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The article reports that at least 54 persons were killed in an outbreak of tornadoes in five Southern states during the evening and night of February 5, 2008. Arkansas and Tennessee were the two states reporting both the most fatalities and property damage, with several small communities essentially destroyed. The outbreak was unusual but not unheard of winter weather in the region.

The article reports that many U.S. consumers shopped on the Friday after Thanksgiving, referred to as "Black Friday," but that they exercised restraint in their purchases and shopped at discount chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., and Best Buy Co. Inc. Stores such as Kohl's Department Stores and J.C. Penney Inc., attempted to draw shoppers by opening earlier and offering discounts.

The article reports that the issue of the costs of providing an adequate defense for criminal suspects facing capital punishment has slowed prosecution of such cases to a near halt in many U.S. states. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have emphasized the importance of defense counsel during capital trials. The case of Brian Nichols, who is accused of killing three persons in a Georgia courthouse in 2005, accounted for the state's entire budget for the public defender's office in 2007.

The article reports that the United States Supreme Court ordered a stay of execution on October 30, 2007 for convicted murderer Earl W. Berry. The decision required the signature of five justices, but was unaccompanied by any statement. It seems to indicate that there should be a freeze on lethal injections until the Kentucky case Baze v. Rees is heard, which questions whether certain drugs given by lethal injection should be considered cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment.

The article reports that the number of immigrants living in American households rose 16 percent over the last five years, fueled by recent arrivals from Mexico. Details related to recent data on the issue released by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the author, the data shows that immigrants are bypassing the traditional gateway states like California and New York.

The article reports on the situation in Sago, West Virginia, where 12 coal miners died after being trapped in a coal mine following an unexplained explosion on January 2, 2006. According to the author, many of the miners wrote notes to family members before their deaths. The one survivor of the incident, Randal McCloy, is in a coma and may have suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation.

The article reports that 12 miners who were trapped in the Sago coal mine in West Virginia were found alive following an explosion. One miner was found dead. Joe Thornton of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the rescued miners were being examined and will be sent to a hospital. INSET: Searching the Sago Mine.

High blood pressure, the most commonly diagnosed condition in the United States, is becoming increasingly resistant to drugs that lower it, according to a panel of experts assembled by the American Heart Association. ''It's becoming more difficult to treat and it's requiring more and more medications to do so,'' said the panel chairman, Dr. David A. Calhoun, a hypertension specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This week the third floor of the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University became a place where lovers were ''secretaries to the wordless moon'' and a ''blue-scooped sky'' was lathered ''with the soap-slip caressing of pot-bellied clouds.'' The occasion was ''A Fine Excess: A Three-Day Celebration of Poetry,'' a conference headlined by three Pulitzer Prize winners: Mark Strand, a former poet laureate of the United States, who won the prize in 1999; W. D. Snodgrass, who won in 1960 for his first book of poetry; and Richard Wilbur, another former poet laureate, who won the Pulitzer twice, in 1957 and 1989. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has extended the prison term of former Mayor Bill Campbell of Atlanta, a spokeswoman confirmed Friday, a week after news reports questioned his participation in an early release drug treatment program. Lawyers for Mr. Campbell, who was convicted of tax evasion, told the judge who sentenced him in 2006 that their client had ''no health or substance abuse problems.'' Nonetheless, prison officials admitted him to a wait-listed drug treatment program, which allowed him to shave more than three months off his 30-month sentence. His sentence was also reduced by four additional months for good behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on the involvement of the Atlanta police in Georgia in a child pornography case. Terrill M. Crane, husband of Sergeant Tanya C. Crane, was arrested in connection with the case on November 29, 2007. According to the federal investigators, some police officers have withheld and destroyed evidence. The arrest was made after the Federal Bureau of Investigation received photographs of Crane engaging in sexual activity with some girls.

The article reports on a Georgia Supreme Court ruling striking down a state law about sex offenders. On November 21, 2007, the court unanimously overturned the law that had limited the movement and residence of registered sex offenders. The court ruled that the law was running contrary to the property rights enshrined in the Constitution. The law was passed in 2006.

The article offers news briefs related to the U.S. Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore has announced to seek the Senate seat presently held by John W. Warner. A Michigan judge has ruled that Anthony Green Jr., a high school student charged with shooting two other teenagers, will be tried as adult. Fran Townsend, terrorism advisor at the White House, has decided to step down from her post.

The article reports that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia ordered a stay of execution for terminally ill prisoner Daniel L. Siebert. Siebert was scheduled to die by lethal injection. An appeal was filed by lawyers representing Siebert following refusal of Judge Mark E. Fuller of Federal District Court in Alabama to stop execution of Siebert.

The article reports that the Georgia Supreme Court ordered a stay of execution for Curtis Osborne, a condemned prisoner. While passing the stay order, the court cited the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to review constitutionality of execution by lethal injection. Earlier, the court also stayed execution of criminal Jack E. Alderman by lethal injection.

The article presents information about the drought situation in Southern States. Some cities in the Southeast will run out of water in a few months time, climatologists predicted on October 15, 2007. The situation is said to be the worst in the last 100 years. Reacting to the prediction, North Carolina Governor Michael F. Easley asked people to conserve water.

The article reports that federal officials in the U.S. are planning to deport an elderly German man, Paul Henss, living in Georgia who they said was a guard and dog trainer in Nazi death camps at the Dachau and Buchenwald. It is informed that the case is being pursued by the Office of Special Investigations in the U.S. Justice Department.

The article reports that public prosecutors in the U.S. have been investigating corruption prevalent in the police department of Atlanta, Georgia. According to the prosecutors, the police officers regularly lied to obtain search warrants and fabricated documents related to drug purchase. Narcotics officers of the department have admitted to planting marijuana in the home of elderly woman Kathryn Johnston after her death. The woman died after police shooting in a drug raid.

The article reports on the investigation into Menu Foods Inc.-manufactured pet food that killed several pet animals in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration disclosed on March 30, 2007 that the pet food had melamine, a chemical used to make plastic cutlery. The agency said that the pet food had no rat poison. After the disclosure, the countrywide pet food recall has been expanded to include a brand of dry cat food from Hills Pet Nutrition.

The article reports that the bad weather conditions that prevailed in the northern part of the United States, and halted air traffic over Denver, Colorado has become normal to some extent. The normal weather condition allowed some passengers, who had been stranded for days to move on. The intensity of bad weather can be estimated from the fact that Denver International Airport was re-opened after being closed for 45 days.

The article focuses on the change of name by Marine Corp Sergeant Cody C. Baker at the command of the highest bidder on his web site. It is inferred that a federal law does not permit military personnel to make commercial endorsement of their name. Sergeant Baker explained that he raised the money to purchase a new house, startup a new business, and to pay his fees for college charges.

The article offers U.S. news briefs, including the impact of undocumented Texan immigrants on the state's budget.

The article reports on the storms in southern states in the U.S. on November 15, 2006. The storms caused tornadoes, fierce winds and heavy rains, killing one person and injuring dozens of people. The injured include pre-school children in Alabama. A man was killed by a tornado in Louisiana. The winds and tornadoes also caused damage in Arkansas.

The article presents information on a research conducted by Caroline Zink, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health in the U.S. which showed that some areas of the anterior cingulate of the brain regions showed increased activity when people were reviewing their position in a social hierarchy. The brain activity of the 24 healthy volunteers were monitored by a sophisticated scanner while they played a game of skill against invented players who they thought to be real.

The article offers news briefs related to the socio-political developments in the U.S.

The article reports on the trial faced by former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell on criminal charges including bribery, tax fraud, and perjury in Georgia.

The article reports on the delay of Amtrak passengers along the busy corridor between Florida and New York for up to 20 hours after eight freight cars derailed blocking the tracks in either direction in the U.S.

The article presents news briefs related to various topics in the U.S. including restoration of sand dunes in California, and inquiry into 1950s bombings in Alabama.

Presents news briefs on socio-political developments in the U.S. Arrest of three foreign language teachers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on immigration charges; Issuance of regulations for providing reimbursement for some combat equipment bought for use in Iraq and Afghanistan by the Pentagon; Intention of Jack Carter, the oldest child of former President Jimmy Carter, to consider challenging Nevada Senator John Ensign in the 2006 election.

Presents several news on indictments, crimes and cases in the U.S.

The article reports that the U.S. housing market may be heating up after falling for most of the second half of 2008. Home buyers are taking advantage of the plentiful possibilities caused by mortgage foreclosures. To aid this movement, the U.S. Federal Reserve dropped interest rates as U.S. President George W. Bush revealed his economy stimulus plan. There has been a sharp rise in refinancing applications, and market analysts feel buyers are waiting to see how low home prices will go.

The article reports that Andrew Speaker, the U.S. citizen who flew to Europe and back after being warned he had a drug-resistant case of tuberculosis, was allowed to re-enter the U.S. by a customs agent who knew Speaker was wanted by health officials. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated the agent's rationale was that Speaker did not look ill. Speaker is quarantined in a Denver, Colorado hospital. Initial tests show he had a low chance of contaminating others.

The article reports that retail stores in the United States experienced lighter shopping traffic over the 2005 Christmas weekend than they had expected. A warm winter hurt cold-weather clothing sales. Gift cards delayed purchases. Higher energy costs discouraged consumerism. Analysts and retail executives predict a respectable but not stunning holiday season of sales. Wal-Mart Stores stood by its sales forecast for December. Online retailer Amazon.com reported a record holiday season.

Kwabena Sam-Brew, a 38-year-old immigrant from Ghana, doubted that Nana, his 5-year-old American-born daughter, would remember the rally that effectively crowned Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee Tuesday night. But Mr. Sam-Brew said he would describe it to her: ''I will tell her, 'Tonight is the night that all Americans became one.' '' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Harold Wenning, 69, remembers what he called ''the one-for-five trick'' from his days running a news kiosk in Midtown Manhattan. ''They'll say it's a five and give you a one,'' he said. ''I had a guy say it was a 20 once and he gave me a one. I had a guy buy a roll of quarters from me and he gave me a dollar. That happens.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article informs that Maricopa County in Arizona is the county with the highest population growth in the U.S. in the year ending July 1, 2006. It was revealed by census figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Flagler County in Florida grew by 67 percent since 2000. Since 2005, the population of New York City grew by 587 people.

The article offers news briefs from the United States. The police in Colorado are in the process to identify a woman who was dragged behind a vehicle for more than a mile. The body was found in a hilly subdivision of Denver, Colorado. A third premature infant died because of an adult dose of a blood thinner at a hospital in Indiana.