The new World War II saga Red Tails exploded across the big screen last week with action-filled scenes of aerial gun fights waged by the Tuskegee Airmen. Amid the battles scenes, the movie presents an equally difficult fight waged by America's first all-black air force fighting group to earn respect for their combat skills.

The film was not only inspired by true events, but the actors were also instructed by real Tuskegee Airmen — many of whom are nearly 100 years old.

In an emotional ceremony on the floor of the House of Representatives, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords handed her letter of resignation to Speaker John Boehner.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke on the Arizona congresswoman's behalf.

"This is only a pause in her public service," Schultz said with a shaky voice and with tears streaming down her face. Schultz then went on to read Giffords' resignation letter.

After hitting a year and half year high in November, the number of contracts to buy homes fell a bit in December.

The AP reports:

"The National Association of Realtors says its index of sales agreements fell 3.5 percent last month to a reading of 96.6. That's down from November's reading of 100.1.

"But the reading is still the second highest since April 2010, the last month that buyers could qualify for a federal home-buying tax credit.

"A reading of 100 is considered healthy.

Good morning!

Our early posts:

-- Egyptians Take To The Streets To Mark First Anniversary Of Revolution

-- Google's New Privacy Policy Will Allow Tracking Across Services

There's little doubt that the U.S. wastes a lot of money on unnecessary health care. But pinning down the worst offenders isn't easy, as a fresh analysis of the scientific literature finds.

Published research on overuse is in pretty short supply, so rooting out waste by looking at the existing studies can be a little like limiting your late-night search for lost car keys to the spots right under streetlights.

It was a year ago today that Egyptians started a revolt that led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. Marking the day, tens of thousands of people took to the streets both in celebration and in protest of the military rulers that took Mubarak's place.

Reporting from Cairo, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson sent this report to our Newscast unit:

Yesterday afternoon Google announced it was making sweeping changes to its privacy policy beginning March 1. Users can't opt out, so Google is beginning to send notice to its users via email and even on its homepage.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who pleaded guilty of dereliction of duty in connection with the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha, apologized during his sentencing hearing yesterday.

The AP reports:

The biggest solar storm in years has lit up the skies with the spectacular show known as the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis offers a spectacle of green and blue over Canada and Northern Europe. The big storm is treating stargazers as far south as England — and may well make up for the disruptions it could bring to the electrical grid and GPS signals.

In New York City, the street in front of a high school was painted with big white letters that were supposed to read "school." But the word painted read "shcool." The city says a contractor made the mistake after some street repairs.