10 things you need to know today: August 8, 2012

Loughner pleads guilty in Tucson shooting, Curiosity beams back images of Mars, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

A view of Mount Sharp on Mars, in a photo taken by NASA's Curiosity rover: The rover is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitabil
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

1. LOUGHNER PLEADS GUILTY IN TUCSON SHOOTING

Jared Lee Loughner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the 2011 Tucson shooting rampage that left six people dead and 13 others, including then-congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded. The plea was part of a deal with prosecutors that spares Loughner, 23, the death penalty, and calls for sending him to prison for life with no possibility of parole. The plea came after a psychiatrist told the court that Loughner, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was competent to enter a plea after being forcibly medicated for months. Giffords' husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, said that avoiding a trial would allow Giffords, who left Congress to focus on her recovery from a gunshot to the head, and everyone else in Southern Arizona "to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives." [Reuters]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us