WASHINGTON (AP) — For a president who promotes technology at every opportunity, Barack Obama often strikes an awed, self-effacing pose in the presence of technicians, scientists and high tech machinery.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona, Michigan and Florida, three of the states hit hardest by the housing crisis, will join a nationwide settlement over foreclosure abuses, officials with direct knowledge say. They will join more than 40 other states in approving a deal that would benefit many Americans who lost their homes or can't afford their mortgages.

BRENTWOOD, Pa. (AP) — Officials at a Pittsburgh-area school district say three students have been disciplined and the superintendent says he's reviewing video from a recent high school game to determine if anyone else will be punished for racial slurs directed at a predominantly black basketball team.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers went on a hiring spree in January and drove down the unemployment rate for a fifth straight month to 8.3 percent, its lowest point in nearly three years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, the Obama administration is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to a level that signaled a steadily improving job market. The figures came one day before the government is expected to report that January marked another solid month for hiring.

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, confident after his Florida primary victory, ended up inviting criticism Wednesday when he said he's "not concerned about the very poor" because they have an "ample safety net."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge says documents confirm that civil rights-era photographer Ernest Withers secretly served as an informer for the FBI.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is trying to fix a stubborn drag on the economy by making it easier for millions of additional homeowners to refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates even if they owe more than their homes are worth, tackling a difficult issue of vital concern in states key to President Barack Obama's re-election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the 2010 census asked people to classify themselves by race, more than 21.7 million — at least 1 in 14 — went beyond the standard labels and wrote in such terms as "Arab," ''Haitian," ''Mexican" and "multiracial."