Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) — Eight years after the U.S. lumped Syria into the “Axis of Evil,” ushering in a period of political isolation, diplomats from Washington to Istanbul are on the road to Damascus.

A CONTROVERSIAL grassroots Catholic group has warned politicians the upcoming civil partnership bill is opposed to “natural moral law” and promotes the “evil” of same-sex couples adopting children.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii) Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — Last month’s earthquake battered Reginald Boulos’s small empire, destroying one of his supermarkets, badly damaging a hotel and killing two workers at his car dealership.

Love is really in the air this Valentine’s Day weekend, as some very lucky couples are taking their romance to new heights. They get to say “I do” in the 16th annual Valentine’s Day wedding event high atop the Empire State Building. Richard and Roxanne Catapano are newly married, one of a dozen couples who got hitched inside the Empire State Building Saturday, on a floor decorated just for them.

California’s official political watchdogs issued several small fines to Inland Empire legislators for failing to report gifts.

The Coastal Empire and Lowcountry are anticipating a snow for the first time in 13 years. The National Weather Service has already issued a winter stom watch.

Denny Hecker, the Minnesota auto magnate whose face adorned billboards and buses across the Twin Cities before his empire collapsed, was indicted Wednesday on federal conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges in an alleged scheme to defraud lenders and others of millions.

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — About 100 residents turned out Tuesday night to protest Empire District Electric Co.’s proposed increase in the rates for its Kansas customers.

HAVRE, Mont. – The Montana Department of Transportation says ridership on Amtrak’s Empire Builder in Montana fell in 2009 for the first time in five years.