Smokers today inhale more nicotine per cigarette than they did six years ago. That's the finding issued this week by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which requires manufacturers selling cigarettes in the state to report on nicotine content annually. (Utah and Texas are the only other states to collect such data each year.)
The nation's unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.7 percent in August as the economy added 128,000 new jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning.
AP - Despite a sharp increase in the prosecution of terrorism cases just after Sept. 11, 2001, only 14 of the defendants have been sentenced to 20 years or more in prison, according to a study based on Justice Department data.
AP - NATO warplanes killed one of the force's own soldiers and wounded several others in a "friendly fire" incident in southern Afghanistan on Monday, NATO said in a statement.
Steve Irwin, the Australian TV presenter known as the "Crocodile Hunter," has died after being stung by a barb in the chest in a marine accident off Australia's north coast, Australian media report.
The San Diego Chargers' Steve Foley is in a hospital being treated for gunshot wounds. The NFL player was shot by an off-duty policeman who had followed him after noticing Foley's car driving erratically, a sheriff's investigator in San Diego, California, said. Foley was shot twice; his wounds are not believed to be life-threatening, said San Diego Sheriff's Department Lt. Dennis Brugos.