US closes Syrian embassy as diplomacy collapses (AP)

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.

Exclusive: Facebook governance a concern for Calif pension fund (Reuters)

Reuters - Facebook's corporate governance rules, which give shareholders little say in how the social networking website would be run as a public company, are raising the hackles of one of the largest U.S. investors, the California State Teachers' Retirement System.

Exclusive: MGM secures $500 mln loan to expand film, TV slate (Reuters)

Reuters - Metro-Goldwyn Mayer said its lenders agreed to loan the studio $500 million to retire debt it took on when it emerged from bankruptcy about a year ago and to expand its film and TV production.

Candidacy tests Mexico's culture of machismo (AP)

AP - Mexico's conservative ruling party is gambling that this country known for machismo is ready for a female president and have chosen a devout Roman Catholic and popular former congresswoman who says she sympathizes with the causes of the poor.

Romania's government collapses after protests (AP)

AP - Romania's government has collapsed following weeks of protests against austerity measures, the latest debt-stricken government in Europe to fall in the face of raising public anger over biting cuts.

Mortgage deal faces setbacks, again (Reuters)

Reuters - A multi-state mortgage settlement in the works for more than a year will likely be pushed back again as dissident U.S. states continue to press specific concerns and ignore a Monday deadline to decide whether they will sign it.

Yum Brands posts 30 percent 4th-qtr profit rise (AP)

AP - Yum Brands Inc., owner of the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC fast-food chains, said Monday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 30 percent with a recipe of strong overseas growth mixed with a sales turnaround at Pizza Hut in the U.S.

Greece caves in on civil service firings (AP)

AP - Greece's coalition government caved in to demands to cut civil service jobs, announcing 15,000 positions would go this year, amid mounting international pressure to agree on austerity measures needed to secure major new debt agreements.

Egyptians cancel meetings with U.S. lawmakers after aid warnings (Reuters)

Reuters - An Egyptian military delegation abruptly cancelled its meetings with U.S. lawmakers to return to Cairo on Monday after warnings from both Congress and the White House that Egypt's crackdown on non-governmental groups could threaten its $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.

Ford won't bid to replace military Humvees (Reuters)

Reuters - Ford Motor Co said on Monday it had decided not to participate in a new Pentagon competition to replace the U.S. military's fleet of workhorse Humvee vehicles.

Key states move closer to foreclosure-abuse deal (AP)

AP - California and New York, the key holdouts in a long-awaited settlement over foreclosure abuses, moved closer Monday to backing a deal that would force the five largest mortgage lenders to reduce loans for about 1 million households.

Greeks delay bailout talks as Merkel demands action (Reuters)

Reuters - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greece Monday to make up its mind fast on accepting the painful terms for a new EU/IMF bailout, but the country's political leaders responded by delaying their decision for yet another day.

Housing plan helps nearly 1 million homeowners (Reuters)

Reuters - Nearly 1 million U.S. homeowners have won permanent reductions on mortgage payments since the Obama administration launched its foreclosure prevention program in 2009, the U.S. Treasury said on Monday, only a fraction of the total it aimed to reach.

Gunmen kill five in Libyan refugee camp: hospital staff (Reuters)

Reuters - Gunmen killed five Libyan refugees at their camp in a Tripoli suburb Monday, residents and hospital sources said, underscoring the volatility in the country months after Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow.

The Worthless Junk the 1 Percent Waste Their Money On (ContributorNetwork)

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Strictly speaking, the 1 percent -- people whose incomes put them above the other 99 percent of us, starting at about $340,000 a year as of 2009, according to IRS data -- don't actually spend much of their money.

Wall St edges lower after string of gains (Reuters)

Reuters - Stocks closed slightly lower on Monday as lingering questions about Europe's debt crisis and corporate earnings overshadowed growing optimism about economic growth after a five-week rally.

US oil prices fall below $97 (AP)

AP - U.S. oil prices fell below $97 per barrel Monday as growing supplies offset moves by President Barack Obama and other Western leaders to make it tougher for Iran to sell crude. Here's how energy contracts traded.

Syria bombards Homs; West scrambles for new strategy (Reuters)

Reuters - Syrian forces bombarded Homs on Monday, killing 50 people in a sustained assault on several districts of the city which has become a centre of armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.

China VP seeks reunion with Iowans he met in 1985 (AP)

AP - As China's future president makes plans for a trip to the United States next week, he has made sure that there's time between stops in Washington and California to visit Iowa.

Syria's Splintered Opposition: Who Is Running the War Against the Regime? (Time.com)

Time.com - Even as the Free Syrian Army is establishing an identity in the conflict, another organization announces its presence in the opposition pantheon

The Mainstreaming of Hamas Continues as Palestinian Unity Gains Steam (Time.com)

Time.com - Hamas vows to give Palestinian moderate leader Mahmoud Abbas the running room to see what talks can produce

Senegalese opposition denounce president's bid for third term (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Christian Science Monitor - The eight candidates came in convoys from their respective corners of Dakar to Obelisk Square in the heart of the Senegalese capital, where crowds of color-coordinated supporters awaited them while listening to political hip-hop anthems in Wolof - the local dialect. A single microphone stood on stage and each of them were introduced as "president" before they took it.

Anti-cuts protests push Romania PM out (Reuters)

Reuters - Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned on Monday, joining a list of European leaders felled by fury at the kind of spending cuts that prompted weeks of mass protests in Bucharest against IMF-backed austerity.

South Africa's cautious UN vote for Syrian action (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Christian Science Monitor - Russia and Chinaâs joint veto of a United Nations resolution urging Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to step down has kicked up a firestorm of criticism from the West and from human rights activists.

Quick end to lockout at Rio's Quebec smelter unlikely (Reuters)

Reuters - Rio Tinto's lockout of workers at its Alcan division's big Alma aluminum smelter in northern Quebec looks set to drag on, and the company said on Monday that no talks were scheduled.

Report: Casinos generated $125B spending in 2010 (AP)

AP - A new report shows U.S. casinos and the industries that depend on them made a $125 billion economic splash in 2010 — the equivalent of 1 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product.

Nigeria names seven behind Eni pipeline blast (Reuters)

Reuters - Nigeria's military has named seven people it says were behind an attack on an oil pipeline belonging to Italy's Eni on Saturday, and denied a claim that a former separatist militia in the Niger Delta was responsible.

U.N. nuclear talks in Tehran: frustrated hopes (Reuters)

Reuters - After two days of rare and intensive talks in Tehran, senior U.N. nuclear officials may have felt they were finally making headway towards getting Iran to address suspicions that it is bent on developing the ability to make atom bombs.

Palestinian rivals agree to form unity government (Reuters)

Reuters - The leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a deal in Qatar on Monday to form a unity government of independent technocrats for the West Bank and Gaza, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Correction: Australia helicopter deaths story (AP)

AP - In a story Feb. 5 about the deaths of two filmmakers in an Australian helicopter crash, The Associated Press reported erroneously the location of the crash. Nowra is 97 miles (156 kilometers) south of Sydney, not north.

SEC names top federal auditor to accounting board (AP)

AP - Federal regulators have appointed a top government auditor as a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which polices the accounting industry.

Euro zone sales tumble at Christmas, no sign of growth (Reuters)

Reuters - Retail sales in the euro zone tumbled unexpectedly in December, the biggest drop in the Christmas period in three years, data showed on Friday, with rising joblessness and stubborn inflation undercut signs of a stabilization in Europe's economy.