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WASHINGTON – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by a larger-than-expected amount last week, indicating the nation’s labor market remains strong. The Labor Department reported that 278,000 laid-off workers applied for jobless benefits last week, a decline of 20,000 from the previous week. It was the biggest …

NEW ORLEANS – Anne Greenfield, her husband and their children, ages 9 and 11, will come to New Orleans for Mardi Gras after all. So will some of the couple’s friends. But for a while, they hesitated because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Their concerns: How well could a …

WASHINGTON – Some Supreme Court justices had tough questions for a Florida lawyer about whether the state’s lethal injection method causes excruciating pain for death row inmates. Justices were taking up the latest capital punishment debate that focuses on the trio of drugs used in Florida and most other states. …