Birmingham

(Newser) - US Rep. Artur Davis, a close ally of President Obama's, launched his long-rumored campaign for governor of Alabama today, the Birmingham News reports. "I believe the poet was wrong when he said that the past is the light that will guide our feet," said Davis, who would be...

(Newser) - Remember Ruben Studdard? The winner of American Idol’s second season now has won himself a wife. Studdard, 29, married his girlfriend of 2 years, Surata Zuri McCants, 30, in a lavish ceremony today in Birmingham, Ala., OK! reports.

(Newser) - The weather may be great and the lifestyle good, but Southern culinary hospitality might be landing the Sun Belt disproportionately on Forbes' list of America's most obese cities. The most rotund:

1. Memphis
2. Birmingham
3. San Antonio

(Newser) - A landmark trial addressing corporate culpability for human-rights violations committed on foreign soil gets under way this week, testing whether an 18th-century antipiracy law applies to modern business practices. At issue is the 2001 murder of three Colombian mining-union leaders, the Wall Street Journal reports, and under scrutiny is the...