While chairing her first subcommittee hearing, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand made it a priority to go after the "problem of rampant rapes, sexual assaults and sexual harassment in the military." The estimated number of cases would be close to 19,000 if all subjects were to step forward, but officially 2,500 cases of sexual violence were reported in 2011.
Filmmaker Michael Moore wrote on his blog on Wednesday that releasing photos from the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting will help tip public offenders to "cease support to the National Rifle Association."
The Pentagon announced on Friday that it will spend $1 billion to add 14 interceptors to a West-Coast-based missile-defense system, responding to what It called "faster-than-anticipated North Korean progress on nuclear weapons and missiles."
Crews have recovered the body of a teenager who drowned in Sioux Falls, South Dakota after trying to save her 6-year old brother from an icy river, according to Associated Press. Sioux Falls Fire Chief Jim Sideras said that the 16-year old Madison Leigh Wallace's body was found on Friday afternoon.
