Cities and towns across the western United States took emergency measures on Saturday to cope with a heatwave, after dozens of people were taken ill and the region sweltered in dangerous triple-digit temperatures.

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Blow to Obama as US Senate defeats gun control bill

The US Senate has voted against new legislation to expand background checks for gun purchasers, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's hopes of gun control reform after the school shootings at Sandy Hook in December.

Shot congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords visits Newtown massacre families

Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting in her Arizona constituency, held a private meeting yesterday with families of the 26 victims of last month’s gun rampage at a school in Connecticut.

Former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber wins Arizona election

A US congressional aide who almost lost his life in the Arizona shooting rampage that wounded former representative Gabrielle Giffords has won a special election to fill her seat.

Christie McNally and Ian Thorson

The death of yoga student Ian Thorson – and the 'wall of meditative silence' that met police

Body of man expelled by Buddhist retreat in Arizona discovered 7,000ft up mountain

Husband not ready to run as Giffords steps down

The husband of Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who is standing down while she recovers after being shot in the head, has confirmed he will not run for his wife's seat this year.

Giffords to resign from Congress

Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Congresswoman who has emerged as a symbol of courage and endurance in the 12 months since she was shot in the head while meeting her constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson, surprised her supporters yesterday by announcing that she is giving up her seat.

Silicon Valley: The anatomy of a cutting-edge start-up

The Andregg brothers might have the cure for all our illnesses in their grasp. But how do a pair of penniless science nerds raise the millions needed to unlock the very fabric of our DNA? Dream big - and get lucky...

Gabrielle Giffords in surprise return to Capitol Hill for vote

She came, she smiled and she was greeted by tearful colleagues. But the glow of Gabrielle Giffords' unexpected appearance on Capitol Hill on Monday to vote for the debt-ceiling deal was quickly tempered by her frustration with the mess Congress had created over tax-and-spend policies in her absence.

Leading article: Recovery of values

It has been a remarkable recovery. In January the US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at an open-air meeting with constituents in Tucson, Arizona. Five months later, two photographs of her show how far she has progressed.

Words are still a struggle, but the picture says it all

Five months after US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords nearly died after being shot in the head by a gunman whose bullets killed six others, the first pictures of her released since the massacre show the smile of a woman recovering remarkably well.

Man accused of shooting Giffords is 'unfit for trial'

The army reject accused of a shooting spree that left six people dead and a US congresswoman critically injured has been declared unfit to stand trial. Jared Loughner, 21, was ruled by US District Judge Larry Burns to be mentally incompetent to stand trial and has been sent to a secure unit for treatment and assessment.

Gabrielle Giffords receives implant in skull

Doctors were due yesterday to replace a piece of Gabrielle Giffords' skull with a plastic implant, another encouraging step in the Arizona congresswoman's recovery from a gunshot to the head more than four months ago.

Space shuttle Endeavour blasts off from Florida

Loud, proud, and to the applause of vast crowds who had gathered to cheer her into orbit, the space shuttle Endeavour has successfully blasted into the skies above Florida at the start of what will be her final mission.

Arizona choses official state gun

Welcome to Arizona; please shoot carefully. And if you really want to blend in with God-fearing locals, you may also want to be in possession of a cowboy hat, a sunburned neck, and at least one revolver, tucked into the waistband of your denim trousers.

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