Colorado, Utah move to hike smoking age to 21
Written by KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press MICHELLE PRICE, Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Two Western states with some of the nation's lowest smoking rates are considering cracking down even more by raising the tobacco age to 21.
Accident rates improving for older drivers
Written by JOAN LOWY, Associated Press
EDITOR'S NOTE _ Aging America is a joint AP-APME project examing the aging of the baby boomers and the impact this silver tsunami will have on the communities in which they live.
Obama budget to drop budget cost-of-living trims
Written by JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama's upcoming budget proposal will not include his past offer to accept lowered cost-of-living increases in Social Security and other benefit programs. Those had been a central component of his long-term debt-reduction strategy.
Tearful Korean reunions begin; first since 2010
Written by FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The first reunions of North and South Koreans in more than three years came too late for 90-year-old Seo Jeong-suk. She died in South Korea just 15 days ago.
Stocks rise as US manufacturing expands
Written by STEVE ROTHWELL, AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose Thursday after a survey showed that U.S. manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in almost four years. The report helped offset a weak survey on Chinese manufacturing.
Medic: 70 protesters killed, 500 wounded in Kiev
Written by YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Protesters tossed firebombs and advanced upon police lines Thursday in Ukraine's embattled capital. Government snipers shot back, killing at least 70 people and wounding hundreds of others, according to a protest doctor.
Mexico condemns shooting by US border agent
Written by ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Mexican government on Thursday condemned a U.S. Border Patrol agent's fatal shooting of a Mexican man who allegedly struck the agent in the head with a rock near the U.S-Mexico border in California.
Report: US drone may have killed dozen civilians
Written by KIMBERLY DOZIER, AP Intelligence Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. military drone strike in Yemen last December may have killed up to a dozen civilians on their way to a wedding and injured others, including the bride, a human rights group says. U.S. officials say only members of al-Qaida were killed, but they have refused to make public the details of two U.S. investigations into the incident.