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American families need to earn at least $68,000 a year to achieve basic economic security, a new report says. That's more than three times higher than the national poverty level. Child care can top rent as the biggest household expense.

At least one senator is surprised that the deal would repeal a health care law provision that he says costs the government nothing. Another senator is pleased that the proposal drops gray wolves from the endangered list.

President Obama outlined a plan to reduce the government deficit through a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes. His plan will go up against another blueprint put forward last week by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan. Though they both seek $4 trillion in reductions, the plans differ dramatically.

HBO has a reputation for original, true-to-life series, but on Sunday it will premiere a show that is more epic fantasy than anything else the network has been doing. It's called Game of Thrones and it's been likened to The Sopranos, if it were set in Middle Earth.

Foreclosure filings declined in the first three months of this year, and they are now at the lowest level in three years. Research firm RealtyTrac said about 680,000 homes received default or repossession notices. About 215,000 homes were actually repossessed. But the drop is due to a backlog of paperwork at the banks and not because of a recovery in the housing market.

More than a decade ago, Sholam Weiss was convicted of a fraudulent investment scheme that led to the collapse of a life insurance company. He received 845 years in prison. Bernie Madoff got 150 years for his Ponzi scheme. Weiss persuaded a judge to reduce his sentence by 10 years. Dissatisfied, he's asking the Supreme Court to be released.

More careful attention to cleanliness in hospitals can help curb infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But even stringent hygiene only goes so far in beating the germs back.

Libyan rebels have been unable to break the back of Moammar Gadhafi's forces despite international airstrikes. NATO allies are asking the U.S. to deepen its involvement in a conflict some experts say could last years. Several analysts offered strategies on how the U.S. can avoid getting drawn in too deep.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Berlin, Germany, for a NATO summit on the alliance's attacks in Libya. There are new reports of bombing in Tripoli and attacks against civilians in Misrata.

After poet and critic Meghan O'Rourke's mother died of cancer at 55, she worked through her grief by writing. Her memoir combines the "exquisitely personal" with research of other cultures' mourning rituals that don't ignore suffering.