Wall Street gets a lift after earnings reports continue to impress investors

“Corporate earnings continue to be exceptionally strong,” said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services. “I think the markets continue to focus on the underlying recovery of the U.S. economy.”

Man convicted of arranging sham weddings in Maine

He’s accused of arranging 15 marriages between 2003 and 2007. Most of the weddings were held in apartments in Lewiston.

NATO Agrees To Enforce No-Fly Zone Over Libya

Fogh Rasmussen said the NATO operation would proceed in parallel with the bombing campaign carried out by coalition aircraft

In a Southern California Suburb, Layoffs for Nearly Half the Staff

Nearly half of this city’s workers were told late last week that, come September, they would probably be out of a job. Nearly every city department will be eliminated. More than a dozen tasks will be outsourced, including graffiti removal, firefighting, building maintenance and street cleaning.

On college campuses, a gender gap in student government

For the past decade, women have outpaced men on key measures of college success. They attend college and graduate at higher rates, according to several studies, and they tend to earn higher grades. Yet on many campuses, student government is dominated by men, echoing gender gaps in state and national politics.