As President Bashar al-Assad’s Army continues to shell the city of Homs, Navi Pillay, the U.N.’s high commissioner for human rights, condemned the Syrian government for its indiscriminate attacks on civilians and said it’s likely the government has committed crimes against humanity. Pillay also blasted the U.N. Security Council for its inability to act on the issue, saying the foot-dragging has emboldened the Syrian regime. An estimated 6,000 people have died since Assad began cracking down on dissidents in March 2011. Activists believe more than 500 have died this past week in Homs, the most recent center of the violence. Both Russia and China blocked the U.N. from acting, leaving dozens of countries frustrated that they can’t do more to stem the fighting. With the risk of a humanitarian crisis rising, the Arab League has asked the U.N. to partner on a peacekeeping mission in Syria.

Rick Santorum isn't just leading in Michigan. The onetime Pennsylvania senator, and former underdog, has pushed ahead to frontrunner status—taking 30 percent of registered Republican support, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. His closest competitor, Mitt Romney, has slipped from his position at the top of the GOP field and, the poll finds, is supported by 28 percent of registered Republicans. At this point, however, neither of the top GOP candidates is any match for President Obama, who has a 10-point lead over Santorum and an 8-point lead over Romney among all voters. Santorum has accused Romney of making "desperate" attacks against him. "Another candidate has come up to challenge him, and this time he's having trouble finding out how to go after someone who is a solid conservative, who's got a great track record of attracting independents and Democrats and winning states as a conservative," Santorum said on ABC's This Week.

It’s not expected to become law, but the fight over President Obama’s 2013 budget and the ideas in it has nevertheless begun. In an address at a community college in Annandale, Va., the POTUS announced his plan for the fiscal future that was more like a reelection speech, and recalled the confidence he had during his 2008 campaign. He touted the fact that “over the last 23 months, we’ve added 3.7 million new jobs. The recovery is speeding up." He called for more taxes on millionaires, including on the dividends they make, saying it’s “not class warfare” but “common sense.” The budget he unveiled will call for $3.8 trillion in spending and exceeds his promise of annual deficits of $600 billion every year, showing that Obama wants to put austerity on hold and put the economy back on track. The president said legislative complacency is not an option, and called on lawmakers to pass a further extension of the payroll-tax cut this month “without drama and without delay and without linking it to other ideological issues.” Good luck with that.

Just when you thought things were getting better for Europe financially, Moody’s is here to scream, “Not so fast!” The investor service cut the ratings of six countries Monday—Spain, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Malta—and downgraded Austria, France, and the U.K. from Aaa ratings to “negative.” Moody’s said the changes were because of the euro’s prospects for “institutional reform of its fiscal and economic framework.” Moody’s is the first ratings firm to say that the U.K.’s rating is at risk, and joins the agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch for mass downgrades of European countries.

Proponents of gay marriage have overcome another hurdle. The same day Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a gay-marriage bill into law, the New Jersey State Senate approved a similar measure by a vote of 24–16. Two years ago, the New Jersey Senate defeated a gay-marriage bill 20–14 with a handful of lawmakers abstaining. The State Assembly still must pass the bill, but Gov. Chris Christie has vowed to veto the legislation. Christie said he wants to put the matter to a referendum, but activists say the rights of a minority group shouldn’t be left up to the majority. If Christie does issue a veto, the legislature will have until 2014 to override it with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Heartwarming tale of love or a classic case of too much information? His campaign may be nearly done, but presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich’s love life is just fine. In California on Monday, Newt didn’t hold back details on romantic Valentine’s Day plans with wife Callista. Well, at least he didn’t at first. “All I can promise is that I believe she will be quite happy tomorrow night,” he said. “I think for the first time in a while we have a private dinner and hopefully exchange gifts, and reconnect a little bit.” While Gingrich didn’t specifically say what he meant by “reconnect,” he paused just long enough for the crowd to giggle. He then said he wouldn’t give any more details.

All the speculation over the iPad3 could end soon—as soon as March 7, when sources say Apple is planning to announce its new and improved tablet. The iPad3 will reportedly have a high-res Retina Display as well as a thicker case that would allow for longer battery power than current models. It will also feature a quad-core Apple 6 system-on-a-chip, and potentially high-speed 4G LTE networking capability. More evidence that the announcement date will likely be on Wednesday the 7th: Apple has in the past held these types of events on Wednesdays.

Ah, the middle of February. Just when it seems winter will never end, the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition provides the escape we’ve been waiting for since, well, last year’s issue came out. Nineteen-year-old Kate Upton landed this year’s coveted spot after being named the magazine’s rookie of the year in 2011. Though the issue doesn’t hit newsstands until Tuesday, the cover was officially unveiled Monday in Times Square before Upton went in to film Late Night With David Letterman, which airs tonight. Upton was photographed outside Letterman’s studio on Monday looking bronzed but chilly in a skimpy white dress. She joins a long line of famous models to have graced the cover, including Elle Macpherson and Christie Brinkley.

Who needs love when you can celebrate the birthday of Mughal Emperor Babur? Uzbekistan has canceled Valentine’s Day—or at least a yearly concert by Rayhan, a popular singer who traditionally croons during Feb. 14 celebrations. Instead, the government is trying to push the appreciation of Babur, who’s a descendent of Genghis Khan and helped spread an empire across South and Central Asia. Basically, it’s a rebellion against Western influences. Instead of candy hearts and valentines, the government will schedule commemorative readings and poetry festivals.

The funeral for Whitney Houston will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the singer’s hometown. The Associated Press reports that Houston's body has landed in New Jersey, having flown on a private plane from Los Angeles. Police will then escort the body to Whigham Funeral Home. Houston's family is planning to hold a more intimate wake on Thursday before Friday's funeral service at the Prudential Center, which holds 18,000 people. The cause of death is still unknown, though it's understood she was found unconscious and underwater in a hotel tub. While Houston's death shocked her family and friends, she had reportedly been partying a lot in the week leading up to the Grammys. A source told People that the singer had been "on a downward spiral for a long time."

The sad news of singer Whitney Houston’s death may have boosted the Grammy Awards’ viewership Sunday night, as early data show it had a massive 25.8 rating and a 38 share, a whopping 44 percent increase from last year. The 2011 Grammys had 26.7 million viewers and a rating of 10, with a 27 share. This year’s show could have captured more than 37 million viewers. CBS, which broadcast the show, more than doubled the three other major networks combined.

Steve Jobs was honored with a posthumous Grammy Saturday night, when the Recording Academy gave the late Apple cofounder a Grammy Trustees Award at a special merit ceremony. It recognizes “individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording,” and previous recipients include Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, and Les Paul. Apple’s head of iTunes, Eddy Cue, accepted the award on Jobs’s behalf. “Steve was focused on bringing music to everyone in innovative ways. We talked about it every single day,” Cue said.

A judge ruled Monday that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is allowed to see some of his grandchildren while under house arrest awaiting trial for child sex assault. Sandusky can see eight of his 11 grandchildren, Judge John Cleland said. The decision for his other three grandkids will rest with another judge, Cleland said. The mother of those children has strongly opposed them having contact with Sandusky. The 68-year-old awaits a May 14 trial and has claimed he is innocent of the charges. Cleland also ruled the Sandusky does not have to stay indoors under his house arrest, and is allowed to leave his home for pre-approved meetings with lawyers and investigators. Sandusky's lawyer, Joe Amendola, released a statement saying the former coach and his family are "very relieved by and pleased" with the court's rulings. "Jerry pursued visitation with his grandkids because they missed him and wanted to see him and communicate with him," Amendola said.

Watch out, Hugo. Henrique Capriles Radonski, the governor of the state of Miranda, will oppose Venezuela’s entrenched socialist leader Hugo Chávez after winning the first-ever opposition primary. Capriles won easily, with an unexpectedly high turnout and the unified support of other opposition candidates. However, Chávez still polls well, and his extensive welfare policies are popular in Venezuela's poverty-stricken slums and rural areas. Capriles, the grandson of Polish fugitives from Nazi prosecution, says he admires Brazil’s “modern left” economic model, which mixes state spending and private enterprise.

Last week it was revealed that Newt Gingrich’s recent absence from the airwaves was due to a significant lack of funds, as major financier Sheldon Adelson has locked away his checkbook for the time being. With no intention of giving up the race for the GOP nomination, Gingrich has put out a new ad that aims to recruit donors. This is, after all, “the most important election in this country since 1860,” Gingrich says as he looks longingly at the Statue of Liberty. “It takes you to be with me, not just for me” to be able to win, he tells the audience before the ad outright requests donations.

Obama’s Iran diplomacy is getting even trickier. This week’s Newsweek reports exclusively that at the beginning of his presidency, Obama approved U.S.-Israel joint covert operations aimed at disrupting the Iranian nuclear program. The cooperation, however, was limited to nonlethal activities, and U.S. military and intelligence officers took pains not to share with Israel any information that could be used for activities like assassinating nuclear scientists. Newsweek has found, though, that Israel has stopped sharing some key planning information on Iran, and that Israel’s spy chief was in Washington last month to learn what the consequences would be for the U.S.-Israel relationship if Israel attacks Iran over the objections of President Obama.

Looks like Brits and Americans have similar taste in movies. The BAFTA Awards, the British equivalent of the Oscars, gave awards to many of the same faces that are up for Academy Awards. The Artist won Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay, and Cinematography. Meryl Streep won Best Actress for her performance in The Iron Lady. She lost her shoe on the way to the stage when accepting her award, and the dashing Colin Firth was there to rescue her. Christopher Plummer won a Supporting Actor award for Beginners while Octavia Spencer won Supporting Actress for The Help. Spencer said, “It’s been said that The Help is an American movie about American problems in American history and I’m so grateful to you for seeing beyond that.” Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy won Outstanding British Film, and Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In won for Best Non-English Language film.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has charged Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with contempt. If found guilty, Gilani faces jail and expulsion from office. The court accuses Gilani of failing to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani denies the charges and says the president has immunity as head of state. The military is believed to be backing the court’s pursuit of Gilani and the civilian administration.

Syria’s opposition is getting a helping hand from Iraqi Sunnis, a sign that the conflict in Syria could be on its way to becoming a regional sectarian war. The Sunnis are selling weapons to the Syrian opposition, possibly in the hope that a bolstered Syrian opposition could strengthen their position in their fight with their own country’s Shiite-led national government. Adding to fears that Syria could soon descend into a regional war, Al Qaeda’s leadership and the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood called for jihadists from around the world to come fight Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad’s government, meanwhile, has rejected a new Arab League proposal for a joint peacekeeping mission with the United Nations.

Officials investigating the death of Whitney Houston say she may have drowned in her bathtub. The singer was found unresponsive in her tub at a Beverly Hills hotel. Radar Online and the New York Post quote anonymous sources saying Houston had prescription drugs in her room and may have fallen asleep in the bath after taking them. The Los Angeles County coroner's office said it performed the autopsy Sunday, but won't release any conclusions until toxicology results are finished, in six to eight weeks. Houston struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and last year her spokeswoman had said she was headed back to rehab. Police say there is no indication of foul play.

A heavy pall was cast over the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, and host LL Cool J started the ceremony with a prayer for Whitney Houston. “There is no way around this. There's been a death in the family.” It was difficult to look to the future with such a loss of the past, but it wasn’t hard to predict what that future would look like, as Adele took home one big honor after another, winning Album of the Year for 21, Record of the Year for “Rolling in the Deep,” and Song of the Year for “Rolling in the Deep.” Bon Iver won Best New Artist, and Chris Brown, who still has some fans, won best R & B Album. At the prebroadcast ceremony on Sunday, DJ Skrillex won three awards. Kanye West and Jay-Z won the award for Best Rap Performance, but neither was there to accept the award. The late Amy Winehouse won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her duet with Tony Bennett, and in another of the show’s somber moments, her parents took the stage to accept the award on her behalf.

Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston’s ex-husband, canceled his Sunday show in Nashville and flew to Los Angeles to be with his daughter Bobbi Kristina, who was admitted to the hospital shortly after her mother's death. Asked why Brown canceled his show and flew to L.A., Brown's representative said, “His love for his daughter and his daughter being in the hospital. He wants to go be with his daughter.” Bobbi Kristina was hospitalized Saturday night and again Sunday morning, but has since been released. Brown and Houston divorced in 2007, amid reports of domestic abuse.

For a campaign running against Washington insiders, Mitt Romney’s team contains a lot of lobbyists. Romney’s kitchen cabinet includes a lobbyist for Walmart and AT&T, a representative of Pfizer, and a managing partner for Clark & Weinstock. Almost 300 lobbyists have donated at least $401,000 to Romney’s campaigns, plus 16 “bundlers” representing Microsoft, the tobacco company Altria, and Wall Street have raised more than $2 million. Other lobbyists have hosted fundraisers and serve as policy advisers. While President Obama doesn’t accept campaign contributions from registered lobbyists, at least 15 of his bundlers work at lobbying and consulting companies but have not registered as lobbyists.

First Mitt Romney “won” in Iowa (Rick Santorum was later confirmed victorious there) and now he’s done it again in Maine? That’s what Ron Paul supporters are saying today after the weekend’s results in the Pine Tree State gave Romney 39 percent to Paul’s 36 percent. The supporters point to far-north Washington County, which canceled its caucus on Saturday due to inclement weather. The county is known to be a Paul stronghold, and Paul enthusiasts are crying foul after losing Maine by just 194 votes. The county has rescheduled its caucus for Saturday, giving the Paul campaign, which has not conceded a loss to Romney, hope for a win there.

Greek lawmakers passed an unpopular bailout deal Sunday, as protesters took to the streets in outrage, attacking police with fire bombs and stones. Even a Starbucks was set on fire. There have been more than 50 arrests, 150 shops looted, and 34 buildings set on fire, and 100 riot police have been injured. After much pleading from Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, the plan, with its deep austerity measures, looks as though it will help the country avoid default in March. The measures will cut $4.35 billion in wages, pensions, and jobs—the price for a rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. As Parliament convened, those rallying outside chanted "traitor." More than 40 MPs who did not back the austerity package have been expelled. The violence, the worst since 2008, has spread to tourist islands Corfu and Crete, the northern city Thessaloniki, and even central Greece.

Is it yours? A Powerball jackpot of $336.4 million was won on Saturday, but the prize remains unclaimed. The winning ticket was bought at a Stop & Shop in Rhode Island, yet the purchaser of said ticket has yet to step forward. The winner has an option of choosing a lump sum up front or being paid in annual installments. The lump-sum option would amount to a record of $210 million. The name of the winner will eventually be made public whether the person comes forward or not, since names of lottery winners are a matter of public record in Rhode Island. But a spokeswoman for Powerball said, “They are probably going to want to talk to a financial adviser and an attorney before they come forward.”

The day after Whitney Houston was at the center of an outpouring of grief and love at the Grammys, the Los Angeles coroner’s office announced that a cause of death for the singer is weeks away, and that he has performed "routine" toxicology tests. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter also confirmed that Houston was found in the bathtub at her hotel room. Gossip site TMZ claims that while many pill bottles were found in her room, few actual pills were discovered. Meanwhile, sales of Houston’s music soared online over the weekend, with 42 of her songs in the top 200 on iTunes. On Amazon, her albums claimed half of the top 20 spots.

The reaction to President Obama’s adjustment to his controversial birth-control-coverage rule has been mixed. While some Catholic groups have expressed support for the president’s decision to allow religious organizations to opt out of covering their female employees’ birth control, many prominent Republicans are still unhappy with the requirement. Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, however, pushed for changes to the original rule and are now pretty satisfied. “It appears that changes have been made that provide women’s health services without compelling Catholic organizations in particular to violate the beliefs and tenets of their faith,” wrote Snowe in a statement. “According to the Catholic Health Association, the administration ‘responded to the issues [they] identified that needed to be fixed,’ which is what I urged the president to do in addressing this situation.”

Israel is blaming Iran for two bombings Monday on its embassies in India and Georgia that injured at least four people, including the wife of an Israeli ambassador. Near simultaneous attacks targeted diplomats in New Delhi and Tbilisi, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hizbullah. But Iran has denied responsibility. Iran has vowed revenge for the recent assassinations of nuclear scientists, and Hizbullah has been pledging to avenge the killing of one of its leaders four years ago.

Maybe the justices should follow Clarence Thomas and vacation in RVs for a while. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that while on vacation in the West Indies last week, Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed. The culprit used a machete when trespassing, and escaped with $1,000 cash. Breyer was with his wife and a few guests in his vacation home. No one was hurt, and there have not been any arrests yet.

At least they’re talking. Amid rising concerns about North Korea’s instability under a new regime, the United States will hold talks with the nation’s leaders in Beijing next week. It’s the first round of nuclear talks since Kim Jong-il’s passing in December. Before Kim died, the U.S. was nearing a deal for food aid with the country—and North Korea was supposed to suspend its uranium enrichment. The six-nation disarmament talks fell apart shortly thereafter.

Wow, that was close. A Russian submarine that caught fire in December had nukes on board, contrary to statements by Russia’s Defense Ministry. According to Kommersant Vlast, a Russian news magazine, the dry-docked Yekaterinburg was carrying nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles when it was engulfed in flames on Dec. 29. If the sub’s torpedoes had exploded, they could have caused the nuclear-tipped missiles and the two nuclear reactors to ignite. “Russia was a step away from the largest catastrophe since Chernobyl,” Kommersant Vlast said.