5 Things to Know: GDP Growth Predicted, New Law May Limit Drone Use

From the latest GDP numbers to a new twist in the Amanda Knox case, here are five things you need to know for the coming week: 

1. Things are looking up. The government's first estimate of fourth-quarter economic growth is due today, and if expert estimates are right, the second half of 2013 was the U.S. economy's best six-month performance in nearly two years. Economists predict fourth-quarter growth in gross domestic product could reach an annual rate of 3%.

2. About 2,000 Atlanta drivers can retrieve their vehicles today, after many were abandoned on the highway during Tuesday's gridlock after a couple inches of snow. Officers will take them in four-wheel-drive vehicles back to spots where they left them. The state will provide up to five gallons of gas and give them a jump start to get them on the road again. 

3. California lawmakers approved a bill limiting how law enforcement and public agencies can use aerial drones in their state. The bill, if approved by the state Senate, would require agencies to destroy any data collected by unmanned aircraft within six months, and forbid arming them. The bill also would require law enforcement agencies to get a warrant before using surveillance drones.  

4. Two Norwegian politicians have nominated Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize for leaking secret documents on the National Security Agency's mining of phone and email records. Snowden, a former NSA contractor, is living in Russia evading espionage charges back in the states.

5. Amanda Knox is in Seattle awaiting her third Italian court verdict that is expected today in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate. The first two trials produced flip-flop verdicts of guilty then innocent for Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. A Florence appeals panel designated by Italy's supreme court to address issues it raised about the acquittal is set to deliberate Thursday, with a verdict expected later in the day.