Farmers planting more biotech crops this year

WASHINGTON -- American farmers will plant more genetically engineered crops this year, including one-third of the corn on U.S. soil, shrugging off international resistance to biotech food.

The farmers are expected to grow more than 79 million acres of genetically engineered corn and soybeans, the nation's two most widely planted commodities, a 13 percent increase from last year, according to the Agriculture Department's spring survey.

The gene-altered crops require fewer chemicals, making them easier to grow.

Warmer weather gives gas prices boost

SAN DIEGO -- Drivers across the nation are digging deeper into their wallets to cover rising gasoline prices, which have leapt an average of 23 cents per gallon over the last month -- the most dramatic change in more than a decade.

The jump to Thursday's national average of $1.35 for unleaded, according to a AAA survey, is fueled by a combination of factors. Analysts say a recent decision by OPEC and other oil producers to hold down production, and the traditional spring rise in demand as driving time increases with the warming weather have shaped prices.

Plane at Logan halts after threat made by passenger

BOSTON -- A Delta Air Lines flight was aborted before takeoff Thursday after a passenger, who has been diagnosed with a mental illness, demanded to be let out and allegedly made a threat.

The plane was on the runway at Logan International Airport and was supposed to head to Orlando, Fla. Instead, it taxied back to the terminal area.

Richard Lambertsen, 49, a marine biologist from Cocoa, Fla., was charged with interference with a flight crew, authorities said.

--From wire reports