You complained, Instagram listened. The photo-sharing platform responded to an uproar from users after it changed its privacy policy earlier this week. The new policy appeared to allow for the company to sell posted photos to advertisers, and to share users’ data. Late Thursday night, Instagram announced in a blog post it will be reverting back to its original terms of service. “Going forward, rather than obtain permission from you to introduce possible advertising products we have not yet developed, we are going to take the time to complete our plans, and then come back to our users and explain …” Instagram’s cofounder Kevin System wrote.

It never ends, does it? A Floriday teen was arrested on Thursday for posting on Facebook that he was going to “bring a gun to school tomorrow and shoot everyone.” A parent saw the threat and reported it to police in St. Lucie County Sheriff’s office, leading to the boy’s arrest. A spokesman for the sheriff says the student did not seem to have access to weapons. He is currently being held at the juvenile detention center.

Well, he's still Putin. Asked at a news conference Thursday whether Russia was making a mistake by opposing intervention in Syria, Vladimir Putin let loose. Putin said that Russia wasn’t taking this stance because of support for al-Assad, but for Syria's stability. Citing the U.S. intervention in Libya, Putin said that the nation fell into chaos—which lead to Ambassador Christopher Stevens’s death there. Putin also said he feared that Assad and the rebels might shift power and not end the violence. In other odd news out of the country this week, Moscow passed a law banning U.S. adoption of Russian orphans.

In a fairly stunning turnaround, House Republicans pulled Speaker John Boehner’s back-up tax bill from the floor late Thursday night, admitting that there was not enough support for the plan to pass. “The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass,” Boehner said in a statement. The bill would have let tax rates rise on the richest Americans, but would have protected other current rates. “Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff,” Boehner said. 

In the first Senate Benghazi hearings, the State Department said the weaknesses in security that lead to the 9/11 attack were “unacceptable.” Deputy of Secretary William J. Burns said that “we have to do better.” Senator John Kerry opened the hearing calling for some “responsibility” from Congress—they need to meet the financial demands of diplomatic security. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was blasted by Allen West, who said she had caught the “Benghazi flu.”

Now this is what you call a titillating breakthrough. It probably isn’t the most effective way to treat breast cancer, but researchers at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found that squeezing breast tissue can help slow growth of the disease. Their study shows that mechanical force can halt the growth of cancer cells and coax them back to a normal growth pattern. How’d they figure this out? Researchers grew malignant breast cells in silicone, which was compressed at each new stage of growth. Even though the study was a success, the authors caution that it probably won’t lead to a specific cancer therapy. But was it fun?

Your stalking habit is about to get expensive. Facebook is testing a new system that would charge users $1 to send messages to people outside their immediate friend group. The company said in a statement that “imposing a financial cost on the sender may be the most effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful.” The new method would route messages past the “Other” folder and directly into main inboxes. The announcement comes a few months after the social-media site started testing a service allowing users to “promote” their posts at the top of their friends’ newsfeeds—for a $7 fee.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Chr—monster snow storm! A blizzard warning has been issued for the majority of the Midwest, from eastern Colorado to Lake Michigan’s shoreline in Wisconsin. Up to 12 inches of snow is expected with heavy wind gusts, with blizzard warnings issued for 16 states. With white-out conditions, hail, and ice, travelers should expect some flight delays. More than a foot of snow has already been dumped in Iowa, where wind gusts of up to 53mph were reported and the storm was considered responsible for a 25-car pileup on Interstate 35. At least four deaths have been blamed on the storm. In Alabama, the same system caused a tornado while West Texas was hit with severe winds.

Sounds like the Jets will be losing their most famous player. A source within the league confirmed on Thursday that backup quarterback Tim Tebow won’t be returning to the team for the 2013 season and will probably be traded during the off season. The Jets committed $3.6 million to getting Tebow from the Broncos last March, but the match just didn’t work out. "Sometimes things just happen out of your control. Obviously, even though you might not be pleased with them, you have to try and handle them the best you can," Tebow said about his poor game placement on Sunday.

His face was battered, bruised, and bloodied. His nose was broken in 15 places. In gruesome photos taken after he was beaten to a pulp by three police officers—following a violent spell spurred by the use of bath salts drugs—former co-chairman of Universal Pictures Brian Mulligan was almost unrecognizable. Mulligan’s scandalous use of bath salts, the luxury drug that causes violent delusions to accompany euphoric highs, was tabloid bait when the beating occurred in May. Now Mulligan talked with The Hollywood Reporter about his plan to sue the LAPD for damages stemming from the beat down, and the first kernels of his plotted Hollywood comeback.

Not a bad resume: Boston University sophomore, self-described “cellist-nerd,” Miss Universe. Twenty-year-old Olivia Culpo has claimed the title of Miss Universe, being the first Miss USA to take the honor in more than ten years. Culpo had it in the bag, even tripping during her evening gown strut but still maintaining composure. And there’s a silver lining to all of this: her brother described her as being “chubby and sort of weird” when she was younger.

It seems the gloves are coming off. House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday blasted President Obama for not standing up to Democrats as both sides of the aisle attempt to reach a deal that that will avert the year-end “fiscal cliff.” Republicans have done more than their fair share to reach an agreement, Boehner said in a press conference, but Obama has failed to stand up his party and it’s slowing talks. Democrats, he said, have “done nothing” to avoid going over the cliff. Still, he pledged to continue talks with the president: “The country faces challenges, and the president and I, in our respective roles, have a responsibility to work together and get them a result.”

It’s a good thing Chinese authorities have arrested 1,000 members of a doomsday cult, at least now they’ll have some time to think about the logic behind this end of the world scenario. The Christian group “Almighty God” thinks that Friday—the day the Mayans allegedly predicted the end of the world (or ran out of calendar space)—will usher three days of the ultimate darkness. For good measure, the group also says that communism should be overthrown. Aside from this three-day weekend version of the end of times, the group thinks that “female Jesus” is coming. There was no mention of zombies.

Holiday-travel hell is here. A pre-Christmas snowstorm sweeping the Midwest is threatening to upend holiday travel plans. Snow is blanketing eight states including Colorado, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, forcing airports to cancel flights. Des Moines International airport in Iowa shut down altogether. More than 400 flights routed through Chicago O’Hare were canceled due to the weather, leaving one of the busiest airports in the country operating below capacity. Travelers departing from areas with good weather may still get stranded, as many flights connect through Midwest hubs. Airlines tend to be close to fully booked this time of year, making it difficult to find seats for people whose flights have been canceled.

Consider this a warning against financial wrongdoing. Amid concerns that. since the financial crisis, the government has not sought criminal charges against certain banks, UBS pleaded guilty to a count of felony wire fraud. The hefty $1.5 billion fine marks the first big global bank in more than two decades to have a subsidiary come clean to fraud. Being honest wasn’t the banks first choice, however—UBS tried to negotiate some rate-rigging leniency, but the Justice Department thought the actions were just too “egregious” to merit any softer sanctions.

A report finding management failures are to blame for a lack of security at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, resulted in the resignation of four State Department officials Wednesday. The security before the attack that left four dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, was called “grossly inadequate” by the board’s co-chairman. Sources tell Politico the officials resigning are Eric Boswell, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security; Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security; and Raymond Maxwell, the deputy assistant secretary of state.

Tough times for the NRA. Despite being one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying groups—with a budget of $200 million—the NRA has been losing Democrat support recently. The Washington Post cites that even before the Newtown shooting, some key Democratic seat losses in congressional elections, the shift of battlegrounds from rural areas to suburbs, and the growing view of the NRA as an arm of the GOP (see the Eric Holder contempt vote). With votes for stricter gun control coming in the next year, the NRA could use some support on both sides of the aisle.

Damn it all, why don’t we just try our luck and go off the cliff? That’s what some might be saying after the not-so-dramatic fiscal cliff negotiations fell apart (again) on Wednesday. The president, having relented, raising the Bush rates income to $400,000 and including some cuts to Social Security. Obama called this a “fair deal.” Boehner didn’t agree. In only 115 words, the speaker called on Democrats to support his “Plan B,” or else.

In Apple’s defense, it is a pretty sweet feature. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Apple’s claim to the “Pinch to Zoom” patent. The function—which iPhone users will recognize as the ability to intuitively zoom by using your finger and thumb on a touchscreen—was a cornerstone of Apple’s case against Samsung.  The basis of the initial ruling was that other patents essentially covered the same invention. Translation: You didn’t invent the wheel.

Usually when people describe slim odds, they say it’s more likely you’ll die in a traffic accident. So listen up, gun-lovers: By 2015, gun deaths will exceed traffic fatalities in America, according to a Bloomberg News study. While car-related deaths have dropped 22 percent from 2005 to 2010, gun deaths have spiked. The study estimates that in 2015 there will be about 33,000 shooting deaths, while only 32,000 traffic deaths. What’s been making it safer to drive? Public policy.

Dianne Feinstein and other senators have drafted a letter bashing Sony for portraying torture in the upcoming film Zero Dark Thirty. The movie, which claims to be based on true events and had CIA cooperation during the making, depicts torture as an instrument of interrogation that was used in the manhunt. In a letter to Sony CEO Michael Lynton, the senators write: “Zero Dark Thirty is factually inaccurate, and we believe that you have an obligation to state that the role of torture in the hunt for Usama Bin Laden is not based on the facts, but rather part of the film’s fictional narrative.” Too late now, senators.

As the Ikea Monkey tale evolves, things are getting downright ugly. The simian sartorialist’s human “mother” is staging an all out war to get her little friend back. First Yasmin Nakhuda staged a protest outside of the Toronto Animal Services building, reportedly with 6 to 20 others. She’ll now head to court to contest that Darwin, the seven-month-old macaque, was illegally taken from her. This will probably fail since it’s illegal to have a monkey as a pet in Toronto. Whatever the outcome is, the world loses: Apparently Darwin was going to wear a bow-tie for New Year’s Eve.

The end of American capitalism? Probably not. In a monumental move that would mark the end of 200 years of independence for the New York Stock Exchange, upstart IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) agreed to acquire NYSE Euronext for $8 billion. ICE would reportedly buy the NYSE and then sell its stock-exchange businesses in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal. ICE, only 12-years-old, focuses on energy futures trading—something that the NYSE does not. This lack of an overlap is likely to raise regulatory questions.

Chris Christie can rest a bit easier now. Popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker--perhaps best known for running into burning buildings, shoveling snow, delivering Sandy supplies, and getting Mark Zuckerberg to shell out over $100 million--has decided not to challenge Christie for the governorship of New Jersey in 2013. Instead, Booker is exploring a candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2014. Booker, a Democrat, was considered the best option to take down the popular Republican governor. Now, thanks to the influence of the White House, he's instead set his sights on the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Frank Lautenberg—who, at 88, is the chamber's oldest sitting senator. A Senior New Jersey Official told Buzzfeed, "The White House weighed and convinced him to run for Senate. They viewed him as an asset they didn't want to tarnish, and they wanted him in the Senate." Booker is expected to announce his decision on Thursday via Twitter.

Some buy flashlights and bottled water. Others get busy. The New York Post reports that many apocalyptic revelers in the Big Apple want to go out with a bang this year, searching for end of the world sex on social media and at parties. Craigslist and OKCupid have been flooded with ads for “casual encounters” pre-doomsday. What makes this different from any regular Saturday night? Everyone loves themed-parties.

How’d that get in there? An alarming number of surgeons are still leaving items inside patients’ bodies after procedures, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins. Looking at malpractice claims from 1990 to 2010, they found that these “never events”—the phrase used to describe this error, because it should never happen—actually occur at least 4,082 times per year. Deaths were reported in 6.6 percent of the patients, while 32.9 percent claimed permanent injury. More traumatizing facts: Every week 39 foreign objects are left behind in bodies, 20 procedures are performed on the wrong patient, and another 20 procedures performed are entirely wrong to begin with.

They know Plan B brings to mind birth control, right? John Boehner’s new fiscal backup tax plan has one important supporter: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The largest business lobby urged members to support the measure Thursday, stressing that it’s right to avoid the fiscal cliff, even if it isn’t perfect. "It does not address our excessive government spending, does not reform our unsustainable entitlement programs, and does not achieve fundamental comprehensive tax reform,” chief lobbyist R. Bruce Josten wrote. The so-called Plan B proposes to only hike tax rates on those making over $1 million per year, and to extend the current tax rates for the rest of Americans.

A vote on Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” tax plan was abruptly pulled from a vote on the floor Thursday night. Boehner’s plan would have prevented tax hikes on all but those making more than $1 million a year, and would have extended the current tax rates for the rest of Americans. The White House has said that President Obama will veto the measure, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the GOP has “wasted an entire week on a number of pointless political stunts.” GOP Leaders cited a lack of support for the bill as the reason it was pulled.

A boat capsized off the coast of Somalia Thursday. At least 55 people are believed to have drowned, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR reports. The boat, which is said to have been overcrowded, wrecked soon after it left the port of Bossaso in northeast Somalia. It was carrying Somalis and Ethiopians, and was on its way to Yemen. At least five people survived, but it still ranks as the biggest loss of life in the Gulf of Aden since 57 Somali migrants drowned in February 2011. The boat’s route is a common one, used by tens of thousands of people fleeing violence and poverty on the Horn of Africa. At least 95 people have drowned or gone missing this year alone.

He’s Ron Burgundy?...and he’s officially heading back to theaters. Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, and the whole Channel 4 News team will return for Anchorman: The Legend Continues when the sequel to the 2004 hit comedy is released Dec. 20, 2013. Already, Ferrell’s been dropping hints of plot details, including that there will be songs and that Kristen Wiig has been cast in a supporting role. The December release date gives Anchorman fans exactly one year to practice their “Stay classy, San Diego” impressions.