NW Arkansas today

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Thank goodness for the person who saw him and realized he needed medical attention.” Bob Biggs, executive vice president of Phi Delta Theta’s international organization on a University of Arkansas at Fayetteville student who was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning Article, 1B

Northwest Arkansas deaths

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette publishes, at no charge, death notices of reasonable length for residents of Benton, Carroll, Washington and Madison counties submitted by funeral homes.

The state/region in brief

Plea earns woman prison sentence A woman accused in the shooting death of her husband pleaded no contest Friday in Johnson County Circuit Court to manslaughter and a weapons charge.

Workout rule works up students

A Pennsylvania university’s requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.

Relic said to contain shards of Jesus’ cross restored

One of the gems of the Vatican’s priceless religious art collection — a sixth-century reliquary containing what is revered as fragments of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified — has been restored to its Byzantine-era glory.

Researcher: Text proves shroud is authentic

A Vatican researcher has said a nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin proves the authenticity of the artifact revered as Jesus’ burial cloth.

Sears Tower terror plotter gets 13 years

The ringleader of a group described by prosecutors as plotting terror attacks on Chicago’s Sears Tower and FBI offices in hopes of sparking an anti-government insurrection was sentenced Friday to 13 1 /2 years in prison by a federal judge.

Flooding devastates U.K. Lake District

Policeman dies as deluge traps dozens

Raging floods engulfed northern England’s picturesque Lake District on Friday after the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes.

U.S. to look at role of Afghan contracts

Gates: Effort to reduce corruption also required from their government

The United States will do its part to reduce corruption in Afghanistan by examining its own contracts and projects, even as it is demanding the same from the Afghan government, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

Astronaut awaits baby’s birth

He expects 2nd child’s arrival as he readies for spacewalk

Atlantis’ astronauts anxiously awaited word on the birth of one crewman’s daughter Friday, as they moved more supplies into the international space station and geared up for another spacewalk.

Senate ethics panel admonishes Burris

Democratic Sen. Roland Burris was rebuked Friday by the Senate Ethics Committee, which issued him a “public letter of qualified admonition” for his actions in connection with his appointment by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

S.C. legislator sets up impeachment panel

South Carolina lawmakers plan to formally consider impeaching Republican Gov. Mark Sanford for the first time next week, the chairman of the committee beginning that work said Friday.

Saipan gunman kills 4, himself

Tourists among 6 wounded; U.S. commonwealth stunned

After going on a shooting rampage that left a trail of victims on the Pacific resort island of Saipan, a gunman drove to a scenic, rocky cliff where untold numbers of Japanese men, women and children plunged to their deaths to avoid capture during World War II, according to police and witness accounts.

2 arrested in grisly murders of family

Two men were arrested Friday morning in the murders of five people on a remote property in Garland County last week.

New general in charge of airlift, refueler units

Command includes Jacksonville base

Gen. Raymond Johns Jr. took the helm of the Air Force’s largest major command Friday, the day after its busiest day in history when cargo planes and air refueling tankers flew more than 1,030 sorties around the world.

Six world powers press Iran to take nuke deal

Representatives of six world powers urged Iran on Friday to accept a United Nations plan aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon, as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned Tehran not to miss the opportunity to resolve the dispute.

Names and faces

The driver of a Miley Cyrus tour bus was killed Friday when the bus overturned, but the 16-year-old Hannah Montana star wasn’t on board, Virginia State Police said. Sgt. Thomas Molnar said the bus ran off the left side of Interstate 85, struck an embankment and overturned. The accident occurred about 8:15 a.m. in Dinwiddie County, Va., about 40 miles south of Richmond.

The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “You’ve done great harm to yourself, your family, the young men who were your followers, and you’ve violated the trust of your country.” U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard, sentencing the ringleader of a group described by prosecutors as plotting terror attacks on Chicago’s Sears Tower and FBI offices Article, 2A

The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I would hate to see that we are moving back to sanctions.

Iraqi warns of peril from political crisis

A top aide to Iraq’s Shiite spiritual leader on Friday urged the country’s fractious political blocs to resolve a crisis over a key election law that threatens to delay national polls planned for January.