Neanderthals, represented here by a museum's reconstruction, had been living in Eurasia for 200,000 years when Homo sapiens first passed through, and the communities intermingled. The same genes that today play a role in allergies very likely fostered a quick response to local bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, scientists say. Pierre Andrieu/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Florida state Sens. (from left) Eleanor Sobel, Greg Evers and Rene Garcia discuss a congressional redistricting map on the floor of the Senate in 2014. Phil Sears/AP hide caption

Family members of Shafqat Hussain, who was convicted and hanged in Pakistan in August for killing a boy in 2004, waited to receive his body outside the central jail in Karachi. Pakistan executed more than 300 people last year. Fareed Khan/AP hide caption

Bo Sailor watches Thursday as high surf crashes into the seawall before spilling onto Channel Drive in Montecito, Calif. An ocean-water-quality advisory was issued for the area after a number of December and early-January storms pummeled Southern California with heavy rainfall. Mike Eliason/AP hide caption

Pastor Stephen Parson holds one of Donald Trump's books before meeting with the candidate in New York last November. Parson is now one of three pastors who say a new rule in Virginia requiring primary voters to sign a pledge before getting a Republican ballot is discriminatory. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

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Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett (right) begin a love affair after meeting in a department store in Carol. Weinstein Co. hide caption