Mark Memmott

Reports are popping up on various newssites that, as The Associated Press puts it, "President Barack Obama will announce a plan to accommodate religious employers outraged by a rule that would require them to cover birth control for women free of charge, according to a person familiar with the decision."

The social worker who watched in horror last Sunday as a Washington state man blew up the house that his two young sons had gone into moments before says he had never before seemed dangerous.

But she knows now, Elizabeth Griffin-Hall tells ABC News, that "Josh Powell was really, really evil."

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- 'Situation Could Not Be More Dire,' Syrians In Besieged City Say.

-- Rep. Bachus Is Focus Of Ethics Investigation Into Possible Insider Trading.

On CNN last evening, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum was asked about the Pentagon's plan to open up more jobs to women in the military — and to bring them closer to, but not right into, combat roles.

The Washington Post broke this story last evening:

"The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.

From inside the Syrian city of Homs, where activists say several hundred people have been killed by government forces in the past week and troops are preparing for what could be a "ground offensive" in coming days, residents say the "situation could not be more dire," NPR's Kelly McEvers reports.

In 2010, it was a guy dressed up in a tiger suit that wouldn't have scared many toddlers. One year keepers successfully captured a "zebra."

A Democratic member of Mississippi's state House has introduced legislation that would "for all official purposes within the State of Mississippi," change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

By a nearly unanimous vote this morning the House passed the STOCK Act, which as NPR's Tamara Keith has reported, "would, among other things, explicitly ban insider trading for members of Congress and their staffs."

The vote was 417-2, with 14 members absent. The two nay votes were from Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., and Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga.

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Settlement Reached With Banks On Relief For Some Homeowners.

-- More Deaths Today In Syrian City Of Homs, Residents Say.

-- Jobless Claims Drop By 15,000.