“It is extremely important not to do anything to rock the boat. Start delivering weapons now would rock the boat. No one is intending to do that,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said.

But in a bid to force Syria to participate in good faith at the prospective “Geneva II” talks next month, the meeting in Brussels dangled the option of sending in weapons and military equipment as soon as Saturday, when the current sanctions regime ends.

The prospect of EU weapons for the rebels, while maintaining stiff economic sanctions against Assad’s regime, also sends a message to Russia. Moscow has unabashedly sent weapons to Assad’s regime — and EU arms deliveries could partially re-balance the civil war when it comes to firepower.

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Americans honor fallen service members on Memorial Day; president lays wreath at Arlington

ATLANTA (AP) — Americans gathered at memorials, museums and monuments and the president laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor fallen service members on Memorial Day, as combat in Afghanistan approaches 12 years and the ranks of World War II veterans dwindle.

“Let us not forget as we gather here today that our nation is still at war,” President Barack Obama said after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

“When they give their lives, they are still being laid to rest in cemeteries in quiet corners across our country, including here in Arlington,” he said. He told the stories of three soldiers who had died. Each had been devoted to their mission and were praised by others for saving lives.

Hours later, veterans from conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan and Iraq gathered in Atlanta to dedicate a new veterans’ park. Soldiers, airmen, Marines and seamen looked on as veterans and military family members sprinkled soil, sand and water from battlefields and waterways across the world.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Rick Lester called it “a reminder of our country’s timeline of freedom.” A 26-year veteran with multiple tours in Vietnam, Germany and Korea, Lester conceived the ceremony as a way to honor living veterans and those who never made it home.

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10 Things to Know for Tuesday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:

1. EU LIFTS ARMS EMBARGO

The decision ramps up the possibility of weapons shipments to the Syrian rebels and “sends a very strong message from Europe to the Assad regime,” says Britain’s foreign secretary.

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Fire breaks out on Royal Caribbean cruise ship; passengers to be flown to US from Bahamas

BALTIMORE (AP) — A fire that broke out aboard a Royal Caribbean ship Monday did enough damage that the rest of the cruise was canceled and the company said the more than 2,200 passengers will be flown from the Bahamas back to Baltimore where the trip began.

The fire that began at 2:50 a.m. Monday was extinguished about two hours later with no injuries reported. A cause wasn’t immediately known. The Grandeur of the Seas, which left Baltimore on Friday, never lost power and was able to sail into port in Freeport, Bahamas, Monday afternoon. It had been planned to be a seven-night cruise.

Royal Caribbean said on its website and through social media that executives met with passengers in port and that the cruise line is arranging flights for all 2,224 guests on Tuesday. It said passengers will receive a full refund of their fare and a certificate for a future cruise.

Aboard ship early Monday, the captain announced that passengers needed to go to their muster stations, rousing Mark J. Ormesher from his stateroom. Ormesher said in an email to The Associated Press that immediately after the announcement, his room attendant knocked on the door and told him and his girlfriend to grab their flotation devices. The attendant said it wasn’t a drill.

Ormesher, a native of England, who lives in Manassas, Va., said he and his girlfriend smelled acrid smoke as they went to their muster station, the ship’s casino. The crew quickly provided instruction.

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Senator McCain, frequent critic of US Mideast policy, visits with rebels in Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain, a proponent of arming Syrian rebels, quietly slipped into Syria for a meeting with anti-government fighters Monday.

Spokeswoman Rachael Dean confirms the Arizona Republican made the visit. She declined further comment about the trip.

The visit took place amid meetings in Paris involving efforts to secure participation of Syria’s fractured opposition in an international peace conference in Geneva.

And in Brussels, the European Union decided late Monday to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition while maintaining all other sanctions against Bashar Assad’s regime after June 1, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said following the meeting.

Two years of violence in Syria has killed more than 70,000 people. President Barack Obama has demanded that Assad leave power, while Russia has stood by Syria, its closest ally in the Arab world.

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Car bomb blasts tear through Iraqi capital, killing at least 66 in mainly Shiite areas

BAGHDAD (AP) — A coordinated wave of car bombings tore through mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 66 people and maiming nearly 200 as insurgents step up the bloodshed roiling Iraq.

The attacks in markets and other areas frequented by civilians are the latest sign of a rapid deterioration in security as sectarian tensions are exacerbated by anti-government protests and the war in neighboring Syria grinds on.

More than 450 people have been killed across Iraq in May. Most of the killings came over the past two weeks in the most sustained wave of violence since U.S. troops left in December 2011.

The surge in attacks is reminiscent of the sectarian carnage that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007. April was Iraq’s deadliest month since June 2008, according to a United Nations tally that put last month’s death toll at more than 700.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s bombings, but they bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida’s Iraqi arm. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, frequently uses car bombs and coordinated blasts against Shiites to undermine Iraqis’ confidence in the Shiite-led government.

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On the boardwalk — Obama and Christie meet again and put emphasis on recovery

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is looking to get his groove back — at the beach.

A post-Hurricane Sandy tour of the New Jersey coast line on Tuesday, gives the president a chance for a three-point play that can move him ahead of the recent controversies that have dogged the White House. With New Jersey’s Republican Gov. Chris Christie at Obama’s side, effective government, bipartisanship and economic opportunity will be the unmistakable message in the face of the coastal recovery.

For Obama, the tour helps him continue redirecting the political conversation after two weeks of dealing with the fallout over the administration’s response to terror attacks last September in Benghazi, Libya, the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department’s review of journalist phone records as part of a leak investigation.

The visit occurs as Congress is away for a Memorial Day holiday break, a weeklong recess that likely will silence the daily attention lawmakers, particularly Republicans, had been paying to the three political upheavals. It also comes just days after Obama started seeking to change the subject in Washington with a speech defending his controversial program of strikes by unmanned drones and renewing his push to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility.

On Sunday Obama traveled to Oklahoma to view damage from the recent tornado and console victims of the deadly storm.

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HEALTHBEAT: Babies born after mom’s obesity surgery fare better; genes behave differently

WASHINGTON (AP) — Obese mothers tend to have kids who become obese. Now provocative research suggests weight-loss surgery may help break that unhealthy cycle in an unexpected way — by affecting how their children’s genes behave.

In a first-of-a-kind study, Canadian researchers tested children born to obese women, plus their brothers and sisters who were conceived after the mother had obesity surgery. Youngsters born after mom lost lots of weight were slimmer than their siblings. They also had fewer risk factors for diabetes or heart disease later in life.

More intriguing, the researchers discovered that numerous genes linked to obesity-related health problems worked differently in the younger siblings than in their older brothers and sisters.

Clearly diet and exercise play a huge role in how fit the younger siblings will continue to be, and it’s a small study. But the findings suggest the children born after mom’s surgery might have an advantage.

“The impact on the genes, you will see the impact for the rest of your life,” predicted Dr. Marie-Claude Vohl of Laval University in Quebec City. She helped lead the work reported Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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AP PHOTOS: Americans mark Memorial Day

Americans honored fallen service members on Memorial Day with President Barack Obama leading the nation’s commemoration by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Dozens of ceremonies were held across the nation to honor Americans killed in wars.

Here is a gallery of photos from across the U.S.

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Incoming Rutgers AD Julie Hermann has no plans to resign, and has the school’s backing

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Julie Hermann is not resigning as Rutgers’ incoming athletic director following a report that 16 years ago she humiliated and emotionally abused players while coaching the women’s volleyball team at Tennessee. And the university is standing behind her.

“I never considered withdrawing because I feel very qualified to lead Rutgers into the future and into the transition into the Big Ten,” Hermann said Monday during a conference call in response to a report in the Star-Ledger of Newark. “And I do feel the support of the Rutgers community.”

Embattled Rutgers President Robert Barchi said in a statement the university looks forward to her running the athletic department. He added that she was the best of the 63 candidates interviewed for the job of succeeding Tim Pernetti.

“Rutgers was deliberative at every stage of this process,” Barchi said. “Over the course of the search, Julie’s record established her as a proven leader in athletics administration with a strong commitment to academic success as well as athletic excellence, and a strong commitment to the well-being of student athletes.

Despite the Star-Ledger report, Barchi said Hermann’s entire career is stellar and “We remain confident that we have selected an individual who will work in the best interests of all of our student athletes, our athletics teams, and the university.”