In other news Tuesday, Wall Street gains and strong sales for automakers. Heavy fighting continued near Syria's capitol and a human rights group has reported that the Syrian government is running a network of torture centers. Also, Iran test-fired ballistic…

In other news Thursday, floodwater began to recede in New England's hard-hit communities, leaving enormous damage in its wake. Also, new federal rules for gas mileage and auto emissions became final.

In other news Tuesday, the Nigerian man accused in the Christmas Day airliner attack is said to be cooperating with the FBI, and White House budget director Peter Orszag defended the administration's $3.8 trillion budget proposal on Capitol Hill.

In other news Tuesday, the U.S. reopened its embassy in Yemen after security concerns forced a two-day closure, and "rising threats and attacks" pushed the United Nations World Food Program to suspend aid to approximately 1 million people in southern…