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When you hear the words bubonic plague, Black Death usually comes to mind. But the first plague pandemic happened 800 years earlier, when the Justinian plague wiped out nearly a quarter of the world's population. Scientists have decoded the bacteria responsible, which have roots in China.

The Arizona Congressman sat in the House chamber Tuesday night and listened to President Obama address the nation. He tells Steve Inskeep this year's address sounded a lot like last year's speech.

The $100 billion-a-year measure included cuts to the food stamps program, and preserved farm subsidies. The five-year bill now heads to the Senate.

One of the nation's most remote places is now awash in oil money. We sent a photographer to North Dakota to capture not just what it looks like but how it feels.

The House on Wednesday approved a five-year compromise farm, signalling perhaps the final stretch for a two-year legislative battle. Because so much of the spending in the measure depends on enrollment in programs like food stamps, it's hard to know if it will save taxpayers money.

In the past 20 years, almost 50,000 enslaved Brazilian workers have been freed from some 2,000 work sites. But an estimated 200,000 remain trapped in slavery, owing to deep-seated impunity: Slaveholders can pay hefty fines and civil damages, but criminal convictions and jail time are rare.

On Wednesday, President Obama directed the Treasury Department to create a new retirement plan called "myRA." The decision, a circumvention of Congress, follows through on one of the promises made by the president in his State of the Union. As Yuki Noguchi reports, the success of the plan may depend on its ability to move beyond the limitations of existing retirement plans.

A day after delivering his State of the Union, President Obama is beginning a four-city road trip. He plans to use the trip to push the priorities he emphasized during his address, with a focus on a raise to the federal minimum wage.

Hubertus Von Hohenlohe will be the only skier representing Mexico in the Winter Olympics in Russia. A German prince and one of the oldest athletes to be competing in the Winter Olympics, Hohenlohe says he doesn't expect to win any medals. But he does hope people will notice his flair for fashion.

Bitcoin has been tied to the dark side of the Internet, where it's been linked to drug trafficking. But New York's financial regulators say they want to foster innovation and are looking to legitimize the virtual currency by licensing it.