In a bid to turn up the heat on North Korea before a critical nuclear-security meeting, President Barack Obama plans to visit the demilitarized zone on Sunday. The White House said the trip will show American support for South Korea as the country squares off against its neighbor to the north over nuclear disarmament. North Korea will not be present at the summit, where Obama will talk with the president of China, a country that the White House says may be able to bring its influence to bear on the recalcitrant North Korean leaders. The precise state of North Korea’s nuclear plan is not known, but the country has on two occasions tested a nuclear device.

Addressing supporters in Schaumburg, Illinois, an ebullient Mitt Romney spoke a revved-up crowd as they rode the high of a key victory over Rick Santorum on Tuesday night in the Illinois GOP primary. Romney evoked the struggles his father faced on his way to becoming a top Republican, and took aim directly at the White House’s current resident, saying his own experience in business gives him insight into American life that Barack Obama does not have. “You can’t learn that teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago,” Romney said. “You can’t even learn that as a community organizer.” He went on to say that America needs bold innovators, and that his policies would encourage economic growth.

French officials said Tuesday that the shooter who attacked a French school may have filmed his attack via a small video camera on his neck. French Interior Minister Claude Gueant told reporters that killer, who is still on the loose, that surveillance footage showed that the gunman was filming the attack. Monday’s attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse has shocked France and, combined with a shooting at a military base over the weekend, has caused French President Nicolas Sarkozy to suspend campaigning for next month’s presidential election. The killer is still on the loose. Meanwhile, authorities released a photo of some of the victims, Rabbi Jonathan Sandler and his two sons, Ariel and Gabriel, who were killed in the attack. Miriam Monsonego, 7, was also killed in the attack.

Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a neighborhood vigilante in Florida, was on the phone with his girlfriend moments before the incident, new phone records confirm. The 16-year-old girl, whose name has not been released, told the Martin family’s attorney that Trayvon knew he was being watched, “so he put his hoodie on.” She continued: “I told him to run but he said he was not going to run.” The girl then heard the man—George Zimmerman—approach Trayvon before the line went dead. No charges have been filed, but the case is being referred to a Florida grand jury.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rattled central Mexico on Tuesday, prompting residents in Mexico City and Acapulco to rush into the streets after the temblor shook homes and buildings. Hundreds of houses were destroyed, including at least 800 residences in the town of Igualapa, where half of all houses were said to show signs of damage. The 11-mile-deep quake’s epicenter was roughly 15 miles east of Ometepec, Guerrero, where authorities reported aftershocks. Mexico City, which is built atop volcanic ash and clay, is particularly prone to quakes. Roughly 10,000 people died after a huge earthquake struck the city in 1985.

The more ads you run, the more money you spend. A Federal Election Commission (FEC) report filed today shows that the pro-Romney super PAC called Restore Our Future raised just more than $6 million in February—but spent twice that amount. As Romney enters what may be the final leg of the nomination process with a win in Illinois, the super PAC has $10 million cash left. Meanwhile, Gingrich’s top super PAC raised—and spent—nearly $5 million during the month. The pro-Santorum Red, White, and Blue Fund raised a meager $3 million in February and only has $365,000 left in the bank. With GOP candidates running low on funds, super PACs are more important than ever, which may not bode well for the anti-Romney brigade.

An aspirin a day keeps cancer at bay, if three studies are to be believed. The studies conducted by Oxford University suggest that a daily dose of aspirin may not only prevent cancer in the short term, but also reduces the chance that cancer will spread to other organs by up to 50 percent. Previous studies showed that taking an aspirin a day reduces the chance of getting cancer in the long term.

Onward, Santorum’s soldiers. Rick Santorum struck a fighting stance from Gettysburg, Pa., Tuesday evening, saying he had called Mitt Romney earlier to congratulate him on his victory in the Illinois primary. Invoking the history of the town from which he spoke, he said that the coming election will be “the most important election since 1860.” He told supporters that his campaign is “moving the debate here in the Republican Party,” even while some say that Romney’s triumph in the Land of Lincoln may be a key stroke in the fight to secure the GOP’s nomination. Santorum said he’s in touch with what America’s dissatisfaction with Washington is. “We need somebody who’s going to pull up government by the roots,” he said. “And throw it out and liberate the private sector in America.”

Goodbye Tim Tebow, hello Peyton Manning. The Denver Broncos inked a deal with superstar Peyton Manning, with early reports saying that it will be for five years and $96 million. Sources said Manning will make $18 million this season alone. The Broncos have hedged their bets a little bit, including an injury waiver that stops them from playing if Manning re-injures his neck in 2013. Manning, who will turn 36 this weekend, didn't play last season because of a series of neck surgeries, which led to the Indianapolis Colts releasing him. The Broncos are now trying to trade Tebow.

A representative for 'The Situation' denied claims that the reality tv star entered rehab for substance abuse, as had originally been reported by TMZ. Mike Sorrentino’s nonstop schedule of gym-ing, tanning, and laundering seemingly got to the Jersey Shore star, and he has spent several weeks at an “undisclosed location for much needed rest and recuperation,” the rep told E! News. Undeterred by news of costar Snooki’s pregnancy, MTV recently announced that the hard-partying crew will be returning to their beachside retreat of techno and drink deals for a sixth season.

A woman from Georgia who was selling a controversial anti-Obama sticker has denied that it has any racial overtones. The sticker, which reads “Don’t Re-Nig 2012,” went viral in recent days as people were outraged by an apparent reference to the N word. In an exclusive interview with Forbes, seller Paula Smith said the sticker has been in her inventory since 2010 and she thought her website, Stickatude.com, was “dead” until she noticed “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012” was suddenly selling. In an attempt to explain that the sticker isn’t racist, Smith said that the dictionary defines the N word to mean a “lazy, sorry, low down person,” and has nothing to do with whether a person is black or white. And besides, she added, “Obama is not even black. He’s got a mixture of race.” She also said she first started selling the sticker because she found it on the Internet and thought it was “cute.” Her site shut down after the sticker went viral.

Fifty-four delegates may be enough for Mitt Romney to finally put Rick Santorum behind him. CNN has called Illinois for Mitt Romney, with a little more than 20 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had a commanding 54 percent to 28 percent lead over Rick Santorum. Romney is coming off of third-place finishes in both Alabama and Mississippi last week, though he did crush Santorum in Puerto Rico on Saturday. Since Illinois is a large state with a moderate GOP electorate, this victory could be the final push to a large delegate lead—and the nomination.

Newt Gingrich isn't the only one unimpressed by Robert DeNiro's joke at an Obama campaign fundraiser Monday night. Following Gingrich's complaints and demands that the president apologize on behalf of the actor, First lady Michelle's spokeswoman conceded, "We believe the joke was inappropriate." While fundraising at one of his NYC restaurants, DeNiro had joked, "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" 

Beyoncé announced Tuesday that she will be back on stage May 25-27 in Atlantic City, in her first shows since the birth of her daughter, Blue Ivy, in January. The performances will mark the opening of Atlantic City’s $2.4 billion Revel Resorts, and she will take to the stage in the new 5,050-seat Ovation Hall. Tickets will go on sale April 6. Just last month, Jay-Z performed in New York—and sang “Glory,” the song he penned after Blue Ivy’s birth.

The Catholic Church isn't known for its transparency, and that lack of openness is now hitting it in the pocketbook, as well. JPMorgan Chase is closing the Vatican's account, which is held by an Italian branch of the bank. The Vatican had been trying to have its account included among a "white list" of European countries that are known for adhering to international standards against fraud and money laundering. Formerly known as the Institute for Works of Religion, the bank tried to reform itself last year but fell short in its efforts to rehabilitate its image after a string of scandals. In 2010, its assets were frozen during an investigation into money-laundering.

Cal State announced Tuesday that the university will freeze enrollment at 15 of its 23 campuses in an effort to deal with $750 million in funding cuts made this fiscal year. If Californians don't approve a tax increase, the university will lose another $200 million next year. The university will stop making early admissions decisions and will tell prospective freshmen that they will only be admitted if the tax measure is approved. They university will accept a few hundred transfer students for the 2013 spring semester. To put this in perspective, Cal State usually gets about 700,000 applications with 90,000 students matriculating in the fall. Roughly 70,000 students apply for the spring, and the 23 campuses take in about 16,000 students. Tens of thousands of students could be denied a spot at the state's largest public-university system.

In the biggest threat to come from Iran yet, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that “we will attack” if the U.S. or Israel attempts military intervention over the country’s nuclear program. During a New Year speech broadcast on live television Tuesday, Khamenei denied having nuclear weapons and vowed not to build them, but said Iran will absolutely retaliate “in the face of aggression from enemies, whether from America or the Zionist regime ...” He added that the U.S. is “making a grave mistake” if they think threatening to impose sanctions “will destroy the Iranian nation.” Earlier this month, Khamenei praised Obama’s remark that “loose talk” of war against Iran was dangerous, but also warned that any further talk of sanctions would backfire.

Rick Santorum is appalled that the president would let his daughter Malia vacation in Mexico, despite a recent travel warning for the country by the U.S. State Department. "What I would say is that the president's actions should reflect what his administration is saying," the Republican presidential candidate told Glenn Beck on his radio show Tuesday. "If the administration is saying that it's not safe to have people down there, then just because you can send 25 Secret Service agents doesn't mean you should do it. You should set an example. I think that's what presidents do. They set an example. And when the government is saying this is not safe, then you don't set the example by sending your kids down there." 

Behind 15 points in Illinois polls, the Santorum campaign brought out Karen Santorum to go to bat for her husband. On CNN’s Piers Morgan on Monday night, Karen Santorum said, “Women have nothing to fear when it comes to contraceptives, [Rick Santorum] will do nothing on that issue.” She insisted that her husband would “absolutely not” encroach on women’s access to birth control, and he would not allow his personal religious beliefs to impact his decisions on the matter. Showing that she has some sense of humor on the issue, Karen said that she thought it was “sort of funny” when Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown joked over the weekend that her husband’s Secret Service detail is the first time Santorum had “used protection.” Meanwhile, Rick Santorum said Tuesday that he would be watching the primary results in Gettysburg, Pa., his home state, at the venue of Abraham Lincoln’s famous address.

Rick Santorum’s campaign is looking lean, mean, and flush with green after clearing $9 million in February contributions. The former Pennsylvania senator and challenger to Mitt Romney went through $7.9 million over the course of the month, but closed with $2.6 million in the bank. The cash haul wasn’t enough to put him on level turf with Romney’s campaign, but money in the bank isn’t all that’s brought Santorum to his head-to-head match-up against Romney in Tuesday’s Illinois primary. He’s riding a rising tide of discontent in a fractious GOP, and whether or not he wins the support of Illinois voters may make a big difference in the coming months. Exit polls in the early evening Tuesday showed that Santorum did well in the evangelical southern part of the state. But Romney may stand to knock him down a peg in a state where only 31 percent of Republicans describe themselves as “very conservative.” Romney got his own multimillion-dollar boost last month when Bob Perry, the Texas homebuilder who bankrolled the anti-John Kerry Swift Boat ads, gave a pro-Mitt super PAC $3 million.

A 101-year-old Utah woman is set to enter the record books Tuesday—her birthday—for being the “Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem.” Mary Hardison, of Ogden, has officially offset a 100-year-old woman from Cyprus for the Guinness Book of World Records title. Hardison flew with an instructor on Sept. 1, 2011, with four generations of her family watching. In a questionnaire with Guinness, Hardison said she took up paragliding after her 75-year-old son began doing it as a hobby. “My desire is for the elderly to keep going,” Hardison said. “Be positive. Friends don’t like a grumpy person.” Hardison celebrated her 90th birthday by riding all of the adult rides at Disney World.

The Pakistani Parliament on Tuesday called for the U.S. to stop drone strikes in their country—and for an unconditional apology for the strike November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan issued the declaration in a five-page parliamentary review read by the chairman of the cross-party national security committee. The U.S. had hoped the parliamentary review would restore full diplomatic relations between the two countries, but the debate over the review’s findings has been pushed back until Monday—already a bad sign since the prime minister’s political career is currently in jeopardy and may not last past the weekend. Parliament also declared there should be no American “hot pursuit or boots on Pakistani territory,” a possible reference to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. There have been an estimated 265 drone strikes in Pakistan since January 2008.

They pulled the lever for Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney, but 4 in 10 voters in the Land of Lincoln say the leading GOP candidates still fail to send a thrill up their electoral spines. More than 40 percent of Illinois Republicans who voted for Santorum or Romney in today’s state primary “have reservations” about the man they chose, exit polls show. The economy was the top issue for most voters, exit polls indicated, with 46 percent of those polled saying they had a gloomy view of the country’s fiscal future. Meanwhile, one fifth of the state’s voting population said that the economy is on the uptick. There are some indications that Romney has a demographic advantage in the state, where only 4 out of every 10 voters describe themselves as evangelicals and the same number of residents make $100,000 a year or more.

The Daily Beast is thrilled to accept the 2012 Digital Ellie award for Best Website Department from the American Society of Magazine Editors! The prize goes to Book Beast, the literature hub of the Beast, and was accepted by editor in chief Tina Brown and books editor Lucas Wittmann. This is the first time The Daily Beast’s book section has been selected for the honor, though it received a nomination last year. New York magazine took home the coveted award for general excellence in digital media. Other winners included Wired, which won awards for Best Design and Best Digital Reporting, National Geographic for Best Tablet, and Time for Best Utility App for its “Populist” iPad application. Congratulations to all!

Is one of history’s greatest mysteries about to be solved? The U.S. State Department will announce on Tuesday that it is reopening the search for pilot and adventurer Amelia Earhart, nearly 75 years after she went missing. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will announce the reopening of the search, which will start in July and has an $500,000 price tag financed through private funds. The search will focus on the Pacific atoll of Nikumaroro between Hawaii and Australia. Earhart’s twin-engine Lockheed airplane vanished on July 2, 1937, after she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, left Papua New Guinea for Howland Island in the South Pacific as part of their quest to circle the globe.

As national outrage builds over the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida, the state’s attorney general announced today that a grand jury will hear the case. Norm Wolfinger said that the state will use the grand jury “investigative resources” to figure out if criminal charges should be filed in the death of the 17-year-old. The Justice Department has also opened an investigation. Martin was allegedly shot by George Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood-watch volunteer who claims that Martin looked “drugged” and attacked him. Meanwhile, Trayvon’s girlfriend, who was on the phone with him during the incident, told him to run away.

According to the latest numbers from Public Policy Polling, Democrat Elizabeth Warren is leading incumbent Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race. Warren and Brown have taken turns playing the frontrunner since the race begin, and Warren's current lead is  slight, about 5 percentage points. Still, Brown's approval rating is low: 45 percent versus 42 percent who disapprove of the job he's done so far. When only Republicans are polled, however, his approval rating is 80 percent. While Brown has the GOP base locked down, Warren's appealing more to moderates, her favorability among this voting group—which supported Brown in 2010—up 42 percent to 40 percent. Her popularity with young voters is also up, leading Brown in this demographic 56 percent to 29 percent.

Sci-fi action flick John Carter has officially unspooled for Disney, with the company saying Monday that it expects to mark down a $200 million loss, making it one of the biggest bombs in the history of Tinseltown. The movie is reported to have brought in $184 million in worldwide ticket sales, but that has hardly been enough to save the $250 million project, on which around $100 million more was spent on marketing, from folding like a dwarf star. The movie’s failure is a blow to the career of director Andrew Stanton, who had reached both mass-market success and critical acclaim with Finding Nemo and Wall-E.

A massive French police effort is underway to find a shooter believed to be responsible for the killing of four people outside a school Monday, as well as two deadly shootings last week. The bodies of a rabbi and three Jewish children killed in the barbaric shooting Monday will be transported to Israel for burial, according to the Israeli foreign ministry. France is on high alert after a gunman on a motorcycle shot down the unsuspecting victims outside a religious school, the third such attack in 10 days in the same southwestern area of the country. The Associated Press cited news reports that said that the same weapon was used in all three slayings, heightening suspicions that the killer has taken aim at minorities. As the country reeled, French President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared at the school to say that “everything must be done so the killer is arrested.”

House Republicans will release their $261 billion deficit-reduction plan on Tuesday, with a focus on tax cuts. The plan, written by Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, would simplify the tax code by collapsing the current system of six tax brackets down to two marginal rates, Republican aides said Monday. Personal-income rates will be cut to a 25 percent top rate and a 10 percent lower rate; the plan would also lower the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent and scrap the Alternative Minimum Tax. The budget is meant to avoid the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts that will go into effect next January, about which half will come from the Defense Department. The plan also sets up the Republicans’ election-year strategy with President Obama, who has proposed increasing taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year.

It might not be Super Tuesday, but this Tuesday could be crucial to Mitt Romney. The Republican candidates face off in Illinois on Tuesday, with 54 delegates at stake—a victory Romney desperately needs after being pounded last week in Alabama and Mississippi. “Illinois presents a must-win for Romney as the state’s more moderate makeup and urban population set up better for Romney than Santorum,” GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak told CNN. By some polls, Romney has a 15-point lead over his nearest challenger, Rick Santorum. Romney and Santorum plan to blitz the state with last-minute pitches on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the candidates released their February fundraising numbers, with Romney reporting $11.5 million raised and Santorum hot on his heels with $9 million. President Obama reported $45 million in campaign contributions in the same period.

The wife of Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the man accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, issued a statement Monday night, in which she called the incident a “heartbreaking tragedy.” “Please respect me when I say I cannot shed any light on what happened that night, so please do not ask,” Karilyn Bales said in a statement. “I too want to know what happened.” Bales and his family have been thrust into the national spotlight after the shooting, with reports surfacing on Tuesday that he joined the Army in 2001 after being found liable for $1.4 million in a financial fraud relating to his handling of a retirement account of an elderly client in Ohio. Bales’s attorney, John Henry Browne, said Monday that Bales has “no memory” of the shooting. The sergeant is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the Army’s only maximum-security prison.

At least 39 people were killed and 188 injured in a series of car bombings throughout Iraq on Tuesday, hospital sources told MSNBC. The deadliest attack occurred in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, where a health-department spokesman said 13 were killed and 48 people were injured in two explosions. Other blasts occurred in the northern city of Kirkuk, where a car bomb exploded near police headquarters and killed seven and wounded 30, and Baghdad, where a suicide car bomber killed three and wounded 21. The violence comes just one week before the Arab League summit in Baghdad, the first time Iraq will host the event in more than 20 years—and the first since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in December. But the deadly car bombs served as a reminder of the past: Tuesday marks the ninth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.

It’s shaping up to be a wild week in Texas. Forecasters predicted powerful storms will hit Houston on Tuesday, one day after two tornadoes touched down in the southern part of the state on Monday. The National Weather Service said that the storms will hit Houston this morning, with 50 mph wind gusts reported in some areas and 30,000 without power in the early part of the storm. Forecasters said there is a 30 percent chance of severe weather hitting the area, which could bring not only the damaging winds but also hail and tornadoes. Flood warnings were still in effect early Tuesday for northern Texas, as high-water marks closed roads from Dallas to Fort Worth. Meanwhile, two tornadoes hit Medina County, near San Antonio, on Monday, which were blamed for two 18-wheeler accidents on Interstate 35.

Various media outlets including Agence France-Presse and the Huffington Post have scrapped a story about Malia Obama’s spring-break trip to Mexico—after a reminder by the White House that they are not supposed to cover the first daughters’ private lives. On Monday the AFP reported that Malia, 13, was vacationing in Mexico with a number of friends and 15 Secret Service agents. The story was then picked up by the Huffington Post, Yahoo News, and several other publications. But by Monday night, it disappeared from all those sites, with most linking back to their homepages or 404 error pages. First lady Michelle Obama’s communications director said Tuesday that the story was indeed pulled after a reminder from the White House about covering the private lives of the first daughters.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said the Syrian opposition has taken part in abuses that include kidnapping, detention, and torture of Syrian security-force members. Sarah Leah Wilson, the New York–based group’s Middle Eastern director, said the Syrian government’s “brutal tactics” do not justify the alleged abuses by the opposition groups. An opposition group said Tuesday that one of its leaders, Abdul Rahman Orfalli, was killed in Homs, along with at least 13 others throughout the country. Meanwhile, Russia, one of the last supporters of the Syrian government in the United Nations, called for a two-day ceasefire in Syria. Moscow echoed the calls by the International Red Cross to allow the organization access to “those detained in Syria for their participation in protests.”

Sen. John McCain is confident that Mitt Romney can win the Illinois primary today, but confessed to Fox Business Network's Don Imus that the former Massachusetts governor's performance in the Republican presidential primary has been a bit of a disappointment. He blames the impression that Mitt won't secure the nomination anytime soon on the media, namely MSNBC. "Some of the pundits I was watching this morning—'Well, he may not be able to get there if he doesn't do well in Wisconsin, blah blah blah.' I think he has got a solid lead. I think he has not done as well as we'd hoped. None of us ever do in campaigns." However, when Imus called Romney "an awful candidate," McCain insisted "Oh, that's not true, Don."