AP - Authorities have been investigating the disappearance of Susan Powell as a murder for at least several months, while they publicly left open the possibility that the Utah mother might be found alive.

AP - Coca-Cola reported an effervescent fourth quarter Tuesday, as the company sold more of its drinks globally and its earnings beat analyst expectations.

AP - A 31-year-old man faces murder charges in the death of an Arizona couple found tied up and burned beyond recognition and four others have also been arrested in the case, police said Tuesday.

AP - Hammered by Republicans and the Catholic Church, the White House hinted at compromise Tuesday as it struggled to calm an election-year uproar caused by its rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control.

AP - Hammered by Republicans and the Catholic Church, the White House hinted at compromise Tuesday as it struggled to calm an election-year uproar caused by its rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control.

AP - Same-sex marriage moved one step closer to the Supreme Court on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled California's ban unconstitutional, saying it serves no purpose other than to "lessen the status and human dignity" of gays.

AP - A vice president at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure resigned Tuesday, saying the breast cancer charity should have stood by its politically explosive decision to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

AP - Political turmoil over abortion and birth control spread suddenly on Tuesday. A high-ranking official resigned from the Komen breast-cancer charity after its backtracking treaty with Planned Parenthood, and Republican presidential candidates blistered the Obama administration for a recent ruling on Catholic hospitals and contraception.

AP - Political turmoil over abortion and birth control spread suddenly on Tuesday. A high-ranking official resigned from the Komen breast-cancer charity after its backtracking treaty with Planned Parenthood, and Republican presidential candidates blistered the Obama administration for a recent ruling on Catholic hospitals and contraception.

AP - Greece's private creditors signaled progress late Tuesday on a debt-relief deal but crucial talks between Greek coalition leaders about forcing more austerity upon a hostile public were again postponed.

AP - Students at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania can get the "morning-after" pill by sliding $25 into a vending machine, an idea that has drawn the attention of federal regulators and raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be.

AP - BP PLC has raised its quarterly dividend by 14 percent after posting double-digit gains in profit and revenue in the last three months of 2011 despite further big payments to compensate for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

AP - Egypt's ruling generals are playing a risky game of brinksmanship by cracking down on American nonprofit groups that promote democracy, threatening a relationship with Washington that has brought the military billions of dollars in aid over the past three decades.

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 - When students return to the school where two teachers were jailed last week for alleged lewdness, they'll have new teachers in their classrooms, a new principal in the front office and new workers serving lunch.

AP - A commission created by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn nearly two years ago with the ambitious goal of righting the wrongs of Chicago's police torture scandal is quietly falling apart, another apparent victim of the state's budget mess.

AP - Jury selection continued Tuesday in the case of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in a case that rocked the picturesque campus.

AP - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney set aside his focus on the economy in recent days and shifted to abortion, religious freedom and gay marriage, part of an intensified effort to win over social conservatives in GOP caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota on Tuesday.

AP - Karen Handel has had two major run-ins involving Planned Parenthood. One helped crush her political career; the other has the potential to remake it.

Reuters - Stocks rose slightly on Tuesday, but with the outcome of discussions on a bailout package for Greece uncertain, investors are unlikely to make big bets in coming days.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc Chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors will step down as the struggling company ploughs ahead with an internal overhaul, including discussions on dealing with its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan.

AP - In a reversal, President Barack Obama is embracing the big-money fundraising groups he assailed as a "threat to democracy" on the grounds they let money corrode elections. His shift is a pragmatic move to win re-election, and a concession that his team had no choice but to catch up and go along with today's supercharged rules.

AP - Former Sen. Bob Kerrey on Tuesday rejected a comeback run for Senate, dashing Democrats' hopes of holding a coveted Nebraska seat and leaving the party to scramble for a race all but guaranteed to go Republicans' way.

AP - Former Sen. Bob Kerrey on Tuesday rejected a comeback run for Senate, dashing Democrats' hopes of holding a coveted Nebraska seat and leaving the party to scramble for a race all but guaranteed to go Republicans' way.

Reuters - An appeals court on Tuesday found California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional in a case that may lead to a showdown in the Supreme Court.

AP - Republican front-runner Mitt Romney battled Rick Santorum and Ron Paul on Tuesday in political caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, hoping to extend his winning streak in the race for the presidential nomination.