TUCSON, Ariz, Jan 9 (Reuters) – U.S. congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords suffered what her doctors on Sunday called a
“devastating wound” to her brain in a point-blank shooting, but
the bullet’s relatively benign trajectory bodes well for her
recovery.

For doctors at the University Medical Center in Tucson, the
fact that the bullet did not cross from one hemisphere to the
other nor through the center of the brain was crucial to
Giffords’ brain “preservation” before her two-hour surgery on
Saturday.

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords battled for her life on Sunday after an assailant shot her in the head and killed six others in a rampage that has launched a debate about extreme political rhetoric in America.

The 40-year-old Democratic lawmaker was in critical condition and doctors were cautiously optimistic she would survive. The suspected gunman was in federal custody as investigators sought a motive in the shooting of a U.S. lawmaker and looked for a possible accomplice.

, Jan 9 (Reuters) – U.S. congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords battled for her life on Sunday after an
assailant shot her in the head and killed six others in a
rampage that has launched a debate about extreme political
rhetoric in America.

The 40-year-old Democratic lawmaker was in critical
condition and doctors were cautiously optimistic she would
survive. The suspected gunman was in federal custody as
investigators sought a motive in the shooting of a U.S.
lawmaker and looked for a possible accomplice.

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) – California on Thursday approved rules for a multibillion-dollar carbon market, in what proponents hope and detractors fear will be a turning point for the United States toward building a national program to address global warming.

After Congress failed to pass a climate change law last year, California is the vanguard of the nation’s effort to address global warming and its bid to build alternative energy and related industries.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A three-judge appellate panel considering whether to allow gay marriage to resume in California Monday sharply questioned both sides of the case, which many expect to be appealed to the Supreme Court and set national policy.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges have been asked to discard a lower court ruling that the state’s 2008 Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage violates Constitutional guarantees of equality and due process.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lame-duck bid to resolve the state’s budget problems in a special session next week has little chance of success, but he is probably doing his successor a favor whatever the result.

Governor-elect Jerry Brown promised to begin budget talks with legislators even before taking office January 3, but Schwarzenegger’s 11th-hour attempt is hardly likely to upstage Brown, who will hold talks of his own while the legislature is in session.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Regional and state governments despairing of global action to counter climate change banded together on Tuesday at a summit in California, where a challenge to its climate law was just defeated.

The so-called R20 coalition of some 100 regional, state and provincial governments, observer nations and corporations aim to use their joint economic heft to create industries and to make “subnational” deals to create low-carbon projects.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Californians voted to
bring back Democrat Jerry Brown as governor on Tuesday, betting
on an economic turnaround from the 72-year-old who ran the
state in the 1970s and 1980s rather than billionaire
businesswoman Meg Whitman.

Senator Barbara Boxer also won reelection, beating former
Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, marking a
double victory for Democrats over Republican novices from
Silicon Valley.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – U.S. judges considering whether to let Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigrants take effect asked attorneys tough questions on Monday about the constitutionality of the law and whether federal authority prevents the state from taking action.

Arizona’s law would require police to determine the immigration status of a person they have detained and suspect is in the country illegally. The measure has attracted international attention and drawn equal parts praise and condemnation.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Arizona Monday asked appellate judges to let it put into effect a controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants, saying the state bordering Mexico had to step in when the federal government had failed.

Arizona’s law using state and local police to determine immigration status has become a national political issue, and the court hearing came a day before the United States votes in elections expected to sharply diminish the Congressional support of President Barack Obama, whose administration sued to stop the law.