Security in Benghazi was “grossly” inadequate, an independent panel investigating the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the Libyan mission found Tuesday. “Systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies” in the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs resulted in a mission that was not nearly equipped to deal with the kind of attack that took place. The report also found that no individual violated their duties, and, at this time, no one should receive disciplinary action for the security faults.

The children are afraid. That’s one takeaway from the story of a Utah sixth grader who brought a gun to his Salt Lake City elementary school in order to—he reportedly said—defend himself from an attack like the massacre in Newtown, Conn. The .22-caliber handgun he took to West Kearns Elementary was left at home by a relative. The boy, whose name has not been released, apparently waved the gun at other students during morning recess. When questioned by administrators, he said that his parents had sent him to school with the gun for protection, which the family adamantly denies.

It’s the end of the world, and they really think they know it. More than 500 people were detained in China Tuesday for spreading rumors that the world is about to end. The doomsday enthusiasts reportedly belong to a fringe Christian group called Almighty God, and sometimes go by the name Eastern Lightning. Police seized pamphlets, video discs, books, and other materials as they made arrests across eight provinces. Famously, the group— labeled a cult by state media—also believes that Jesus reappeared as a woman in central China.

For many military women, the reaction is: finally. A Senate committee approved an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill on Tuesday that will extend insurance coverage of abortion to military women who have been raped, lifting a decades-long ban on abortion coverage for military rape victims. The move is a triumph in the fight for equity for military women—since 1981, they have not had the same level of health coverage as civilian employees, Medicaid recipients, and even federal prisoners who belong to government-issued insurance plans.

Just days after Adam Lanza massacred 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, new details are emerging about his home life with his mother, Nancy. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Nancy Lanza was reportedly looking to leave the house she shared with her 20-year-old son because she had grown tired of home schooling him. According to her sister-in-law, Nancy wanted to downsize her life and send Adam, who had been diagnosed with Asberger’s, off to college. Nancy Lanza, who grew up in Kingston, N.H., was receiving $240,000 a year in alimony and child support from her ex-husband, Peter Lanza. According to another report Tuesday, Law-enforcement officials have determined that all of the weapons used by Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza were bought by his mother over a three-year period starting in 2010.

Instagrammers, relax. After the photo-sharing site’s controversial new Terms of Service sparked outrage Tuesday, the company’s co-founder Kevin Systrom spoke out to clarify concerns. Systrom assured users that it is not the company’s “intention” to sell personal photos, or to use them as advertisements. He placed full blame for the misunderstanding on Instagram itself for “confusing” language in the Terms of Service. The purpose of the changes, he says, are to “create meaningful ways to help [users] discover new and interesting accounts, while building a self-sustaining business at the same time.” Hmm, why are we still suspicious?

The hideous Newtown massacre already appears to be affecting gun-control legislation. The day before Adam Lanza opened fire on students in Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature passed a bill allowing guns into schools and other “gun-free zones.” In the wake of the shooting, however, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday he’s decided to veto the bill. Snyder isn’t the only one changing his tune: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)—who once ran an ad in which he literally shot through a piece of legislation—has responded to the shootings by leading a charge for gun-control reform on Capitol Hill.

After days of silence following the Newton massacre, the NRA has finally spoken. The National Rifle Association says it plans to "offer meaningful contributions" to help stop gun violence in the wake of the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting. The group released a statement on Tuesday, and says it will offer its support to make sure "this never happens again." The statement said NRA officials have waited to comment until now out of respect for victims, and because they wanted a "full investigation of the facts." In the past, the NRA has resisted stricter gun-control laws, arguing that the Second Amendment affords Americans relatively easy access to firearms. The NRA did not provide specific details as to what types of changes it will now support, or what said “meaningful contributions” will be.

Well this may complicate things. A New York City health-department study, released Tuesday, has found “no clear link” between cancer and 9/11 debris. The report, to be published in Wednesday’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association comes only months after the federal government added 58 different types of cancer to the list of illnesses covered by the $4.3 billion World Trade Center Fund. The study looked at over 55,000 people—including rescue-and-recovery workers—subject to the dust, debris, and fumes released by the wreckage of the falling towers, and claims to find no link to increased cancer rates. The World Trade Center Fund has not yet begun making payments. 

That's all she—or rather he—wrote. The last episode of Gossip Girl aired Monday night, and fans were finally treated to the secret identify of the Upper East Side troublemaker. It turns out it was Dan Humphrey who wrote all of those juicy missives all along, as a way to fit into a world he wasn't born into. Weird, because actress Kristen Bell actually did the voiceover work for the character. The finale saw not one but two weddings: Blair and Chuck tied the not, and so did Serena and Dan. As Dan said at the show’s end, "Gossip Girl is dead."

Even Hollywood is putting its usual glitz and glamour on hold out of respect for the victims of the Newtown school shooting. Tuesday’s Los Angeles premiere of Quentino Tarantino’s heavily violent new Western, Django Unchained, was canceled by the Weinstein Company Monday night, citing the pervasive emotional distress in America following the Newtown massacre. Foregoing a splashy red-carpet premiere, Tuesday’s event will be a private screening for industry bigwigs and the cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx. The premieres of Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher and the comedy Parental Guidance were also scrapped in the wake of the shootings.

Senator Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, died on Monday afternoon at age 88. Inouye had been hospitalized since early in December with respiratory problems, and died from respiratory complications. According to his Senate staff, his last word was “Aloha.” Inouye had served in the Senate for 50 years, since 1963, and was the longest-serving senator at the time of his death. Inouye was also the second longest-serving senator in U.S. history, after Robert Byrd. Inouye lost his right arm in World War II, and was later awarded the Bronze Star Medal of Honor.

Adam Lanza reportedly destroyed his computer’s hard drive before going on a rampage that left his mother, six more adults, and 20 children dead, sources said on Tuesday. “The kid knew what he was doing,” a source told The Daily Beast. “This was a planned event. There is no question about it.” The FBI is trying to retrieve the data, although some tech experts said Lanza may have overwritten the drive, wiping out the data. According to the Hartford Courant, Lanza, 20, used the computer to play violent videogames, but it’s unclear if he used it for anything else.

This is not such a nice way to spend the end of the world, is it? Chinese authorities have arrested more than 100 people—nearly half of whom belong to a fringe Christian group—for spreading rumors that the world will end on Friday, state media reported on Tuesday. Police seized leaflets, video discs, books and more materials that predicted the world will end on Dec. 21, a date some have believed the Mayas had predicted. Nearly half of those arrested belong to a group known as Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning, a so-called Christian group that believes that Jesus reappeared as a woman in central China—and has been accused of kidnapping Christians and allegedly trying to beat them into conversions.

Four polio vaccination workers were shot and killed in three separate locations in Karachi, Pakistan, on Tuesday, police said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Taliban has issued threats against polio drive. The workers were reportedly part of a United Nations-backed program to eradicate polio, which has run rampant in Pakistan. In response to the attacks, Pakistani health officials halted the three-day nationwide anti-polio drive in Karachi. Pakistanis have been hostile to these immunization efforts in part due to the sham hepatitis C vaccination drive that helped lead the CIA to Osama bin Laden.

Iraqi president Jalal Talabani was hospitalized on Tuesday after suffering a stroke. A spokesman for the prime minister said Talabani is in stable condition, but the seriousness of the stroke is unclear. Sources said Talabani fainted Monday and remains unconscious. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has visited the hospital where Talabani is being treated. The political ramifications of Talabani being out of office are unknown—the 79-year-old is seen as a unifying figure between many of the warring ethnic factions, despite originally hailing from Kurdistan.

There may finally be an end in sight. President Obama made a counteroffer to avert the fiscal cliff Monday, introducing a proposal that could mean the White House and House Speaker John Boehner are close to reaching a deal. Obama’s new offer now proposes raising tax rates on incomes above $400,000, up from $250,000 in earlier offers. The $2.4 trillion proposal is equally split between revenue and spending cuts, and meets “a dollar-to-dollar demand that Boehner has placed on the scope of the final package,” sources tell Politico. Boehner and Obama reportedly met Monday at the White House, in their third conversation in the past five days to discuss the looming fiscal cliff.

At least four people were killed Tuesday in a murder-suicide at a home in Colorado’s Weld County. Authorities say that the three adult victims were murdered by another adult, who later killed himself. The shooting took place at Longview Estates, just east of Longmont. The shooter reportedly spoke to the police before he died. At 4:22 a.m., a dispatcher radioed, “Weld County advising that they have an open line into the residence. They had a caller advise that he had shot multiple people inside the house, family members, and a light.”

Funeral services will continue in Newtown on Tuesday, as they will be held for two more victims: James Mattioli, 6, and Jessica Rekos, 6, who were both killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday after Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire, killing 20 students and six adults before killing himself. His mother was found dead at home after the massacre. Jessica Rekos’s parents said their daughter “loved horses,” while James Mattioli, known as “J,” loved swimming. While Sandy Hook Elementary School will remain closed—it is a crime scene—the district’s other schools will resume classes on Tuesday. Police and counselors will be on hand at the district’s schools.

Who’s going to push back against gun control? The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin points to the private-equity industry, which owns some of the nation’s most prolific gun makers. The firms, owned by Wall Street bigwigs, will be reluctant to advocate for reforms that may hurt their investments. On the other hand, investors may be wary of pouring money into companies like the Freedom Group, which made the gun that Adam Lanza used in the Connecticut elementary-school shooting. But since the publishing of Sorkin’s column, Cerberus Capital Management said that it will sell its stake in Freedom Group, saying that the Sandy Hook tragedy was a “watershed event.” Maybe it is time for a change.

Note to hackers everywhere: don’t mess with Scarlett Johansson. Christopher Chaney, the man who pleaded guilty to hacking into the actress’s phone, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday. Chaney allegedly also hacked into the phones of Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera, and more women. Arrested in October 2011, Chaney allegedly illegally accessed the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry. His computer hard drive contained private photos of celebrities as well as personal information. Johansson videotaped a tearful statement that was read at Monday’s sentencing, saying she was “truly humiliated and embarrassed” after Chaney hacked into her phone and found the photos, which were meant for her then-husband, Ryan Reynolds. 

So much for progress. House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that President Obama’s recent offer to avert the fiscal cliff is “not there yet.” Meanwhile, the White House rejected Boehner's "Plan B" to push a backup tax bill, saying that it woudln't pass the Senate. But Boehner is still hoping to reach a deal with the president. Boehner recently moved away from his tax increase aversion and offered to raise taxes on income over $1 million.

NBC’s Richard Engel and members of his production crew were freed from kidnappers Monday—five days after being abducted by an unknown group, NBC News confirmed. Engel, 39, disappeared on Thursday shortly after crossing into Syria from Turkey, and the network had been unable to contact him until Monday. The network said no group had claimed responsibility yet, and it was never contacted with any ransom demands or had any contact with Engel and the crew while they were missing. Engel said that after being abducted, he and his crew were transported blindfolded to an unknown location, and they were freed Monday when the truck they were in was stopped at a checkpoint manned by a Syrian rebel group.

How cool will those Instagrammed photos look in ads? Not very, but it’s happening anyway. The photo-sharing site announced on Monday that it has the right to sell all images without notification or payment—a huge policy shift that comes just three months after Facebook completed its acquisition of the site. And there’s more: unless Instagram users delete their accounts before January 16—the day the policy starts—they cannot opt out. So what does this mean? Instagram can sell your photos to advertisers, so your image of a restaurant can then be sold to that restaurant for a profit for Instagram—but not for the user. The move has already caused an outcry among Instagram users.

The Newtown Public School District reopened all but two of its schools on Tuesday after last week’s deadly shootings, which left 20 children and six educators dead. The schools opened two hours later than usual and all had police officers standing guard. Sandy Hook Elementary is expected to remain closed until January, and Head O'Meadow Elementary School received a phone threat. School officials weren’t taking any chances so they shut Head O'Meadow down “out of an abundance of caution,” a spokeswoman said. Children from Sandy Hook will resume classes at the Chalk Hill School, a former middle school.


Looks like the Times is gearing up for its Pulitzer. The New York Times on Tuesday published a lengthy investigation into Walmart’s alleged payoffs in Mexico, finding that Walmart allegedly used bribes to circumvent the democratic process. In total, the Times finds 19 store sites across Mexico that were the target of Walmart’s bribes. The Times highlights the boxy store in Teotihuacán, where Walmart allegedly bribed officials to change a zoning map to build on Elda Pineda’s alfalfa field. Walmart has been under increased scrutiny since the Times first disclosed its culture of bribes in April, and internal records show the company has spent more than $100 million on internal investigations this year.

Dick's Sporting Goods announced on Tuesday that it would be pulling its stock of "modern sporting rifles" from its shelves in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. Company officials released a statement saying they were "extremely saddened by the unspeakable tragedy" in Newtown and would be suspending sales of all guns in their closest store in Danbury. The company, the first to take such measures, hasn't specified which rifles it will be pulling from its 511 stores across the country. Walmart has stopped selling the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle, which was one of the weapons found on shooter Adam Lanza.

Vice President Joe Biden swore in Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy Tuesday as the new president pro tempore of the Senate—making him now third in line for the presidency. The move follows the death Monday afternoon of Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, who previously held the position. Biden performed the ceremony despite its untimely nature, falling on the anniversary of the day his wife and child died, more than 30 years ago. Leahy was allegedly "overcome with emotion" about the loss of Senator Inouye, a tour de force in Washington and the second longest-serving senator in U.S. history.

Turns out she really does win at everything. The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that Paula Broadwell, General David Petraeus’s mistress, will not be facing charges for the alleged online stalking of a “romantic rival,” who many thought to be Tampa Bay socialite Jill Kelley. The cyberstalking investigation began when Kelley reported to the FBI threatening emails from an account linked back to Broadwell. In a letter obtained by the AP from Broadwell's lawyer, U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill confirmed that all charges related to the “alleged acts of cyberstalking,” have been dropped. Petraeus resigned in November after admitting to an extramarital affair with Broadwell, the author of his biography All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.

Law-enforcement officials have determined that all of the weapons used by Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza were bought by his mother over a three-year period starting in 2010. Nancy Lanza purchased the .223-caliber Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle in 2010. In 2011, she added the 9mm Sig Sauer pistol to her collection. In January 2012, she bought the 10mm Glock. According to the Associated Press, authorities have recovered other weapons, including a Henry repeating rifle, an Enfield rifle, and a shotgun. Investigators also said it doesn’t appear that Lanza visited any shooting ranges leading up to the shooting.

President Obama is getting more specific about what he meant by the need to take “meaningful action” on gun control. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that Obama has called for “reexamining gun laws” in the wake of the Newtown shooting. Carney noted Obama’s “support for reinstatement of the assault weapons ban, his support for closing the so-called gun-show loophole.” Carney also said that Obama would support a ban on high-capacity weapons magazines. Carney said that Obama is “absolutely supportive of Senator Feinstein’s stated attempt to revive [the assault weapons ban]” and that he has already spoken to Sen. Joe Manchin about what he can do to help.

You have to give them points for creativity and form. Two bank robbers rappelled down 15 stories of a Chicago prison and hoofed it to safety—for now—according to officials. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Correctional Center said that the duo MacGyvered their getaway gear from bedsheets. Joseph Banks, who is also known as the Second-Hand Bandit, and Kenneth Conley were found to be missing from their shared cell on Tuesday morning. Banks’s cousin has pleaded for the runaway to turn himself in, saying, “I just don’t want to see him get hurt or killed.”

You’d think they’d be taking his opinion into account. It was a last ditch effort, but Defense Secretary Leon Panetta implored Congress to slash billions from the Pentagon’s budget for 2013. During a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Panetta said lawmakers should take out about $74 billion in “needless” spending on weapons that “have outlived their usefulness.” Panetta said he is working with Congress to improve the bill, but time has likely run out. Sen. Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Tuesday that negotiators had already hammered out the final bill, which will be voted on by the end of the week.