Nation digest 08/31/05

FBI will assess inmates for possible threats

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- FBI agents nationwide have been ordered to conduct "threat assessments" of inmates who may have become radicalized in prison and could commit extremist violence upon their release, according to an FBI letter obtained by The Associated Press. "The primary goal of these efforts is to assess and disrupt the recruitment and conversion of inmates to radicalized ideologies which advocate violence," according to a letter from the acting assistant chief of the FBI's Los Angeles office, Randy D. Parsons.

Feds announce 427 meth arrests in dozens of cities

WASHINGTON -- Police around the country have arrested more than 400 people in the first nationally coordinated operation aimed at producers and sellers of methamphetamine, officials said Tuesday. Police in more than 200 cities and the Drug Enforcement Administration took part over the past week in Operation Wildfire, which also resulted in the seizure of more than 200 pounds of the drug and 56 labs where it was made. Arrests in Missouri were made in Arnold, Jefferson City and Kansas City.

U.S. sells the most arms to developing nations

WASHINGTON -- The United States is the largest supplier of weapons to developing nations, delivering more than $9.6 billion in arms to Near East and Asian countries last year. U.S. sales to the developing countries helped boost worldwide weapons sales to the highest level since 2000, a congressional study says. The total worldwide value of all agreements to sell arms last year was close to $37 billion, and nearly 59 percent of the agreements were to sell weapons to developing nations, according to the Congressional Research Service report. The weapons being sold range from ammunition to tanks, combat aircraft, missiles and submarines.

Tie-breaking vote lets N. Carolina start lottery

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina is set to become the final state on the East Coast to start a lottery after the lieutenant governor broke a Senate tie Tuesday, when two opponents were absent. Supporters have been trying to legalize the game for more than 20 years. Gov. Mike Easley is expected to sign the legislation creating the lottery.

Ga. pardons black maid 60 years after execution

ATLANTA -- Six decades after she was executed for killing a white man in the South, a black maid was granted a full pardon Tuesday. Lena Baker, 44, the only woman put to death in Georgia's electric chair, had maintained until she was put to death in 1945 that she shot E.B. Knight in self-defense. Members of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles read a proclamation saying the board's refusal to grant clemency before the execution was "a grievous error." During her trial, Baker testified that the 67-year-old Knight, a man she had been hired to care for, held her against her will and threatened to shoot her if she tried to leave. She said she grabbed Knight's gun and shot him when he raised a metal bar to strike her.

-- From wire reports