Gabrielle Giffords faces Tucson gunman in court with other victims
Jared Loughner has received seven consecutive life terms for last year’s deadly rampage, but in May 2011 his case was put on hold as he was deemed unfit to stand trial.
After Loughner went through more than a year of therapy in prison, that ruling was reversed and the trial was finally allowed to proceed.
Loughner pleaded guilty to 19 counts in a deal to spare him the death penalty.
It was the first time Loughner, who did not speak at the hearing, had faced his victims in court.
Giffords hugged her husband after the judge handed down his sentence, while Loughner’s mother sobbed through the hearing, the BBC reports.
13-year-old Palestinian boy killed by Israeli helicopter
During an incursion by Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza strip, the Popular Resistance Committees said its fighters had confronted an Israeli force of four tanks and a bulldozer involved in a short-range incursion beyond Israel’s border fence with Gaza.
Thirteen-year-old Hmeid Yunes Abu Daqqa was killed by bullets fired from an Israeli helicopter during the incursion.
The incident broke nearly two weeks of a lull in violence between Gaza gunmen and Israeli forces since the last wave of fighting that killed several fighters, mostly from Hamas, Al Jazeera reports.
China begins leadership transfer
Chinese President Hu Jintao has opened a Communist Party congress with a warning on corruption.
The warning came as an unexpected introduction to a congress meeting that begins a once-in-a-decade power transfer. The assembly will be a week-long meeting that will unveil a new set of leaders.
Security is very tight across Beijing, with many dissidents detained or under house arrest.
Hu told delegates at the Great Hall that China had to adapt to a changing domestic and global environment, including a stronger concentration on education — specifically in the sciences, the BBC reports.
Rolling Stones embark on 50th-anniversary tour
Fifty years after their first gig, the Rolling Stones are gearing up to entertain arena audiences again to celebrate their impressive milestone, The New York Times reports.
Shows dates include  Nov. 25 and 29 in London and Dec. 13 and 15 in Newark, N.J.
New York City mayor orders fuel rationing
Ten days after storm Sandy smashed the East Coast, Mayor Bloomberg is imposing a ration system on gasoline due to major fuel shortages.
Similar measures were introduced in New Jersey on Saturday and will also be enforced in New York’s Long Island.
Mayor Bloomberg told the press that only 25 percent of New York’s gas stations are operating, the BBC reports.