National

Five years ago Friday, a gunman opened fire in a parking lot in Tucson, Ariz., killing six and wounding others — including Mary Reed, who had been protecting her daughter. This is their story.

The White House has ordered the Pentagon to study gun safety in an attempt to field new technologies that make weapons safer. But the military services don't have any desire for safer weapons, and none of the technologies or products that already exist have found any acceptance among gun buyers.

Since October, a natural gas storage well near Los Angeles has been spewing hundreds of tons of methane gas each day. The leak isn't expected to be fixed for months.

There's new diet advice out Thursday from the federal government. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which are updated every five years, serve as the government's official advice on what we should be eating. New this year: a recommendation to limit sugar to no more than 10 percent of daily calories. The guidelines also call for a shift to alternative sources of protein such as seafood, nuts and beans.

The New York Police Department has agreed to settle a pair of lawsuits that allege it illegally targeted Muslims in terrorism investigations. The settlement, if approved by a judge, will codify rules for terrorism investigations and provide more oversight.

Republicans control the reins of power in Florida, but Democrats think the new maps will help them unseat some GOP incumbents both in Congress and in the state Legislature.

At least three genes that predispose some of us to hay fever and other allergies came from Neanderthal DNA, scientists say. The genes very likely boosted the immunity of our early ancestors.

The occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in southeast Oregon has brought heightened attention to the federal government's management of public lands. The ranchers of Harney County, Ore., have a long history of both working with and struggling with the Bureau of Land Management. Some ranchers blame the area's economic hardship on federal mismanagement of public lands, but others see the government agency as a valuable partner.