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Home foreclosure filings in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest levels in more than six years. They're down more than 20 percent from last year, according to the company RealtyTrac. Inexpensive mortgages and a rising demand for homes seem to be at play here.

Weather-related traffic accidents have accounted for some of the deaths. Others have collapsed while shoveling snow. Several victims are said to have been homeless people who either didn't want to go to shelters or didn't get to one in time. Thankfully, more moderate weather is about to arrive.

In softcover fiction, Hilary Mantel imagines Anne Boleyn's downfall, Martin Amis satirizes England, Paul Theroux sends a narrator back to the village he volunteered in, and Peter Heller depicts a post-apocalyptic life. In nonfiction, Robert Caro continues his LBJ biography.

Also: Singer Phil Everly dies; passengers rescued in the Antarctic resume their trip home; and a man who won $174 million didn't realize his good fortune for weeks.

Also: The Curiosity rover zaps Mars rock with a laser; Pakistan's president orders investigation into blasphemy case against girl with Down's Syndrome; Myanmar's government eases some press restrictions.

During sentencing the judge said William Lynn had enabled "monsters in clerical garb" to abuse children.

The federal government says it will pay down $35 billion of the national debt this quarter. It's a reversal of an earlier prediction that the government would add more than $100 billion in debt during the second quarter of 2013. Economists say the payment was made possible by spending cuts and higher tax revenues.

Also: Google cuts 4,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility; most of those killed by earthquakes in Iran are women and children; excessive heat warnings continue in Arizona, California; Obama to announce food aid for drought-stricken farmers.

The spire, which acts as a platform for various broadcast antennas, was readied for installation Thursday. The actual spire-raising will take place at a later date.

Also: The CIA continues to send bags full of cash to the Afghan leader, The New York Times reports; an explosion, possibly due to a gas leak, injures dozens in Prague; Syria's prime minister survives a bombing; and the last spire is to be placed above new World Trade Center tower.