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to pass because it has already survived three procedural votes. But it faces opposition in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase. A broad coalition of retailers is lobbying in favor of it.
• Under current law, states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state.
• That means big retailers with stores all over the country like Walmart, Best Buy and Target collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But online retailers like eBay and Amazon don't have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers.
• As a result, many online sales are tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.
• ___

• PHOENIX (AP) -- It has become a real-life soap opera watched by people around the world and dozens of fanatics who camp out on a Phoenix sidewalk in the middle of the night to get into the show. One seat even sold for $200.
• A cable network has set up a stage nearby for daily broadcasts, and the spectacle is routinely among the most heavily trending topics on Twitter. Fans have traveled from all over the U.S. to be close to the action, often seeking out autographs from the key people involved in the case, namely one of the main attractions, prosecutor Juan Martinez.
• The star is none other than a small-town waitress and aspiring photographer from Northern California who killed her lover by stabbing him nearly 30 times and shooting him in the head. Jodi Arias has been on trial for first-degree murder since January, and her case has developed an enormous following with its tales of sex, violence and double-crossing.
• The jury on Friday began deliberating whether the 32-year-old Arias should be convicted of first-degree murder in the June 4, 2008, death of her on-again-off-again boyfriend Travis Alexander, a motivational speaker and salesman for a legal services company. Prosecutors say Arias showed up at Alexander's house unannounced in the middle of the night, had sex with him on multiple occasions then killed him in his bedroom, slitting his throat from ear to ear and jabbing a knife in his heart before shooting him in the forehead.
• Prosecutors have argued throughout the case that Arias was a stalker who killed

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