10 things you need to know today: February 29, 2012

1. MITT WINS IN MICHIGAN, GAINS MOMENTUM

Mitt Romney narrowly prevailed in the GOP presidential primary in his home state of Michigan on Tuesday, picking up 41 percent of the vote compared with 38 percent for Rick Santorum. In Arizona, Romney had a much wider margin of victory, 47 percent to Santorum's 27 percent. The victories give Romney some much-needed momentum going into Super Tuesday on March 6, but some think he should change his strategy given how tight things were in Michigan. [Associated Press]

………………………………………………………………………………

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

2. SYRIA DEATH TOLL EXCEEDS 7,500

A U.N. official said Tuesday that more than 7,500 civilians have been killed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's security forces since a pro-democracy uprising began last March. According to opposition sources, government troops launched a ground attack in the Baba Amro neighborhood of Homs on Wednesday, following a night of heavy shelling. The U.N. estimates that more than 100 civilians, including women and children, are being killed each day. [Reuters]

………………………………………………………………………………

3. REPORT FINDS 9/11 REMAINS DUMPED IN LANDFILL

A startling Pentagon report alleges that the remains of some victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were dumped in a landfill by the mortuary at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Dover has come under fire recently for the "gross mismanagement" of the dead, after losing the body parts of two services members in 2009 and sawing off part of the arm of a dead marine and not telling his family. [New York Times]

………………………………………………………………………………

4. SUSPECTED OHIO SHOOTER TO BE TRIED AS AN ADULT

Prosecutor David Joyce says he will "absolutely" want to try T.J. Lane, the 17-year-old accused of firing on fellow students at his Ohio high school on Monday, as an adult. Three students died from the attack and two remain hospitalized. Joyce says Lane said he did not know the victims and chose them at random. [ABC News]

………………………………………………………………………………

5. SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE TO RETIRE

Olympia Snowe, Maine's moderate Republican senator, has announced she won't seek re-election. Democrats have a good chance of winning her seat in the heavily blue state, throwing a wrench in Republican plans to take control of the Senate in November. [New York Times]

………………………………………………………………………………

6. ONE DEAD IN COAST GUARD HELICOPTER CRASH

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crashed Tuesday night off the Alabama coast. One crew member was found dead and three remain missing. The cause of the crash is under investigation. [Associated Press]

………………………………………………………………………………

7. DOW CLOSES ABOVE 13,000, FIRST TIME SINCE CRISIS

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 13,000 for the first time since May 2008, four months before the financial crisis struck. But there was also grim economic news Tuesday: Housing prices are back at 2002 levels and orders for big-ticket factory goods fell by the most in three years. [Associated Press]

………………………………………………………………………………

8. APPLE INVITES MEDIA FOR MARCH 7 IPAD EVENT

On Tuesday, Apple sent an email invitation to reporters for a March 7 event where the tech giant is expected to unveil the hotly anticipated iPad 3. The invite included a photo of what looks to be the corner of an iPad and the line "We have something you really have to see. And touch." [Wall Street Journal]

………………………………………………………………………………

9. TIGER WOODS BOOK REVEALS NEW DETAILS

In his forthcoming book The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods, Woods' former swing coach, Hank Haney, writes that the fallen golf star considered leaving the sport to become a Navy SEAL. Woods' agent has spoken out against the book, calling it "clearly false" and "armchair psychology." [Guardian]

………………………………………………………………………………

10. SNOOKI PREGNANCY RUMORS PERSIST

Though the Jersey Shore star denied being pregnant earlier this month, sources say Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is indeed expecting and will soon announce her impending motherhood via a lucrative Us Weekly cover story. [New York Post]