In The News

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Political candidates, parties, independent policy groups and their members and supporters in this island nation all got a stiff warning recently -- if they campaign outside the prescribed times for that activity they will face... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas - What the Texas Secretary of State’s office is calling a “comprehensive” audit of the 2020 presidential election is now underway in the state’s largest Democratic and Republican counties -- Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Collin. In a brief... Read More

WASHINGTON -- With the nation once again hovering ever closer to defaulting on its debts, the chair and vice chair of the powerful House Budget Committee say it’s time to take the “arbitrary and reckless” politics out of raising the... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Biden administration officials tried to assure a Senate panel Thursday that the nation’s schools are following the right strategy to remain open while minimizing the risk of spreading COVID-19. The new school year is barely a month old... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A ban on so-called “surprise” medical bills --  unexpected, exorbitant health care bills for out-of-network care that arrive on insured patients' doorsteps, oftentimes when they are still at their most vulnerable - is on pace to go into... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the third straight week, a sign that the highly contagious delta variant may be slowing the job market's recovery. Claims rose by 11,000 last week to 362,000,... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge is hearing arguments Friday over whether Texas can leave in place the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S., which since September has banned most abortions and sent women racing to get care... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) - Justice Samuel Alito pushed back Thursday against criticism, including some from colleagues, that recent Supreme Court actions in major cases have been done hastily and in the shadows. "A dangerous cabal" improperly deciding important matters — hardly,... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Congress on Thursday voted to extend funding of the government through early December, avoiding an imminent  government shutdown, and providing emergency relief for Afghan refugees and states that have been hard hit by natural disasters this year. The... Read More

WASHINGTON -- You can almost hear it all across Capitol Hill: “It’s likely to be a long, long day.” On Thursday night, finding themselves short of votes and with the continued resistance of the progressive wing of the party on... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh has tested positive for the coronavirus, the court announced Friday.  In a brief statement, court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said the 56-year-old justice has been fully vaccinated since January and that he was... Read More

WASHINGTON — Just as the CIA was reportedly evacuating an intelligence officer in Serbia who had injuries consistent with Havana Syndrome, guests of Harvard University’s Intelligence Project were asserting that brain injuries from “a new form of asymmetric deniable warfare”... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Blue Dog Coalition of House Democrats is throwing its support behind a bipartisan resolution that would require the comptroller general of the United States to deliver an annual fiscal state of the nation report to Congress. The... Read More

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Droughts that cause leaves to turn brown and wither before they can reach peak color. Heat waves prompting leaves to fall before autumn even arrives. Extreme weather events like hurricanes that strip trees of their leaves... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is moving to avert one crisis while putting off another with the Senate poised to approve legislation that would fund the federal government into early December. The House is expected to approve the measure following the... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Ferocious tantrums. Family gossip. Petty nicknames. Stephanie Grisham, once a White House press secretary and chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump, is out with a book next week that paints a deeply unflattering picture... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — His government overhaul plans at stake, President Joe Biden appeared unable to swiftly strike agreement with two wavering Democratic senators trying to trim back his potentially historic $3.5 trillion measure that will collapse without their support. With... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are debating how to divide up what could be a smaller serving of health care spending in President Joe Biden's domestic policy bill, pitting the needs of older adults who can't afford their dentures against the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — His government overhaul plans at stake, President Joe Biden appeared determined Wednesday to strike agreement with two wavering Democratic senators, likely trimming back the size of his potentially historic $3.5 trillion measure that will collapse without their... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Forestry industry executives told a congressional panel Wednesday many of the solutions to climate change lie in the woodlands but public policy sometimes puts an environmental fix out of reach. Part of the answer could be as easy... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs met this week to discuss the CARES Act and supporting an equitable pandemic recovery through vaccination efforts, supporting small businesses, and longer term needs like broadband infrastructure investments.  The members... Read More

The market for plant-based foods continues to grow with new technologies that can take foods like soy, potato and peas, and transform them into plant-based meats, cheeses, candy and more. According to retail sales data from the Plant Based Foods... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency has met President Biden’s cybersecurity executive order’s “highly aggressive deadlines so far,” but there is “still a lot of work to do,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly Wednesday.  Kicking off the 6th... Read More

Researchers at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have developed a 3D-printed vaccine patch that activates improved immune cell activation in comparison to traditional methods. Researchers discovered the immune response the patches stimulated was 10 times... Read More

YouTube revamped its medical misinformation policies on Wednesday, advancing a new set of guidelines on vaccines that have already been approved and confirmed safe and effective by health authorities, including the World Health Organization. In a blog post on its... Read More

Many states are turning to monoclonal antibody treatments to curb the rise in hospitalizations and emergency room visits as COVID-19 cases rise. The demand on orders for the drugs has increased twenty-fold since mid-July, according to a spokesperson from the... Read More

Transgender and non-binary patients seeking gender-affirming surgeries, such as a mastectomy or genital reconstruction, are required to provide a letter from a trained mental health provider in order to receive clearance for surgery. However, the COVID-19 pandemic led to cancellation... Read More

The Alabama Board of Dental Examiners will no longer require licensed dentists to supervise the scans performed on potential patient’s teeth alignment, a practice which the Federal Trade Commission found excluded cheaper online providers like SmileDirectClub, Candid Co. and SmileLove... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration proposed a new rule on Monday that its says will “preserve and fortify” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and protect undocumented people in the program from legal challenges. The Deferred Action for Childhood... Read More