AP - House Republicans have introduced their version of a bill to ban insider trading by thousands of federal officials, and have added provisions to bar lawmakers convicted of a felony from collecting their government pensions.

AP - Philippine rescue officials say they are losing hope of finding anyone alive among 71 people still buried in landslides set off by a powerful earthquake. So far, 26 bodies have been recovered and identified.

AP - Nissan's quarterly profit rose 3.2 percent on healthier sales that offset production damage from flooding in Thailand and a battering from the strong yen.

AP - Younes al-Yousef rarely goes outside in Cairo, fearful that even here someone will recognize him and word will get back to Damascus. He stays in a simple, rented apartment with his wife and children, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and watching TV for the latest from the homeland he fled, Syria.

AP - The move by school district administrators to replace the entire staff at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims was a bold step to restore parents' badly shaken confidence at the school, but it has been met with mixed feelings.

AP - Police released 911 calls that revealed a social worker's frantic attempts to alert authorities that Josh Powell had locked himself in his home with his two young sons, moments before he set off a huge fire that killed all inside.

Reuters - The euro was at eight-week high and European shares rose on Wednesday on hopes that a deal on a second bailout for Greece was close, shrugging off data illustrating the damage the debt crisis has done to the region's economy.

AP - Republican Rick Santorum is looking to capitalize on a string of stunning victories that snapped his four-state losing streak and raised new questions about front-runner Mitt Romney's clout with conservatives.

AP - Conservative critics like to point out that the federal appeals court that just declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional has its decisions overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court more often than other judicial circuits, a record that could prove predictive if the high court agrees to review the gay marriage case on appeal.

AP - The police commissioner's TV host son has been cleared of the prospect of criminal charges of raping a woman he met for a drink, but it's not clear how quickly he might return to his spot as a jocular morning-show host.

AP - Mitt Romney just can't shake his difficulty attracting conservatives. And that reality is undercutting his effort to cast himself as the inevitable Republican presidential nominee and prolonging a race that each day exposes deep divisions within the party.

AP - Shot through the upper back on a rooftop in Afghanistan and gasping for breath after a bullet ripped through his chest, Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson had a fear worse than death.

AP - Disgruntled police across Brazil are taking aim at the country's iconic Carnival celebration, raising threats to the annual street parties that draw hordes of foreigners as a way to press their demands for pay raises.

AP - First in and last out — that's the current plan for elite U.S. forces in Afghanistan, according to Adm. Bill McRaven.

AP - The United States appears to be out of answers on what to do with Syria.

AP - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shifted his focus from the economy to abortion, religious freedom and gay marriage in recent days, part of an intensified effort to win over social conservatives in states voting Tuesday.

AP - Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum made a calculated decision a few weeks ago.