nation/world

The Education Department on Tuesday encouraged school districts to use more scrutiny to protect student privacy when using online educational services.

Poker players in Delaware and Nevada will soon be allowed to compete against one another online.

Bill Clinton, popular in territory unfriendly to President Barack Obama, is reprising his role as a super-surrogate for Democrats battling to keep their Senate majority and win other races. In the long run, Clinton could pick up political chits for his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, should she run for president in 2016.

Attorney General Eric Holder is urging Congress to require businesses to quickly alert consumers and law enforcement agencies in the wake of significant data breaches like the ones at discount retailer Target and at Neiman Marcus.

The White House says President Barack Obama will propose a 1 percent pay raise next year for federal workers.

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel is recommending shrinking the Army to its smallest size since the buildup to U.S. involvement in World War II in an effort to balance postwar defense needs with budget realities, defense officials said Monday.

If you use a credit or debit card and think your personal information is safe from a big company breach, think again.

Two Western states with some of the nation's lowest smoking rates are considering cracking down even more by raising the tobacco age to 21.

The government can't seem to make up its mind about whether people should be allowed to make cellphone calls on passenger planes. Even as one federal agency considers allowing the calls, another now wants to make sure that doesn't happen.

The Food and Drug Administration is looking to revamp its system for regulating hundreds of over-the-counter drugs, saying the decades-old process is not flexible enough to keep pace with modern medical developments.