From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

The gunman accused of killing seven people in the Toulouse area France this week and last reportedly is still holding up in his department. The place is surrounded and police say they are ready to storm that building, but the suspect is said to be heavily armed. The gunman is self-declared jihadist who has decried the deaths of Palestinian children. Meanwhile, the Palestinian authority is condemning the gunman's alleged actions. As NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports form Jerusalem.

In a statement, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the extremists must stop using the Palestinian cause to justify their acts of violence,It's time for these criminals to stop marketing their terrorist acts in the name of the Palestinian people and to stop pretending to stand up for the rights of Palestinian children who only ask for a decent life. The statement continues, these terrorist crime is condemned in the strongest terms by the Palestinian people and their children. The slim father, his two sons and another young girl were laid to rest here in Jerusalem today in front of a crowd of thousands who cried and prayed. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

Those victims were killed in a shooting, in the multiple shootings at a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday. Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in Montalban today to pay his respects to funerals of three paratroopers who were murdered in last week's attack.

I have come to bow before the coffins of these murdered soldiers, I've come to say to their families, to their closet ones, to their brothers in arms, to express the support and the tribute of the nation.   

Sarkozy is heard through an interpreter on France 24.

Some analysts say homeowners may be seeing their best year since the recession for selling as NPR's Dave Mattingly tells us the National Association of Realtors says the US housing sector is coming off its best winter in years.

Existing home sales fell nearly 1% last month, but combined with December and January, and this is the strongest winter home buying season in five years. Water with National Association of Realtors says the improving job market and record lower interest rates are unleashing some of that pent up buyer demand.

We are looking for sales of this year to be up about 7%.

Still the number of first-time homebuyers dropped last month. And economists caution the industry is still years away from full recovery. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

At last glance on Wall Street, the Dow is down 23 points at 13,147 in trading of just over 2 billion shares, NASDAQ Composite Index gaining ground up 13 points, it's at 3087. And the S&P 500 up slightly at 1406.

This is NPR News.

The United Nations Security Council has agreed on a statement supporting a peace effort in Syria. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports the vote comes as activists say at least 25 people have been killed by government shelling in the city of Homs.

Activists in the Homs' neighborhood of, say shelling by government troops has intensified in the past two days. is the neighborhood where families from other neighborhoods fled in recent weeks. Hundreds of people have died in Homs  so far this year. Especially during a nearly month-long siege on the neighborhood of Baba Amr. Rebel fighters later retreated from the area. The statement passed by the security council says Syria will face steps, if a UN peace plan is rejected. The plan calls for a ceasefire, dialogue between the government and the opposition and access for humanitarian aid. Russia and China vetoed earlier and more binding resolutions on Syria at the council. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Beirut.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he backs a House Republican budget proposal that would reduce deficits partly through cuts and benefit programs however, he also says the spending cuts included and that should be accelerated. Santorum said he would be more aggressive in achieving budget savings, doing away with cost of living increases in federal grants to states for Medicaid and food stamps.