10 Things to Know for Today: 2-21

2/21/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Deficits-Fading-Issue

    FILE - In this April 8, 2013, file photo, copies of President Barack Obama's budget plan for fiscal year 2014 are prepared for delivery at the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington. Just four years ago, deficits and debt were an explosive political combination, propelling Republicans to control of the House and fueling the budget fights that would ensue over the next three years. Today, they are an afterthought _ a dying ember in Washington’s political and policy landscape. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

    1. UKRAINE SAID TO HAVE DEAL TO END VIOLENCE

    Presidency says agreement reached between police and protesters to stop battles in Kiev that have killed scores, injured hundreds.

    2. WHY FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT IS FADING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE

    Annual spending gap has fallen sharply, lawmakers are tired of budget battles, and public has shifted its focus to issues like health care.

    3. LIFE OF YOUNG WOMAN IN YEMEN IS ENTANGLED WITH AL-QAIDA

    Story of Abeer al-Hassani, her ex-husband and three brothers provides rare look at one branch of the terror network.

    4. WHO OBAMA WILL HOST AT THE WHITE HOUSE

    Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama coming for a meeting. Visit could hurt already tense relations with China, which denounces him as a separatist.

    5. NYPD CLEARED IN SURVEILLANCE OF NEW JERSEY MOSQUES

    Federal judge dismisses civil rights lawsuit brought by eight Muslims who alleged New York police discriminated based on religion, national origin, race.

    6. WOMAN IN CUSTODY AFTER FOUR KILLED IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

    Eviction hearing at American Indian tribal headquarters turns deadly. Police say tribe’s leader among the victims.

    7. NEW HONDA PLANT SHOULD MAKE MEXICO NO. 2 EXPORTER TO U.S.

    Country expected to pass Japan, narrow gap with No. 1 Canada once 200,000 Fit hatchbacks a year are rolling off assembly line.

    8. WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL OFFICE BACK IN ACTION AHEAD OF NOVEMBER ELECTIONS

    Democrats have always complained Obama doesn’t do enough to help elect their candidates. This year, he has incentive: keep party’s fragile Senate majority.

    9. WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS YEAR’S FLU SEASON

    It wasn’t as bad as last year, and the vaccine worked better, but children and young adults - not the elderly - were hit hardest because of swine flu.

    10. HOW TWO STATES MAY TRY TO DRIVE SMOKING RATES LOWER

    Utah and Colorado, which already have low percentages of smokers, considering raising legal age to buy tobacco to 21.