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Tim Samaras had one passion in life: Tornadoes. He told The Weather Channel that when he was kid, his mother sat him down in front of The Wizard of Oz; he was immediately entranced by the violent, dark twister that tore through the landscape.

A federal judge has ruled that Google Inc. must comply with the FBI's warrantless demands for customer data, rejecting the company's argument that the government's practice of issuing so-called national security letters was unconstitutional and unnecessary.

The warnings aren't as ominous as they were eight days ago in the hours leading up to the tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., but the National Weather Service is predicting "another round of severe weather for the Central United States on Tuesday."

Facing questions for the first time about why Internal Revenue Service personnel singled out some conservative groups for inappropriate scrutiny while he was head of the agency, former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress on Tuesday that "I was dismayed and I was saddened" to learn about what had happened under his watch.

The new book from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a knockout of a novel about immigration that transcends genre. It's everything from a coming-of-age novel to a romance to a comic novel of social manners to an up-to-the-minute meditation on race.

A scholarly publisher has issued a warning to Jeffrey Beall, a librarian who writes about what he calls "predatory" practices in the scholarly publishing industry, threatening him with a $1 billion lawsuit for his blog posts criticizing the company.

Second-lines — jazzy, rolling dance parties — are a staple in the black neighborhoods of the Big Easy. But on Mother's Day, a second-line parade was marred by a mass shooting that left 19 people injured. The violence has sparked questions of whether the events should be shut down, but those in "the culture" say linking violence to second-lines is unfair.

Airs Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 12 p.m. on KPBS TV

Robert Downey, Jr. returns yet again for "Iron Man 3" (opening May 3 throughout San Diego). Guest critic Nathan John has a review.

Political cartoons have a long history in Iran and give voice to critics of the authoritarian regime. Lately cartoonists have been increasingly persecuted for their work. A recent book, Sketches of Iran, pairs 40 political essays with cartoons depicting life in Iran today.