Court: Chicago must hire 111 black firefighters

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Chicago Fire Department must hire 111 African Americans who passed a firefighters entrance exam 16 years ago and pay millions of dollars to thousands more who took and passed the same test.

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling was the latest blow to the city, which has been on the losing end of court decisions regarding the 1995 test for years, including a 2005 ruling by a federal judge who said the test discriminated against black applicants and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that the candidates did not wait too long to sue the city.

Tales of worry, sadness emerge as floodwaters threaten towns along the Mississippi

Severe Storms - Slide show

Medicare to Run Dry in 2024

Social Security and Medicare to run short sooner than expected

Social Security and Medicare -- the country's two biggest entitlement programs -- will run dry earlier than expected, according a report Friday from the programs' trustees.

After the programs' trust funds are exhausted, Social Security and Medicare will be taking in only enough money to pay a portion of promised benefits to retirees.

"We should not wait for the trust funds to be exhausted to make the reforms necessary to protect our current and future retirees," he said. "Larger, more difficult adjustments will be necessary if we delay reform."

  Social Security: Exhausted in 2036

Social Security will have sufficient resources to pay 100% of promised benefits through 2036. That's one year earlier than last year's forecast because the economic recovery has been slower than expected and seniors are living longer.