Question: The spelling employed in this article is from The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual , Slate's guide in such matters.
Slate has a guide for spelling which is used for articles.

Answer: yes

Question: The pistol never left her forehead.
The pistol was aimed at her forehead from a distance.

Answer: it is not possible to tell

Question: This data include volumes by the weight intervals associated with the U.S.
The U.S.'s weight intervals are very different to the rest of the world.

Answer:
it is not possible to tell