Nigeria’s new president pledges fight against Boko Haram
By MICHELLE FAUL Nigeria’s new president was sworn in on Friday and pledged to tackle Boko Haram “head on,” asserting the fight against the Islamic extremists wouldn’t be won until…
Government business and finance
Obama’s trade agenda faces tougher odds heading into House
By JIM KUHNHENN and CHARLES BABINGTON After several near death experiences in the Senate, the trade agenda that President Barack Obama is pushing as a second term capstone faces its…
Watchdog says ex-Nazis got $20.2 million in Social Security
By RICHARD LARDNER, DAVID RISING and RANDY HERSCHAFT In a forthcoming report triggered by an Associated Press investigation, the top watchdog at the Social Security Administration found the agency paid…
Banks fined more than $5B, to plead guilty to market rigging
By KEN SWEET and ERIC TUCKER Four global banks agreed Wednesday to pay more than $5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to rigging the world’s curren market, the first…
House speaker decries ‘stupid question’ about Amtrak funds
By ALAN FRAM House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that this week’s fatal Amtrak crash wasn’t caused by a lack of federal funds and mocked a reporter for even asking…
Online Common Core testing lays bare tech divide in schools
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO and SALLY HO Nestled between mountains 60 miles from the nearest city, students at Cuyama Valley High School use Internet connections about one-tenth the minimum speed recommended…
Illinois justices overturn state’s landmark 2013 pension law
By JOHN O’CONNOR and KERRY LESTER The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday struck down a 2013 law that sought to fix the nation’s worst government-employee pension crisis, a ruling that…
Emotions over Obama’s trade agenda roil Senate, delay action
By CHARLES BABINGTON Emotional disagreements over trade erupted in Congress on Wednesday, when a liberal senator delayed a committee’s likely endorsement of a top trade priority for President Barack Obama.…