USA
A record 4.3 million births in 2007 exceeded anything seen during the baby boom 50 years earlier, federal researchers reported Wednes-day. Annual fertility rates were up for all racial groups, with the teen birthrate rising for the second year in a row and births to unwed mothers reaching an all-time high.
Consumer inflation rose 0.4 percent February, largely due to rising gasoline prices, the Labor Department said Wednesday of the largest increase in seven months.
The Obama administration wants to add its endorsement to a nonbinding UN declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality, US officials said Tuesday. The Bush White House had refused to join many Western governments in signing the resolution in December.
Nadya Suleman, a single mother of 14 children, was allowed to take two of her octuplets, born Jan. 26, home from the Bellflower, Calif., hospital Tuesday. The other babies remain in neonatal care. Controversy swirls around how Suleman conceived via in vitro fertilization and whether she'll be able to properly care for so many children.
Time has almost run out for America's grasslands, four conservation groups said Tuesday in announcing a partnership to save 60 million acres of habitat. That's roughly 10 percent of what once existed in North America before farming, ranching, and other development overtook lands that stretch from Montana to the Gulf of Mexico. The Prairie Grouse Partners will focus on replenishing a bird population considered a bellwether of the prairie's condition.
Nevada, one of only eight states without a lottery, will consider a new proposal to remove a prohibition long supported by casino companies. State lawmakers will take up a measure this session to lift the ban, which has survived numerous challenges in recent decades.
Team USA reversed an earlier 10-run loss to Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic Tuesday in Miami to advance to this weekend's semifinals in Los Angeles. The US rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-5 win.
