to attack another American force to the south.

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.