Davy Jones, who thrilled many a young girl's heart back in the '60s as a member of the Monkees, has died.

TMZ broke the news. It reports being told by the medical examiner's office in Martin County, Fla., of the 66-year-old singer's death. The English-born Jones apparently lived in that part of Florida.

 Dion Cole's father loved speed. He shared his love of fast cars and the rev of engines with his two sons, and his adopted daughter, Dion. She shares some of the memories of fast times with her father. She also shares how he took his own life.
 

The Boston Globe reports this morning that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was baptized posthumously in a Mormon temple in Idaho last year.

Pearl was Jewish and was captured and killed by terrorists while reporting in Pakistan in 2002.

Industry analysts say oil prices rose ten dollars a gallon in February, driving up gas prices at the pump. Washington Post columnist Charles Lane argues that though gas prices have long been a political issue, gas prices are largely determined by global crude oil prices.

After U.S. military officers in Afghanistan accidentally burned Qurans while disposing of other Islamic texts, two American military officers were killed and protests broke out throughout the country. The violent responses have raised concerns about the U.S. strategy.

Writer Sandra Tsing Loh loves her 91-year-old father. As he lost his independence, she began caring for him and has encountered frustration that many children of aging baby boomers may face. In a piece in The Atlantic, she confesses that there are moments when she wishes he would die.

Presidential debates can provide a boost to a candidate, thwart a lead in polls or prompt a decision to leave the race. NPR's Ken Rudin and Alan Schroeder, author of Presidential Debates: 40 Years of High-Risk TV, look at game-changing moments in the 2012 election cycle.

Reuters and The Associated Press are reporting that Egyptian authorities have decided that seven Americans who it has accused of engaging in illegal "political activity" may now leave the country.

An ominous excerpt from the latest BBC News report on what's happening in Syria:

"The Syrian army is advancing on opposition positions in Homs, which has been under artillery bombardment for nearly a month, reports say. Security officials said the city's besieged district of Baba Amr would be 'cleaned' within the next few hours."