Casey Sparks inadvertently ended up in Lyerly, Georgia, where he noticed burning home and helped to save family

An Alabama driver’s unintended, GPS-directed detour in Georgia positioned him to help save a couple and a dozen children in their care from a fire that enveloped their home while they slept recently, according to the family and their rescuer.

As he recounted in an interview with television station WRCB that quickly went viral among internet circles dedicated to uplifting news stories, James Burke had fallen asleep in his recliner while his wife, 12 adopted children and one grandchild slept in their beds on the night of 17 October in the community of Lyerly, Georgia.

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© Photograph: GoFundMe

© Photograph: GoFundMe

© Photograph: GoFundMe

Toforest Johnson’s death penalty reduced to life in prison without parole over doubts about his conviction

Toforest Johnson, an Alabama death row inmate, will no longer face execution after the state’s Republican governor commuted his sentence amid increasing doubts about his conviction.

Kay Ivey, the Alabama governor, commuted Johnson’s sentence to life in prison without parole in the 1995 murder of William Hardy, a Jefferson county deputy sheriff. Johnson has long maintained he is innocent, and several former public officials, as well the local district attorney, have argued he should receive a new trial.

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© Photograph: Johnson Family/AP

© Photograph: Johnson Family/AP

© Photograph: Johnson Family/AP

Toforest Johnson’s conviction in the 1995 killing of a sheriff’s deputy relied on the testimony of a woman who was paid a $5,000 reward by the state for providing information.

© Vasha Hunt/Associated Press

El Niño will likely shift weather patterns to bring more rain, but much snow still isn’t forecast for the northern states

Winter in the United States looks like it will generally be wetter and warmer, but not necessarily snowier, according to the federal government’s seasonal outlook and other meteorologists’ forecasts. You can thank or blame El Niño.

El Niño is likely to shift weather patterns to bring more moisture, but with it higher temperatures. That should help erase persistent western drought, but it is unlikely to make northern snow-lovers happy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Thursday.

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© Photograph: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images

After making landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a Category 2 hurricane, Isaias weakened considerably and headed north. Now, parts of the Southeast are at risk of flash floods.

© Zack Wittman for The New York Times

After making landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a Category 2 hurricane, Isaias weakened considerably and headed north. Now, parts of the Southeast are at risk of flash floods.

© Zack Wittman for The New York Times

Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, but towns near the landfall site in Florida were relieved that the hurricane damage was not worse.

© Zack Wittman for The New York Times

Many people in the storm’s path escaped the worst, but 4 people were killed and there was plenty of damage.

© Zack Wittman for The New York Times