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In this image from video provided by WALA-TV in Mobile, Ala. a tornado touches down in Mobile on Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012. The tornado hit some areas of downtown Mobile Tuesday, causing severe damage in the area before moving north, officials said. (AP Photo/WALA-TV)
In this Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, photo, a customer shops for greeting cards at a Target store in Chicago. U.S. holiday retail sales this year are the weakest since 2008, after a shopping season disrupted by storms and rising uncertainty among consumers. A report out Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012, that tracks spending, called MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, says holiday sales increased 0.7 percent. Analysts had expected sales to grow 3 to 4 percent. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
1. WHAT THE NEW YORK SHOOTER'S NOTE SAID
William Spengler wanted to burn down the neighborhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people" before shooting at firefighters.
2. SAME WEAPON USED IN NEW YORK AND NEWTOWN
Police in Webster, N.Y., recovered a .223-caliber semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle — the same caliber and make used to kill 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school.
3. TORNADOES FOR CHRISTMAS
The twisters spun across Texas and Alabama, blew the roofs off homes and killed three people.
4. SCARED TO SHOP
Retail spending grew at the slowest pace since the 2008 recession in a holiday season dampened by economic uncertainty.
5. REPUBLICANS LOOKING FOR COMPROMISE
After President Obama's re-election, many are willing to bend on immigration, taxes and gun issues.
6. BACK TO THE OLD IN JAPAN
Shinzo Abe was voted back into office, restoring power to the conservatives that ran Japan for most of the post-World War II era.
7. CRASH LANDING FOR CHRISTMAS TOURISTS
A flight headed for a popular spot in Myanmar slammed into a road, killing at least two people and injuring 11.
8. A DIRECTOR AND ACTOR, BUT NOT A POLITICIAN
Ben Affleck took himself out of the running for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's Massachusetts seat.
9. EASY TO GET A ROOM FOR INAUGURATION
Obama's Jan. 21 second-term festivities are expected to draw up to 800,000 visitors, down from 1.8 million in 2008.
10. HERO DOG FROM PHILIPPINES BEATS CANCER
Kabang, who lost her snout when she jumped in front of a motorcycle to save two young girls, is in remission after six weeks of chemotherapy.