The New York Times: Speaking slowly but with discernible passion, former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically injured in a mass shooting in Arizona in 2011, addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in its first hearing since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., last month.
Fox News: The country’s fiscal health got a gut-check Wednesday after a report by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter. Despite stronger consumer spending, it’s the biggest dip the country has seen in three years.
CBSnews: Cats kill billions of birds every year and even more tiny rodents and other mammals in the United States, a new study finds.
Business Insider: Facebook published a map showing NFL fandom by county, and some of the results may surprise you.
Wall Street Journal: Microsoft is offering a new version of its popular Office software bundle for a monthly rental fee.
The New York Times: In statehouses around the country, some of the nation’s biggest biotechnology companies are lobbying intensively to limit generic competition to their blockbuster drugs, potentially cutting into the billions of dollars in savings on drug costs contemplated in the federal health care overhaul law.
USA Today: Consumer confidence plunged in January to its lowest level in more than a year, reflecting higher Social Security taxes that left Americans with less take-home pay.
USA Today: The Federal Trade Commission and three state attorneys general shut down Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing for being a global pyramid scheme that rewards people for recruiting others.
BBC News: Airline safety inspectors have found no faults with the battery used on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, Japan’s transport ministry has said. The battery was initially considered the likely source of problems on 787s owned by two Japanese airlines.
The New York Times: A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a set of principles for a sweeping overhaul of the system, including a pathway to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants that would hinge on progress in securing the borders and ensuring that foreigners leave the country when their visas expire.