Cut Cigs By Age 40, Live 9 Yrs. More

SANTA ROSA, CALIF. - The popular wine sold at Trader Joe's known as "Two-Buck Chuck" will need a new name after the bargain beverage's price was raised. The new $2.49 price tag had shoppers searching for new names. Some customers joked that the brand should now be called "Inflation Chuck" or "Upchuck." Trader Joe's sold about 5 million cases of the wine last year.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State nominee John Kerry plans to divest holdings in dozens of companies in his family's vast financial portfolio to avoid conflicts of interest if he is confirmed by the Senate. Kerry is the wealthiest man in the Senate, worth more than $184 million, according to a 2011 Senate disclosure.

WASHINGTON - Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s. Government figures released Wednesday showed that union membership declined from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of the workforce. Overall membership fell by about 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half the loss, about 234,000, came from government workers, including teachers, firefighters and public administrators.

WASHINGTON - International scientists who last year halted controversial research with the deadly bird flu say they are resuming their work as countries adopt new rules to ensure safety. The outcry erupted when two labs - in the Netherlands and the U.S. - reported they had created easier-to-spread versions of bird flu. Amid fierce debate about the oversight of such research and whether it might aid terrorists, those scientists voluntarily halted further work last January

NEW YORK - The Dow Jones industrial average rose 67.12 points to close at 13,779.33, its highest level since Oct. 31, 2007, a month before the Great Recession started.

- Daily News wire services