Hundreds packed into a small church Friday in Newtown, Conn., to honor the 26 slain—20 of whom were children—earlier in the day at Sandy Hook Elementary School. With the church filled to capacity, hundreds stood outside holding hands, lighting candles, and saying prayers. Gov. Dannel Malloy was among the speakers addressing the crowd. Vigils were also held in Times Square and outside the White House.

President Obama gave an emotional speech during a White House press conference after today’s mass shooting at a school in Connecticut. “As a country we have been through this too many times,” the president said, recalling numerous mass shootings that have occurred in recent years and adding that the country is going to have to “take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of politics.” He brushed away tears as he spoke of the victims as “our children,” adding that he and the first lady will do tonight “what every other parent in America will do, which is to hug our kids a little tighter and tell them we love them.”

Local police have announced that 27 total people were killed, 20 of them children, in a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday. The shooter is being reported as Adam Lanza, 20. His mother, Nancy, was a kindergarten teacher was reportedly killed at her home before her son went to Sandy Hook Elementary and opened fire on two classrooms of students. The school's principal and psychologist are among the dead. Police say the guns he used are thought to have been registered in Lanza's mother's name. Governor Daniel Malloy called it a "tragedy of unspeakable terms," and President Obama held a tearful press conference, extending his condolences and ordering flags to fly at half mast.

“She was our hero.” That’s what Sandy Hook Elementary School’s therapist said about Dawn Hochsprung, the principal who was killed in Friday’s shooting rampage. The therapist, Diane Day, was with Hochsprung and a school psychologist when they heard shots in the hallway. Hochsprung and the therapist “didn’t think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on,” and immediately ran to the melee, Day said. Because there was no lock on the door to the room she was in, Day pressed her body against it. She was shot through the door in her arm and leg.

Is a certain pro-gun group, on the receiving end of tremendous backlash after a massacre at a Connecticut elementary school Friday morning, going into hiding? The National Rifle Association canceled a planned “Tweet & Greet” with country musician Colt Ford that was scheduled for this afternoon. “Apologies for the inconvenience, but the @ColtFord Tweet & Greet will be rescheduled. Please check back for more info!” a announcement said. The event is part of a series that features country artists “involved in causes that defend our values,” according to the NRA. The NRA has not yet commented on whether the cancellation came in light of the shooting.

Apple’s stock fell 4 percent Friday, dipping for the third straight day and hitting lows it hasn’t seen since last February. The reason? The launch of the iPhone 5 in China failed to lure frenzied crowds, and a well-known analyst throttled back some projections for growth, cutting his price target on shares from $780 to $700 and predicting that 5 million fewer iPhones and 2 million fewer iPads will be built in the next three quarters. The good news: the company is still worth about $475 billion.

Chinese authorities have detained a man who injured 22 children in a knife attack at a primary school in Henan province, authorities told state news. Two children are in critical condition and one adult was also injured in the attack, which happened at the entrance of the school. Security at China's schools has been heightened in recent years, following a deluge of similar knife attacks in 2010 that left nearly 20 children dead. The 39-year-old male suspect was arrested on the scene and is believed to be mentally ill.

A certain Virginia bank is apparently a target for political mask-clad robbers. On Thursday, a gun-wielding man in a Mitt Romney mask robbed a bank just two years after a Hillary Clinton-masked robber hit up the same location. This time, the man went to each teller, demanding money from all five. Police went to a nearby Party City in search of clues, but no word yet on whether the two very unusual robberies are connected.

Was he the father? Jovan Belcher, the former NFL player who shot and killed his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself, questioned the paternity of his girlfriend’s child before the tragic incident. Belcher and his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, had a 3-month-old daughter together, and according to his mother, who spoke to investigators, “He [believed he] wasn’t necessarily the father of the child.” A dispute over the paternity issue allegedly caused the argument that led to him shooting her.

Hugh Grant is accepting the “worst guest” title given to him by Jon Stewart. “Turns out my inner crab got the better of me with TV producer in 09,” Grant tweeted. “Unforgivable. J Stewart correct to give me kicking.” Jon Stewart declared actor Hugh Grant to be the worst guest he has ever had on The Daily Show. “And we’ve had dictators on the show,” Stewart said. Stewart made the revelation while being interviewed by Stephen Colbert last week, and Stewart was quick to answer when asked to name his least favorite guest. “He’s giving everyone shit the whole time, and he’s a big pain in the ass.” The talk-show host added that he would “never” have Grant back.

This is starting to get old. President Obama invited House Speaker John  Boehner to the White House on Thursday to discuss the looming fiscal cliff, but failed to come to an agreement. The two met for 50 minutes in what aides described as a “frank” meeting, which Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also attended. White House spokesman Jay Carney said, “What we have not seen from the Republicans is any movement at all on the fundamental issue. Republicans need to accept the fact that the rates will go up on the top 2 percent.” Earlier on Thursday, Boehner had criticized Obama for putting economic recovery at risk by insisting on tax increases on the top 2 percent.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is appalled by the treatment of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who took herself out of the running to be secretary of state on Thursday. Appearing on CBS’s This Morning on Friday. Albright called the attacks on Rice from GOP senators about the Benghazi debacle “outrageous” and “false.” “I think there was just a kind of avalanche,” Albright said. “I love Washington, and I just don’t like what has happened at this point.” In a Washington Post op-ed, Rice wrote that she withdrew because she felt her potential nomination “would spark an enduring partisan battle.”

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said that it expected to reach a deal with Iran over resuming its investigation into the country’s nuclear program as early as next month. Though the IAEA was denied access to the Parchin military site, progress was reportedly made during talks in Tehran on Thursday. The IAEA team leader indicated that a framework agreement would come at the next meeting, saying, “We expect to finalize the structured approach and start implementing it then shortly after that … We had good meetings. We were able to make good progress.” The next meeting between the IAEA and Iran is scheduled for January 16. The IAEA had previously said that it expected such an agreement after talks in May, but it did not occur.

America’s mighty industrial machine is showing signs of shrugging off the effects of Sandy and the fiscal cliff. The Federal Reserve reported Friday morning that industrial production rose a sharp 1.1 percent in November, reversing a fall in October. Meanwhile, Markit’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, a measure of factory activity, came in at 54.2, much better than expectations.

Amidst widespread partisan criticism, Susan Rice is dropping her name from consideration for the position of Secretary of State. Rice, who is currently the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, was in the running for the job after Hillary Clinton decided she would step away from the post. “If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama obtained by NBC News. Rice’s candidacy for the State Department’s top job came under attack from the GOP for her characterization of the September attack on the American consulate in Benghazi as a “spontaneous reaction” to a YouTube video.

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez might have promised too much with his “21st Century Socialism” project that won him reelection two months ago. On Thursday, the ailing leader suffered from bleeding after a six-hour surgery, which was the fourth operation he’s undergone in the last year to fight a cancer diagnosis. "This process of recovery will take time because of the complexity of the operation," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said. "The patient is in a progressive and favorable recovery of normal vital signs." Another ominous sign came on Saturday, when Chavez appointed an heir apparent—just in case. Venezuelans fearing the worst have organized prayer vigils for Chavez’s health.

Apple Maps won’t be Apple’s only bad news this year. A federal jury in Delaware found on Thursday that Apple infringed on three patents related to mobile-device technologies. The patents are owned by MobileMedia Ideas LLC, which is partially owned by Nokia and Sony. Two of the three patents involved came from Nokia and the other from Sony. The amount of money Apple must pay in damages will be decided at a separate trial, but MMI’s chief executive said that it would probably be “substantial.”  MMI also has lawsuits pending against Research In Motion and HTC Corp.

UBS will reportedly be fined more than $1 billion for its role in the LIBOR scandal, an attempt to rig global interest rates, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The amount is more than double the $467 million that Barclays agreed to pay for its role in the scandal. The fines, imposed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.K. Financial Services Authority, and the U.S. Department of Justice, could be announced as early as next week, though the figure is still being negotiated and could change. The fine is expected to be the largest of any of the banks involved in the LIBOR probes.

A 41-year-old Texas man was killed by the trash compactor of a sanitation truck on Wednesday morning. Chad Adams was reportedly trying to get warm on Tuesday night when he fell asleep in a dumpster in Ft. Worth. But his pelvis was fatally cracked when the contents of the dumpster, including Adams, were dumped into a sanitation truck the following day. The sanitation worker operating the machinery stopped after hearing Adams’ screams, but Adams died during surgery at John Peter Smith Hospital. Despite reports that Adams was homeless, a friend claimed he lived in Burleson, Texas.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of California on Friday morning according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake hit 88 miles southwest of Avalon, CA at 2:36 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Some shaking was reported in southern California, including in Newport Beach and Long Beach, but there were no reports of any injuries or damage and no tsunami warning has been issued. It was first reported that two quakes had hit, with magnitudes of 6.4 and 6.1 respectively, but scientists concluded it was actually just one.

Was this all part of a master plan by John Kerry? Now that Susan Rice has dropped out of the race to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is presumed to be the leading contender. Although there could be other candidates Obama is considering, observers have noted that Kerry and Obama have a strong bond. Kerry selected Obama to speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which launched Obama into the national spotlight. Kerry also endorsed Obama at a crucial moment in the 2008 campaign: just after he lost the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton.

Rival groups staged dueling rallies in Cairo on Friday, one day before voting is expected to begin on Egypt’s draft Constitution. The National Salvation Front of groups opposed to the Constitution has organized protests in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace to encourage voters to vote “no.” They say the Constitution does too much to protect Islamic law and does not focus enough on rights and freedom. The Coalition of Islamist Forces, which is in favor of new Constitution, has arranged a rally in Nasr City. The referendum is scheduled for December 15-22, and one correspondent said that a victory for the opposition is unlikely since the conservative groups “have a stronger mobilization.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered that two batteries of Patriot air-defense systems be deployed to Turkey as part of an effort to strengthen Turkey’s defenses against Syria. He also ordered the deployment of roughly 400 American troops to man them. Panetta said that the batteries will “help Turkey have the kind of missile defense it might very well need in dealing with threats that come out of Syria,” adding that the al-Assad regime had “moved to begin to arm weapons that would involve the use of chemical and biological materials.” Although the Netherlands and Germany will be sending similar deployments, NATO officials say the weapons are defensive and not part of a no-fly zone over Syria.

Only hours after a horrifying school shooting broke out in Newtown, Conn., on Friday morning, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters this is not the day to discuss gun-control legislation. When asked if he felt the tragedy justified questions on the subject, Carney shifted the focus back to the families in Newton. “I think it’s important, on a day like today, to view this as I know the president, as a father, does...which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected." The White House's main concernt at the moment, he said, is providing enough support to state and local law enforcement in the area. “I’m sure [there] will be rather a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates," Carney concluded, "but I don’t think today is that day.”

Somebody’s getting ready for 2016. Bobby Jindal wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal urging Republicans to advocate over-the-counter birth control, a move he says would “take contraception out of the political arena.” He argues that the sale of over-the-counter birth control, as opposed to having it prescribed by doctors, would actually lower costs through free-market competition. He writes, “It’s time to put purchasing power back in the hands of consumers—not employers, not pharmaceutical companies, and not bureaucrats in Washington,” he writes. Jindal also says that although he is “an unapologetic pro-life Republican,” every adult “who wants contraception should be able to purchase it.”