In a speech at Northwestern University on Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder gave the Obama administration’s rationale for the attack last year in Yemen that killed American-born Anwar al-Awlaki. Splitting hairs over the difference between “due process” and “judicial process,” Holder said the president is empowered by the Constitution to order the violent elimination of citizens abroad who are believed to pose an “imminent threat of violent attack” to the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union has been outraged by the attack and Holder’s justification, and said Monday: “Anyone willing to trust President Obama with the power to secretly declare an American citizen an enemy of the state and order his extrajudicial killing should ask whether they would be willing to trust the next president with that dangerous power.”

Nice try, Rush. Nine advertisers have pulled out of Rush Limbaugh's show and a radio station in Hawaii has dropped his show since he called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut." In addition to the high-profile loss of AOL, Tax Resolution Corp.—which features a photo of Limbaugh endorsing it on its website—also dropped his show. Meanwhile, Fluke said that Limbaugh’s public statement of apology does not change anything. During an appearance on The View on Monday, Fluke, who generated a firestorm with her birth-control testimony, said, "I don't think that a statement like this issued, saying that his choice of words was not the best, changes anything, and especially when that statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors who have begun to pull their support.”

The battleground state of Ohio is living up to its reputation as the GOP primary enters Super Tuesday with former frontrunner Mitt Romney having surged back from a 10-point deficit just a week ago. Rick Santorum’s momentum has seemed to wane in the past few days as Romney has picked up victories in Michigan and Washington state. A CNN/ORC International poll locked Romney and Santorum dead even with one another, at 32 percent each, with Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul trailing badly at 14 and 11 percent, respectively. A Catholic, Santorum was abandoned by Catholic voters in Michigan, and polls show the Mormon Romney garnering 39 percent of the Catholic vote, compared with Santorum’s 33 percent. Three separate polls coming out of Ohio late Monday showed Romney and Santorum closely matched in the state, which offers up 63 delegates.

A Maryland judge ruled on Monday that a handgun law requiring state residents to show a “good and substantial reason” they deserve a permit to own a gun is unconstitutional. The state sought to restrict citizens’ pistol-carrying ways to their homes, but U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg said that the Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms whether one is in one’s home or not. The state’s assistant attorney general, speaking for the defendants, said that the decision has serious implications for public safety, and the defendants will be appealing the decision on those grounds.

The recidivism rate among former Guantánamo Bay detainees is lower than was previously believed, according to the latest reports. The director of national intelligence released new data Monday showing that fewer than 16 percent of detainees released from the detention center reengaged in terrorist activities. About 12 percent more former detainees, a total of about 72 people, are under observation on the suspicion that they may reinvolve themselves in terrorist groups. The confusion over a higher rate of reengagement stems from a February report released by congressional Republicans that conflated the two numbers, arriving at a 27 percent rate. According to the new report, former captives released in countries that are considered unstable seem to have a higher likelihood of rejoining terrorist groups like al Qaeda.

It may not have the name recognition of other past or present Murdoch properties, but News Outdoor Russia, a billboard company and former subsidiary of the News Corp. empire, has caught the eye of the feds as they continue an investigation of the company. News Corp. has been roiled by police prodding into its U.K. operations, and the FBI is interested in whether News Outdoor paid off local officials to get preferred billboard placement, sources told The Wall Street Journal. A News Corp. spokesman declined to speak to the Journal, itself a News Corp. property, about the investigation in Russia.

The independent-minded folks in the Pine Tree State thought Angus King so nice they elected him twice, in 1995 and 2003. Now the former Maine governor says he’s going to run for Senate, announcing Monday that he’ll pursue the seat vacated by Olympia Snowe, who announced last week that she would not be running for reelection. The 67-year-old King is likely to draw support from Democrats, and has pitched himself as an outsider willing to buck the system, telling a crowd at Bowdoin College, “If you want a shot at changing it [the system], join me.” Candidates have until March 15 to throw their hats into the ring.

Vladimir Putin did well in Russia’s election Sunday. Even in Chechnya, where electoral-commission officials counting ballots were heard murmuring, “Putin, Putin, Putin. Good, more Putin.” Elections often aren’t monitored in the region, and allegations of election fraud, which are common, have a tendency to get lost in the court system, if they make it that far. While the effect of Chechnya’s turnout may have been minimal on the national level, the numbers are illustrative of deep-rooted tendencies—the region saw 99.59 percent turnout, with 99.82 percent of those voters casting their ballots for Putin. The numbers from Chechnya seemed to prove the allegations of a crooked election.

About 70 demonstrators were arrested in Sacramento after they stormed the Capitol to protest tuition hikes. The protesters, who said they wanted to “occupy the capitol,” massed in a plaza on the west side of the building, chanting, “They say cut back, we say fight back!” State Senate president Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat who’s voted to make cuts in the past, addressed the crowd, saying the gouging has been forced upon lawmakers: “We’ve cut billions of dollars, and I’ve hated every minute of it.” The activists shouted several demands, including a tax on millionaires they hope to place on the November ballot. 

It could be a match made in heaven for one lucky female sports fan. Tim Tebow has reportedly been approached by the host of the hit ABC show The Bachelor about starring on the reality show—but the host says he doesn’t think it likely the NFL star will say yes. Chris Harrison reportedly popped the question in a one-on-one with Tebow, and he said the devout quarterback seemed interested, but “it never happens,” Harrison said. The 24-year-old star reportedly signed with talent agency William Morris Endeavor recently.

Iran still has a nuclear program, Israel still wants to strike, and the U.S. still hopes to give diplomacy a chance—President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave no indication of narrowing their differences after spending three hours conferring at the White House Monday. After the meeting, Netanyahu told reporters that the world is “united” over the threat in Iran. But U.S. officials said the two sides still differ on how to define the “red line” which Tehran must cross in order for a military strike to be considered. Officials have said they believe Iran is still a year away from being able to develop a nuclear weapon.

Boy band star Nick Lachey and wife Vanessa Minnillo have a baby on board. Lachey confirmed Monday in an appearance on Live! With Kelly that Minnillo isn’t due for another six months or so. Lachey revealed that the pair have kept their secret for the past three months despite photos of Minnillo showing a baby bump that have leaked out in the past few weeks. The couple were hitched in June of last year, and Lachey dished on Minnillo’s expectant-mother ways, saying she’s been craving burritos. “She loves, right now, Mexican food,” he said. The celebrity couple doesn’t know whether they’ll be welcoming a boy or a girl yet, the excited dad-to-be said. Lachey’s ex-wife Jessica Simpson is also pregnant and reportedly due in the next few weeks.

A 15-month-old Indiana girl who died Sunday after being blown away by a tornado that killed her family was buried Monday with her parents and two siblings. Angel Babcock was found in an Indiana field on Friday, after sustaining significant head wounds from being lifted up in the storm that killed her parents, her 2-year-old brother, and her 2-month-old sister. Earlier Sunday the toddler’s relatives had made the decision to remove her from life support after doctors told them that her brain was no longer functioning. Angel’s grandfather called it “the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make,” and her grandmother said she held Angel in her arms and sang “Itsy Bitsy Spider” as the toddler breathed her last breath. The baby’s passing brings the death toll from the storm to 13.

Lest the GOP's Super Tuesday battle grab all of tomorrow's headlines, President Obama has decided to give his first press conference of the year during tomorrow's primary battle.  While recent signs of an economic upswing will surely be a positive talking point for the president, the administration has also recently been overwhelmed with foreign-policy stress, particularly from Syria and Iran.

Taking his case to the Senate floor, Sen. John McCain has pushed for the U.S. to lead an international military intervention in Syria. “It would be a strategic and moral defeat for the United States” if Syria’s President Assad remained in power, McCain said, calling for airstrikes against the regime’s military. “Time is running out. Assad’s forces are on the march,” he continued. “Proving military assistance … alone will not be sufficient to stop the slaughter.” McCain also reminded his colleagues that Syria is a close ally of Iran.

Turns out, the father is not Jon Hamm. People magazine, citing a source, said Monday that Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is not only reportedly pregnant, but engaged to boyfriend Jionni LaValle. "I know he's the one so I know the ring's gonna come soon," the Jersey Shore star told the magazine on Jan. 12. "Well, not soon-soon. He knows it should be big, cuz if it's small I'm saying no. Like, 'Get another ring!' "

Oh, the places you’ll go, and the money you’ll make, when The Lorax strikes gold, with a big opening take. The Dr. Seuss–based 3-D movie debuted this weekend with a very green $70.7 million opening, the biggest at the box office so far this year. The audience was ready for a family movie, with 68 percent of the viewers made up of parents and their children, according to market-research firm CinemaScore. They also assigned it an average grade of A.

Not only is the GOP primary making the Republican party look bad, it’s actually pushing Democrats toward President Obama. Back in December, 36 percent of Democrats felt their impression of the president grew more positive as they learned more about the Republican candidates. Now 49 percent of Democrats feel that way, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Republicans, on the other hand, have hardly experienced a change in their impression of the GOP since the primaries began. While only 26 percent say their impression of the candidates has improved, 30 percent say it has not changed. Overall, public opinion of the GOP candidate field is more negative than positive.

Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to give the most detailed explanation yet of the Obama administration’s rational for killing U.S. citizens abroad. Critics have demanded a more thorough explanation since last year's killing of the New Mexico–born Anwar al-Awlaki, who was suspected of working with al Qaeda. In Awlaki’s killing, the administration relied on a classified opinion written by the Justice Department’s legal counsel, but has refused to release the document. Sources tell The Washington Post that Holder will argue that a 2001 congressional authorization of the use of military force also justified the government to kill American terrorists abroad. Newsweek’s Daniel Klaidman first reported on the speech in January.

Several major Republicans got behind Romney this weekend, with another expected to endorse today. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Sen. Tom Coburn both came out in favor of Romney on Sunday, saying he was best equipped to challenge President Obama. John Ashcroft is expected to endorse Romney today. Even Barbara Bush is making robocalls on his behalf. With Romney now running even against Rick Santorum in Ohio, the Republican leadership has good reason for wanting to wrap up the race with Super Tuesday. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that 40 percent of adults say the primary has made them feel less favorable toward the Republican Party. Even Romney, despite leading the field, has high negatives: 28 percent of voters have a favorable impression of him, while 39 percent have an unfavorable one.

Gunmen went on a shooting spree in the western Iraqi town of Haditha, killing 25 policemen in a series of confrontations, kidnappings, and car chases. Disguised as Iraqi military officials and carrying forged arrest warrants for police officials, the gunmen killed the police manning the checkpoint on the outskirts of town, kidnapped several police commanders from their homes and killed them, and fought with other police before escaping back into the desert. “We consider this attack as a serious security breach, and we believe that al Qaeda or groups linked to it are behind this,” said a spokesman for the governor of the province.

San Francisco was in for a rude awakening this morning, as a magnitude-4.0 quake hit the area just after 5:30 a.m. Though the quake was centered near El Cerrito, people reported feeling the shakes throughout San Francisco and as far as Palo Alto. There have been no reports of damage or injuries, though some commuter trains did have to stop so tracks could be inspected. The Bay Area has seen two earthquakes measuring above a 3.0 in the past 10 days.

It’s unclear whether Rush Limbaugh’s apology will be enough to keep his advertisers. The conservative radio host has now lost seven of them, with flower company ProFlowers being the latest. Two mattress companies, a mortgage lender, a software maker, and a data backup provider all pulled out of the show as well. This weekend Limbaugh issued an apology of sorts to Sandra Fluke, the law student he called a “slut” for testifying on a congressional committee on birth control. Limbaugh said he “did not mean a personal attack” and that his choice of words was “not the best.” Democrats derided Limbaugh’s statement as a nonapology. Ron Paul also said it “was not very apologetic” and was probably done just to keep advertisers on board.

Nearly two years after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, deepwater drilling has regained momentum in that region and around the world. Now that the yearlong drilling moratorium has been lifted, many oil companies, including BP, have resumed drilling in the area, often in waters out of American control, but where an accident would still impact the United States. The pace of drilling is likely to surpass the levels before the accident, because of the high worldwide demand for energy. One energy expert said, “We need oil. The industry will have to improve and regulators will have to adjust, but the public will have to deal with the risk of drilling in deep waters or get out of their cars.”

An Islamist member of Egypt’s new Parliament has been ousted over lying about a nose job. Anwar al-Balkimy, part of the conservative Nour Party, claimed he had to undergo facial reconstructive surgery after being robbed and beaten by a group of masked men. Once the truth came out about his rhinoplasty, his party booted him, saying it would set a precedent for accountability. (Egypt’s religious right considers plastic surgery to be sinful.) Embarrassingly, the Nour Party had already accused the country’s interior minister of possibly being involved in the made-up attack.

Tokyo residents should be on the lookout for a 1-year-old penguin today. The bird was recently seen swimming in a river mouth in the capital after apparently scaling an aquarium wall and escaping. “We first noticed the penguin might have fled when the director of a neighboring zoo emailed us Sunday with a photo,” said an aquarium official, referring to the photo of the swimming penguin. He said officials were unable to capture it because it swam “at a tremendous speed.” The penguin—a Humboldt—is a long way from home, being native to the Pacific coast of South America and the offshore islands of Chile and Peru. It’s unclear how the little guy escaped.

Refugees are fleeing the devastated Bab Amro district in Homs, as the Red Cross is blocked from bringing aid to those living there. The United Nations’ refugee agency says up to 2,000 Syrians have fled for Lebanon, and yesterday saw one of the biggest surges in refugee movement since the crackdown began. The siege of Bab Amro has gone on for almost a month. The Red Cross has been able to get aid to people fleeing Bab Amro, but Syrian forces have blocked aid workers from entering the besieged district itself. Activists say it is to prevent them from witnessing a massacre as Syrian forces hunt down the remaining rebels.

AOL has decided to pull all advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show after the host called activist and law school student Sandra Fluke a “slut” last week for advocating for contraception access. “At AOL one of our core values is that we act with integrity. We have monitored the unfolding events and have determined that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are not in line with our values,” AOL posted on its Facebook page Monday. “As a result we have made the decision to suspend advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show.” The post attracted more than 300 “likes” in the first 40 minutes.

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake hit Argentina on Monday morning. The epicenter was about 69 miles east-southeast of the city of Santiago del Estero, and it was 342 miles below the earth’s surface, which is considered very deep. There are no reports of damage or injury yet.

You know the situation is bad when one of the United Nations’ top officials blasts his own organization over inaction regarding Syria. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the U.N. General Assembly, told The Independent that the situation in the Middle East nation has deteriorated since Russia and China blocked two resolutions condemning Syria. “I am very upset because it sent the wrong message and people have suffered,” Nasser said. He said the system that permits any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council—the U.S., Britain, China, France, and Russia—to veto actions by the 10 non-permanent members is outdated and threatens world peace. Meanwhile, Syrian troops on Monday pursued further crackdowns in the besieged city of Homs and the southern city of Daraa.

Police in Ireland are on the hunt for a thief who made off with the heart of a saint over the weekend, causing an uproar among the officials at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Ignoring valuable gold chalices and candlesticks, the burglar went right for the preserved heart of St. Laurence O’Toole, the patron saint of Dublin. A cathedral spokesman said the thief would have needed a metal cutter to access the heart, which was kept in a wooden chamber inside an iron-barred box. O’Toole’s heart had been on display in the cathedral since the 13th century and, despite its lack of monetary value, was one of the most treasured artifacts in the cathedral. Police are reportedly poring over video footage for more clues to identify the thief and figure out how he made off with the heart, since no alarms went off and there were no signs of a break-in.  

As the primary election process drags on, Republican candidates look less and less appealing. A new study finds that the contest has left only one in 10 adults with a more favorable view of the Republican party, and 70 percent of those questioned could only come up with negative words to describe the primary race. "Unenthusiastic," "painful," "lesser of two evils," and "depressed" were among the words or phrases participants used. The poll specifically suggested that negative campaigning is responsible for creating a poor image of the candidates. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was greeted at the White House on Monday morning before a highly anticipated meeting with President Obama. Holding a press conference in the Oval Office, both leaders detailed what they hoped to accomplish during their talks. President Obama stressed that “the bond between our two countries is unbreakable” and that the U.S. “will always have Israel’s back when it comes to Israel’s security.” He went on to say Iran would be “a large topic of conversation” and reiterated much of what he said Sunday when addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee—that he hopes “crippling sanctions” will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Netanyahu echoed the president’s sentiments, emphasizing that “Israel and America stand tether. “

The European Union is considering legislating mandatory quotas for the number of women on corporate boards, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding warned businesses Monday after European firms failed to back a voluntary pledge. Only 24 firms signed the pact to appoint more women, and Reding launched a public consultation aimed at addressing the issue. Just one in seven board members—13.7 percent—at top European firms are female, just a slight improvement over the 11.8 percent in 2010. Reding said it would take 40 years for women to hold 40 percent of board positions at the current rate. Several EU states, like Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, have already adopted gender quotas for companies.

It’s not me! That’s what curvy Mad Men star Christina Hendricks is saying about a topless photo that was leaked online Sunday night after the actress’s phone was hacked. Hendricks’s publicist confirmed that the 37-year-old’s phone had indeed been accessed by an unknown hacker, but that the one topless photo in a cache of pictures was not actually of her. TMZ reports that a barely clad Hendricks is seen in one image in what appears to be a self-taken photo of the actress lounging around at home. Hendricks was picked as Esquire magazine’s 2010 Sexiest Woman in the World. Authorities are investigating who may be guilty of the hacking.

Thousands are rallying in Moscow to accuse Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin of stealing Sunday's election, chanting "Shame!" A day after he choked up celebrating his highly-contested victory, Putin ordered 12,000 police to surround the city and brace for the protests. Dozens have been arrested as the opposition demanded a new election. Russian state TV also claimed that a man was arrested for allegedly planning to set off bombs at Monday and Tuesday rallies. Russia’s election commission says Putin won more than 63 percent of the vote, with his closest rival getting just more than 17 percent. But Golos, an independent election watchdog, said the polls could not be considered fair, and there have been numerous reports of people casting multiple ballots. Second-place finisher Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist Party, who has previously been loyal to Putin, called the elections "unfair and unworthy." Putin has asked Vladimir Churov, the elections chief known as “The Magician,” to conduct an investigation.

Services will be held next Monday in Long Island, New York, for slain journalist Marie Colvin, The Times of London correspondent who was killed in Syria last month. Colvin, 56, died along with French photographer Remi Ochlik as the two were covering the unfolding violence in the embattled city of Homs on Feb. 22. A wake will be held for Colvin, a longtime war reporter, on Saturday and Sunday before a funeral Mass on Monday, Mar. 12, at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church in Oyster Bay. Colvin’s death highlighted the worsening situation in Homs, which continues to fuel a heated debate on how Western nations should respond to the situation in Syria.

A federal judge ordered the owners of the New York Mets to pay $83 million in damages to the victims of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme—while also possibly facing a civil suit. U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled Monday that Mets owner Fred Wilpon must stand trial in a suit brought by Madoff victims’ trustee Irving Picard that is seeking to recover $386 million to distribute among the victims. Picard has accused Wilpon and fellow owner Saul Katz of being willfully ignorant of Madoff’s massive fraud during the years that they invested in the crooked financial adviser. In other bad news for the Mets, the team’s former outfielder Lenny Dykstra was sentenced Monday to three years in a California prison for his role in a car theft. There’s one bright spot for the team: they face off in their first preseason game on Monday night in Florida.

Forget the polls, Rick Santorum is already an Ohio primary winner in his own mind. Speaking to ABC News Monday, the Republican presidential hopeful said voters are starting to see that Mitt Romney’s “values are not the values of the Republican Party.” Despite the fact that Santorum’s poll numbers in the key Super Tuesday state have taken a dip in the last week, he still declared: “We’re winning. Whether we end up with the most votes or not [in Ohio], we’re winning.” While Romney and Santorum are nearly neck-and-neck in the state, the former Massachusetts governor claims a slight lead ahead of tomorrow’s election.

Ralph McQuarrie, the artist whose paintings of a gold-plated robot and a black-masked villain ultimately spawned George Lucas’s epic Star Wars trilogy, has died. McQuarrie, who was the vision behind C-3PO, Darth Vader, R2-D2, Chewbacca, the Stormtroopers, and many other Star Wars characters passed away at age 82 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. “When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph’s fabulous illustrations and say, ‘Do it like this,’” George Lucas wrote in a statement following McQuarrie’s death. It was his idea to put a breathing apparatus on Darth Vader’s mask, giving the villain his infamous raspy voice.

Police in Sri Lanka said Monday that a man died during his attempt to set a record for the longest time spent buried alive.  Janaka Basnayake, 24, buried himself over the weekend in a trench in the town of Kantale, 137 miles north of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital. Basnayake’s friends and family helped him to seal the trench with dirt and wood on Saturday morning around 9:30. He was unconscious by the time he was removed from the trench at 4 p.m. and was pronounced dead upon his arrival at the hospital. According to his mother, he had survived two previous burials of up to six hours.

Former president Bill Clinton will help President Obama line his coffers as the election season heats up, sources tell Bloomberg. Spokespeople for the Obama campaign and for Clinton declined to comment. According to the source, a New York fundraising event will be aimed at deep-pocketed donors in the financial-services industry, many of whom doled out wads of cash for Obama during his 2008 campaign. The Clinton-Obama lovefest comes as those same Wall Street donors speak with their checkbooks—they’ve overwhelmingly favored Republican Mitt Romney so far this election cycle, giving three times more to the former Massachusetts governor than to Obama up to the end of January.