U.S. National - Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The number of air travelers over the Thanksgiving holiday will be down this year, which means shorter lines and fewer airport hassles, but full planes and new fees may keep passengers grumbling.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Union Pacific Corp train derailed Monday, sending 16 carloads of petroleum coke off the tracks and spilling much of the cargo, a UP spokeswoman said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff's bankruptcy trustee and the law firm employing him have asked a U.S. judge to be awarded $22.1 million in fees for five months of work, boosting their combined total bill to more than $37.5 million.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Reuters) - The government made a final effort to convince jurors on Monday that accused Ponzi schemer Tom Petters orchestrated a $3.65 billion fraud, and is not the victim he claims to be.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Country crossover star Taylor Swift overshadowed the late Michael Jackson at the American Music Awards on Sunday, winning five prizes including artist of the year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.

MIAMI (Reuters) - The ringleader of a group of Miami men convicted of plotting to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and government offices was sentenced to 13-1/2 years in prison on Friday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A judge on Friday blocked a Tennessee law that allowed people to bring handguns into restaurants and bars.

PARIS (Reuters) - Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans expects U.S. unemployment to peak at around 10.5 percent next spring and hopefully easing to about 9.5 percent by end-2010, according to comments published on Monday.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Three years after a billionaire divorce gone terribly wrong, this is what is left: unfinished plans for America's largest home, several bankruptcies and an auction featuring a talking moose head.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unilever United States Inc. said on Friday it was voluntarily recalling certain Shedd's Country Crock chilled side-dish products because they may contain sulfites.

(Reuters) - U.S. casino operator Majestic Star Casino LLC and 7 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, court documents showed.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City and the state both want to cut expenses by trimming public employees but so far they are using different strategies.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian court ordered a new refugee hearing on Friday for a U.S. Army deserter who claimed she would face persecution because of her homosexuality if returned to the United States.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. motorists drove more miles for the fourth month in a row, which could indicate that both the economy and demand for gasoline are starting to recover, analysts said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the United States, health experts said on Friday.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The U.S. government will audit hiring records of 1,000 firms in agriculture, healthcare and other areas to determine if they have illegal immigrants working for them, authorities said on Friday.

DIMOCK, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Residents of a small rural Pennsylvania town sued Cabot Oil & Gas Corp on Friday, claiming the company's natural-gas drilling has contaminated their water wells with toxic chemicals, caused sickness and reduced their property values.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts reached agreements with leaders of four major public sector unions on cost-cutting measures aimed at saving the state millions of dollars and preventing hundreds of layoffs, officials said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available -- by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik can be forgiven if he's having a tough time focusing on work -- his wife is due to give birth on Friday to a baby girl.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Florida jury on Thursday ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year-old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema.

BUTLERVILLE, Indiana (Reuters) - They arrive at the meeting by U.S. military helicopter, politely accept a cup of tea and haggle over a U.S.-funded water project gone awry.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New electronic record systems installed in thousands of U.S. hospitals have done little to rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs, Harvard University researchers said in a study released on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cash-poor New York has extended a severance program that offers its workers $20,000 payments after only 1,089 people were approved in the first round.

ATLANTA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A computer problem with a flight-processing system disrupted U.S. airline travel on Thursday with the heavily trafficked New York area hit particularly hard through cancellations and delays.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Any tax imposed on financial transactions would have to take effect internationally to keep Wall Street jobs and related business from moving overseas, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.