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The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the door to the risky lending that caused the housing crash in the first place. President Obama's economic advisers and outside experts say the nation's much-celebrated housing rebound is leaving too many people behind , including young people looking to buy their first homes and...

WASHINGTON — The winning numbers in Saturday evening's drawing of the Dist. of Columbia Lottery's " DC 3 Evening" game were: 3-8-5 (three, eight, five) Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The defendant was an immense man, well over 300 pounds, but in the gravity of his sorrow and shame he seemed larger still. He hunched forward in the sturdy wooden armchair that barely contained him, sobbing softly into tissue after tissue, a leg bouncing nervously under the table. In the first pew of spectators sat his wife, looking stricken, absently twisting her wedding band. The room was a sepulcher. Witnesses spoke softly of events so painful that many lost their composure. When a hospital emergency room nurse described how the defendant had behaved after the...

The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post. The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking...

T-Mobile is taking a new approach to wireless billing by charging separately for devices and data and doing away with the traditional two-year contract. In a major media event Tuesday, T-Mobile chief executive John Legere said that the new T-Mobile plans could save consumers a whole lot of money compared to other carrier plans. But how does that claim match up? It can be a little difficult to do an apples-to-apples comparison — features such as hotspot capabilities or unlimited talk and text differ from...

A 29-year-old man who says he is a former undercover CIA employee said Sunday that he was the principal source of recent disclosures about ­top-secret National Security Agency programs , exposing himself to possible prosecution in an acknowledgment that had little if any precedent in the long history of U.S. intelligence leaks. Edward Snowden, a tech specialist who has contracted for the NSA and works for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, unmasked himself as a source after a string of stories in...

If you've ever furnished a house or an apartment, it's highly likely you've asked yourself this question: Should I reupholster or buy something new? Unfortunately, there is no quick answer. What kind of shape the furniture is in, how much new fabric you'll need and how much the fabric will cost are a few things that should be considered before making the decision. There is also the cost of labor, which varies from shop to shop because there is no industry standard. A...

When President Obama makes his first extended trip to sub-Saharan Africa this month, the federal agencies charged with keeping him safe won't be taking any chances. Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service agents will be dispatched to secure facilities in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency. Military cargo planes will airlift in 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines...

It was no small matter for the ILM Group's executives when they froze the pension plan that has provided retirement security for the firm's employees since 1947. The financial pressure of maintaining the plan had been mounting on the small insurer for years. But until March, ILM had not given in, even as tens of thousands of other employers did. It held on when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks rocked the economy, flat-lining the stocks that fund the pension payments. It...

Selling your home without a real estate agent is not for everyone. But for those who have the time, skills and emotional strength, doing so can save tens of thousands of dollars in brokerage commissions. There are three distinct phases in all home sales: presale, contract negotiation and settlement. All three phases must be successfully navigated for you to market, sell and settle on the sale of your home. Over the next three columns, I will examine each phase and provide tips from real estate professionals on how...

Terri M. Adams is an associate professor of criminology and gender studies at Howard University . ‘When you grow up and start dating, never let anyone put their hands on you," I told my daughter after seeing a television show about domestic violence. "Never let anyone hit you — you are worth more than gold. " She looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm only 7. " As a mother and college professor, I have taken every opportunity to be on the lookout for lessons for my 16-year-old Angel.