AP - President Barack Obama's chief of staff says it's only a matter of time before the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad collapses.

AP - It was a surreal scene: Whitney Houston had died at the Beverly Hilton, and hours later and a few floors below, her life was being celebrated at the event where her career was launched.

AP - It was an emotional night for soul singer Bobby Brown as he performed Saturday night before thousands just hours after learning that his ex-wife Whitney Houston had died in Beverly Hills.

AP - Whitney Houston's downfall was so long and sad that, in an impatient public's mind, it overshadowed her many accomplishments.

AP - A year ago, Clive Davis' glittery pre-Grammy showcase was winding down after a number of electric performances when the grandest name of all, Whitney Houston, walked on stage to close the evening with what promised to be a show-stopping tribute to her famous cousin, Dionne Warwick.

AP - Whitney Houston's last days were spent surrounded by family, catching up with old friends and doing a bit of what she was best known for: singing.

AP - Conservatives said Sunday the flap surrounding President Barack Obama's birth control mandate was far from over, with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell saying he'll push to overturn the requirement because it was another example of government meddling.

AP - The new budget that President Barack Obama is sending to Congress aims to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade by restraining government spending and raising taxes on the wealthy. To help a weak economy, Obama's proposal Monday requests increases in transportation, education and other areas.

AP - It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.

AP - Authorities searching with the help of a convicted serial killer found more human remains Saturday — the first bones discovered at an abandoned well on a cattle ranch where a death row inmate claimed 10 or more victims may be buried, authorities said.

AP - A dream honeymoon to scuba dive on Australia's Great Barrier Reef turned into a terrible nightmare, and the horror is about to play out years later in a courtroom in Alabama.

AP - J.R. Childress is up before the sun, bustling about in the French colonial brick house he built. He helps pack his wife's lunch, downs some eggs or cereal for breakfast, pores over online and newspaper job listings and hopes — even prays — this will be the day when his fortunes turn around.

AP - More than a thousand people mourned the deaths of Charlie and Braden Powell at a public funeral Saturday, nearly a week after the young boys' father killed them and himself in a gas-fueled blaze.