Score one for the NRA. Senate Democrats won’t include a ban on assault weapons in their gun-control bill, says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chief sponsor of the ban. “Obviously I was disappointed,” Feinstein said, though she may still introduce the ban as an amendment. The bill would have banned almost 160 types of semiautomatic weapons and limited ammo clips to 10 rounds. The ban was the most ambitious gun-control measure backed by the White House, but it was unlikely to pass the Senate.

As both rebel and government forces alleged that the other side used chemical weapons in a deadly attack that killed 25 near Aleppo on Tuesday, U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers said there is a “high probability” that Syria has deployed chemical weapons in its ongoing civil war. “I would come to the conclusion that they are either positioned for use, and ready to do that, or in fact have been used,” Rogers said. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also indicated to CNN that Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons could cross what the president has described as a “red line” that could push the United States to involve itself militarily in the conflict. 

Cyprus will have to find some other way to come up with the money they need to qualify for a bailout. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to reject a plan that would have seized part of people's bank deposits, even after altering the plan to protect small deposit holders. Protesters outside Parliament cheered the news. The European Union said before the vote that they would withhold €10 billion in desperately needed bailout loans unless Cypriot depositors shared the cost of the rescue.

A closet liberal? Old colleagues of the newly installed Pope Francis recall that in 2010, when Argentina was on the verge of legalizing gay marriage (and the Catholic Church led a charge against the proposed law, condemning it as the work of the devil), then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio advocated in a meeting of bishops that the Argentine church should support gay civil unions. A gay-rights leader who spoke with him said that Bergoglio supported civil unions but not same-sex marriage.The unexpected approach was more pragmatic than theological though, as he saw civil unions at the time as "the lesser of two evils," according to his authorized biographer. Still, it offers insight into the kind of pragmatic leadership he may bring to the papacy.

Would someone please buy NASA some telescopes? Asked what America could do if a meteorite like the one that hit Russia last month was three weeks away from hitting New York, NASA administrator Charles Bolden Jr.’s answer was “pray.” And we probably wouldn’t even get three weeks’ warning. NASA currently lacks the ability to find and track “small” meteors like the 55-foot one that hit Russia. If we did see one coming and it was still far enough away, apparently the current plan is to ram a spacecraft into it and knock it off course.  NASA has only $20.5 million budgeted to detect near-Earth objects, and Bolden suggested at today's House Committee hearing that Congress isn’t taking the problem seriously enough.

The rascals of the Internet have done it again. Provocative gossip website Gawker outdid some of its own best stunts Tuesday when it posted what it claims to be the “private email address” of former president George W. Bush—on the incendiary 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion to Iraq. Editors of the site urged readers to email the former president and wish him a “Happy Iraq War Day.” According to the site, the email address—not the first of its kind to be acquired—was exposed by a hacker named "Guccifer." The post came just hours after multiple car bombs erupted near Iraq's capital, killing more than 50 and injuring 200.

On March 18, 1990, two thieves dressed as police officers pulled off one of the greatest art heists in history, lifting $500 million worth of art from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Twenty-three years later—to the day—the FBI says they have identified the thieves responsible for stealing 13 masterpieces, including works by Degas and Rembrandt. The statute of limitations on the crime has run out, so officials aren’t naming the suspects, but they continue to look for the art pieces. To this day, 13 empty frames hang in the Gardner Museum, where they have hung for the past 23 years.

The 15-year-old education crusader is back where she belongs—in school. Malala Yousafzai returned to school today for the first time since being shot on a school bus last October. She attended Birmingham’s Edgbaston High School for Girls, and called the day “the most important day” of her life. She said, “I think it is the happiest moment that I’m going back to school, this is what I dreamed, that all children should be able to go to school because it is their basic right.” It’s a proud moment, writes former U.K. prime minister Gordon Brown, but millions of girls like her are still denied an education.

The boy who cried “Bingo”? An 18-year-old Kentuckian was cited last month for falsely yelling “bingo” when he, in fact, had not won the game. Austin Whaley was cited with second-degree disorderly conduct after charging into a bingo hall with his friends and yelling “Bingo!” halting the game and alarming the patrons. “Just like you can’t run into a theater and yell ‘fire’ when it’s not on fire, you can’t run into a crowded bingo hall and yell ‘bingo’ when there isn’t one,” the police sergeant who cited Whaley said. For his punishment, Whaley is forbidden from using the word “bingo” for six months.  

How much would you pay to own a princess’s wardrobe? Ten dresses belonging to the late Princess Diana went on sale today at London’s Kerry Taylor Auctions and raked in more than $1.2 million. Among the dresses was the velvet, midnight-blue Victor Edelstein gown Diana famously wore while dancing with John Travolta at the White House in 1985, which sold for $362,470. The gowns were originally sold at a charity auction in New York shortly before Diana was killed in a car crash in August 1997. Buyers came from all around the world, including three “important” museums. “We are hopeful that now people will actually get to see some of the dresses that belonged to the ‘People’s Princess,’” auctioneer Taylor said.

A British woman vacationing in India jumped off a three-story balcony to avoid a sexual assault by the hotel’s owner, local police reported on Tuesday. The woman, who is in her 30s, was vacationing in Agra, near the Taj Mahal, when a hotel owner allegedly responded to her wakeup call by offering to give her a massage. She told police the hotel owner wouldn’t leave, so she went out on the balcony, locked the door, and then jumped the three stories to the ground. Despite injuring her leg, she managed to flee. Police arrested the hotel owner, who said he had gone up to the room because the woman was not responding to the intercom wakeup call.

Henry Bromwell, a veteran writer and executive producer for the Showtime series Homeland and Brotherhood, died at an undisclosed hospital after suffering a heart attack at home Tuesday. Bromwell, 66, had worked as a producer for the Emmy-winning Homeland since its premiere in 2011. “His passion, warmth, humor, and generosity will be greatly missed,” Showtime said in a statement. “Our hearts and thoughts go out to his wife and family.” 

At least 45 people are dead after a tragic shipwreck off the coast of Nigeria Tuesday. The wooden boat capsized roughly 40 nautical miles off the coast. There are only two known survivors—a young boy and a woman who managed to stay afloat by clinging to a gas cylinder long enough to be rescued by fishermen. The passengers were mostly traders who were taking the boat across the Gulf of Guinea, heading for Gabon in central Africa.

Fresh off his CPAC straw-poll victory, Rand Paul is moving to the middle on immigration. The Kentucky senator—and libertarian favorite—will announce on Tuesday that he supports a path for citizenship for illegal immigrants, a move that could alienate his Tea Party base but win over Hispanic voters. “If you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you,” Paul is expected to say, according to an advance copy of the speech obtained by the Associated Press. But don’t think it will be a cakewalk for immigrants: Paul will propose a plan with several caveats that will make the process long and difficult, and he's also pushing for increased border security.

In a shocking display of little remorse, Ohio school shooter TJ Lane flicked off the families of the three victims he is accused of killing. At the sentencing hearing for the shooting, which took place in February 2012, Lane first took off his button-down shirt to reveal a white T-shirt with the word “killer” written on it. Then when asked for a statement, he stuck up his middle finger at the families and had a smirk on his face. Lane plead guilty to the shooting on February 26 and is facing life in prison.

Sometimes all you need after a hard day in court is a harder night in the club, am I right? After pleading a glittery no contest to a reckless driving charge in court on Monday, Lindsay Lohan hit the town in L.A.—or at least she tried. Clad in a paparazzi-proof blanket, Lilo was reportedly seen rolling up to Hollywood's famed AV Club late Monday. Unfortunately, finding love in a hopeless place wasn't in the cards—as paparazzi swarmed the entrance to the club, leading Lohan to opt for home instead. Lesson learned? Doubtful.

In what would be a deadly new low in the Syrian conflict, both sides are accusing each other of launching a chemical attack near the city of Aleppo. A Reuters photographer visited a hospital where people were suffering from breathing problems. “I saw mostly women and children,” he said. “They said that people were suffocating in the streets and the air smelt strongly of chlorine.” The Syrian government claims the rebels launched a chemical-laden rocket, killing 25 people and wounding 86, while the rebels say the regime fired the weapon. President Obama previously warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line.”

This is eerily well timed with the Jurassic Park rerelease. Scientists are making progress in bringing extinct animals back to life through cloning—and have actually brought one back, the Pyrenean ibex, although it lived only for a few minutes. At a conference in Washington last week, scientists from Australia reported they had attempted to bring back a frog, but they were able only to make early embryos—and even those died. As fun as it sounds to walk with woolly mammoths, other scientists have warned that it could be dangerous to return to the past, such as when there were 3 to 5 billion passenger pigeons. And there likely won’t be any dinosaurs—they haven't left behind any DNA. 

A training exercise turned tragic Monday night when seven U.S. Marines were killed and at least seven more injured after a mortar exploded at an Army munitions depot in Nevada. It’s still unclear exactly what happened. One account says that the mortar shell exploded in a tube while the Marines were preparing to fire it, while another says the shell exploded while they were preparing to load it. The training facility where the disaster took place is for Special Operations Forces preparing to head to the Middle East.

This is what happens when you encourage fans to use social media. At a concert Sunday night at Yoshi’s in San Francisco, folk-rock singer Michelle Shocked’s fans left after she went on a rant against gay marriage. The walkout was documented on social media. According to accounts from the concert, Shocked described the evils that would happen if California’s Proposition 8 is overturned by the courts. She then began to cite verses in both English and Spanish that condemn homosexuality. The operator of Yoshi’s interrupted Shocked’s performance, and told her that as a gay man he could not allow her concert to continue. Since then, fans have been declaring her career over—especially since this is a singer known for her leftist crusades in the past.

There’s always the Lululemon stripper line. The athletic-wear company was forced to pull new shipments of its yoga pants off the shelves after they were found to be too thin. About 17 percent of all Lululemon women’s bottoms were pulled due to what the company called an “unacceptable level of sheerness”—the company insisted in a statement that “the ingredients, weight and longevity qualities of the pants remain the same but the coverage does not.” Shares of Lululemon dipped 6 percent, especially as the company admitted there could be a “significant impact” because of the recall, dropping its sales forecast by about $10 million. Maybe it will lead to more men in yoga classes. The company also told customers that "we want you to Down Dog and Crow with confidence."

It’s official: we have a pope! Pope Francis held his inaugural Mass on Tuesday with up to 1 million pilgrims—including Joe Biden and Robert Mugabe—in the Vatican. Francis, the first Jesuit pope, received spontaneous applause as he was giving a homily about how “hatred, envy, and pride defile our lives”—and ended by asking people to pray for him. Francis received his papal palladium made of lamb’s wool and the “fisherman’s ring” bearing the image of St. Peter—officially making him the 266th pope. Francis then received the obedience of the cardinals and the Mass officially began. He proved his dedication to the masses was no joke as he exited the popemobile and kissed a disabled man as part of his trip around through the crowd.

After being hospitalized for six days for what was an apparently a drug overdose, rapper Lil Wayne has been released from Cedars Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood, TMZ reports. Wayne spent several days of his stay in the ICU after drinking 'sizzurp,' a cocktail of cough syrup laced with painkillers. He suffered seizures and was at one point reported to be close to death. Sources said Wayne was feeling weak, and plans to lay low until he makes a full recovery.

A Turkish man confessed on Monday to the January murder of a Staten Island woman who had been vacationing in Istanbul, saying he beat Sarai Sierra to death after she resisted his kiss. The suspect, known only as Ziya T., said he tried to kiss Sierra while she was taking photographs near abandoned railroad tracks, and she tried to fend him off with her cellphone. In a rage, Ziya T. said he then “hit her as hard as I could,” which sent her falling down an embankment—and he followed her and attempted to kiss her again. She again tried to fight him off, but the two got in a 30-minute struggle that ended when Ziya T. left her “croaking” to death, he said. Ziya T. later fled into Syria and joined the rebel fighters, only to be injured and then turn himself in to Turkish police.

The murder trial began on Monday in Philadelphia of a former abortion doctor who has been charged with cutting the spinal cords of babies after they were born to kill them. The defense tried to paint Dr. Kermit Gosnell as the victim of a “lynching” by an “elitist, racist prosecution” and claimed the witnesses called by the prosecution would not understand the challenges of running an abortion clinic in a “nitty-gritty” neighborhood. Gosnell, 72, ran a West Philadelphia abortion clinic for 30 years, but the prosecution has alleged he performed a high number of illegal abortions after 24 weeks and often preyed on minority patients. Gosnell has been charged with eight counts of murder, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Excuse us, we’re going to go to bed now. While research has long existed that less sleep can lead to weight gain, a new study released on Monday has found that the results are immediate and dramatic—that just losing a few hours of sleep a few days in a row will lead to an immediate weight gain. Getting less than five or six hours as an adult can put you at a higher risk of being overweight, while children who get less than 10 hours of sleep are more likely to be overweight. In this study, University of Colorado researchers found that less sleep actually caused participants to burn more calories—but they ate much more, presumably to help stay awake.

Car bombs and suicide attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas killed more than 50 and injured 200 on Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The car bombs exploded in a busy market near the heavily guarded Green Zone, and a suicide bomber in a truck attacked a police station in a Shiite town just south of the capital. No group has claimed credit for Tuesday’s bombings, although Iraq’s wing of al Qaeda, Islamic State of Iraq, has been ramping up attacks against Shiite targets and vowed to take back control of the country. On Thursday, gunmen and suicide bombers from Islamic State of Iraq stormed a well-guarded government building in central Baghdad.