WASHINGTON -- The millennial generation -- about 50 million people ages 18 to 29 -- is the only age group in the nation that doesn't cite work ethic as one of its "principal claims to distinctiveness," according to a new Pew Research Center study, "Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change."

The Washington-based nonprofit organization found that young adults and their elders agree: Baby boomers and Generation X-ers have better work ethic and moral values than those in their 20s.

In a survey of about 1,200 people of all ages, millennials chose other traits to define themselves: 24 percent said "technology use," 11 percent went with "music/pop culture," 7 percent chose "liberal/tolerant" and 6 percent said "smarter." Only 5 percent noted their generation's "work ethic" -- the same portion who chose "clothes" as their distinction.

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Only a fraction of wounded veterans who could get better benefits have applied in the two years since Congress, acting on concerns the military was cutting costs by downplaying injuries, ordered the Pentagon to review disputed claims.

As of mid-March, only 921 vets have applied out of the 77,000 the Pentagon estimates are eligible, according to numbers provided to The Associated Press by the Physical Disability Board of Review. The panel was created in 2008 but started taking cases in January 2009.

More than 230 cases have been decided, about 60 percent in favor of improving the veterans benefits, while an additional 119 case were dismissed as ineligible. Advocates and even the board members themselves want the review panel to do a better job of getting the word out.

PHILADELPHIA -- A Colorado mother whose family said she flew to Ireland last year to join a possibly violent Islamic group was charged Friday with working with a Pennsylvania woman to attend a terrorist training camp in Europe.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, 31, had been arrested in Ireland last month with six others on suspicion of planning to assassinate cartoonist Lars Vilk, whose drawing of the Prophet Muhammad as a dog outraged many Muslims. Ms. Paulin-Ramirez, a blond-haired mother from Leadville, Colo., was later released by Irish police.

She returned voluntarily to the United States and was arrested Friday in Philadelphia, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. It did not give details of why she returned.

Federal prosecutors added Ms. Paulin-Ramirez to a case they had already filed against Colleen LaRose, 46, also known as "JihadJane," who was charged in a sealed indictment in October with recruiting people to kill Mr. Vilk.

WARWICK, R.I. -- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano took a helicopter tour over still-flooded Rhode Island on Friday, witnessing waterlogged shopping malls and homes with people's possessions laid out to dry in their yards, as residents and officials in the already economically troubled state pleaded for her to secure more federal aid.

Ms. Napolitano pledged the federal government's help in the months to come.

The National Weather Service said it did not expect the Pawtuxet River, source of much of the flooding, to go below flood stage until at least Sunday.

A Washington state oil refinery, about 70 miles north of Seattle on Puget Sound, was hit by a deadly blast and fire early Friday. Three men died at the scene and a woman died later at a Seattle hospital. ... A federal magistrate judge Friday locked up eight members of a Michigan militia group pending trial on charges that they conspired to overthrow the U.S. government. A grand jury indictment says the defendants belonged to the Hutaree, a Christian militia, and planned to attack local, state and federal law enforcement officers. Prosecutors said they held training exercises and exploded bombs to prepare for battle.

-- Compiled from news services

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.