National News Briefs

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GMAIL ADDS VIDEO AND AUDIO CHAT – Google announced it will join Yahoo and Microsoft in the race to make Web communication more social by adding video and audio chat to its free e-mail service. Currently, Gmail is the third largest e-mail service, serving 113 million users worldwide. Just behind Gmail, Microsoft has 283 million users and Yahoo has 274 million.

WOMAN SLAIN AT KKK INITIATION – Eight Ku Klux Klan members were arrested for the death of an Okalahoma woman who was killed after she asked to be taken back to town during an initiation ritual. The woman’s body was found by authorities under some brush near the campsite where she was slain, which is about 60 miles north of New Orleans. Sheriff’s deputies also found KKK flags, six Klan robes, and weapons at the campsite. The woman was shot and killed after a fight broke out and she tried to leave. KKK members tried removed the 40-caliber slug from her body and buried it with her belongings.

FLU OUTBREAKS TO BE TRACKED BY GOOGLE.ORG – A new Web tool from Google.org may help people detect regional flu outbreaks more quickly than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new tool, Google Flu Trends, will monitor flu symptoms, analyze the data and create graphs and maps to show were the flu may be spreading. Public health experts claim that the information may help speed up the response of hospitals, doctors and public health officials, which could reduce the spread of the disease. Currently, the service is only available in the United Statesm but Google intends to use the same technique to help follow the disease worldwide.