Good morning, here are our early stories:

Broader Justification Emerges Of When U.S. Can Kill Americans Who Join Al-Qaida.

Dramatic End To Alabama Hostage Standoff Took Careful Planning.

And here are more early headlines:

American citizens who become leaders in al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations overseas and pose "an imminent threat" to Americans may be killed with drone strikes even when there's no evidence that they have specific plans to attack Americans or U.S. interests, according to a Justice Department memo that surfaced Monday.

NPR's Carrie Johnson tells our Newscast Desk that:

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montage. As one considers the many ways of wooing a beloved on Valentine's Day, the ungainly tuba and its deep bass sound are not the most obviously romantic. Still, a dozen tuba players at the University of Memphis in cute red vests and bow ties are offering a tuba serenade that will at least bring smiles. Their fee includes chocolates, a card, and two classic tunes like "My Girl" and "My Guy."

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

(humming)

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Abbottabad, Pakistan became world famous in 2011. Osama bin Laden was killed at his hiding place there. Now, the city plans an image makeover. It plans a family-friendly amusement park. The Hazara Heritage Park and Amusement City will include restaurants, mini golf, a butterfly zoo and a lake. A lawmaker tells the Guardian newspapers the park should reassure the world the city is not full of militants and is safe.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

(We updated the top of this post with new material at 9:50 a.m. ET.)

As more becomes known about how authorities on Monday rescued an almost-6-year-old boy named Ethan from his nearly week-long captivity in an Alabama bunker with a gunman, some fascinating details are emerging.

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

On one level, See Now Then, Jamaica Kincaid's first novel in a decade, is a lyrical, interior meditation on time and memory by a devoted but no longer cherished wife and mother going about the daily business of taking care of her home and family in a small New England town. But it is also one of the most damning retaliations by a jilted wife since Nora Ephron's Heartburn. See Now Then reads as if Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf had collaborated on a heartbroken housewife's lament that reveals an impossible familiarity with Heartburn and Evan S.

Fiction and nonfiction softcover releases from Nadine Gordimer, Michael Crichton and Richard Preston, Anne Rice, Paul Krugman and Charles Murray.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Across Syria's eastern border, Iraq is nearing the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led international invasion. The war that ended the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein is over but the killing is not. Insurgents sprang up under U.S. occupation and sectarian and ethnic rifts left thousands dead. Though the bloodshed peaked about six years ago, the death toll there is still stunning. Last month across the country it reached 246. And we're learning this morning about more violence in Iraq.