In The News

WASHINGTON - Environmentalists won an appeals court ruling in Washington, D.C. last week protecting ocean marine national monuments. Marine national monuments refer to offshore underwater areas intended to protect coral reefs or wildlife. There are five of them in U.S.... Read More

WASHINGTON - The families of 143 U.S. soldiers and government contractors sued a group of multinational corporations last week in Washington, D.C. accusing them of indirectly funding the Taliban insurgents who killed and injured their relatives. In the complaint, filed... Read More

WASHINGTON - The killing of Iran's top general in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq sent shockwaves across the Middle East, and inspired statements of grim anticipation among lawmakers on Capitol Hill as they await a response by Iran and further... Read More

Iowa Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer announced Thursday that she is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden in the presidential primary, becoming the first Iowa Democratic House member to back a candidate in the race. “Joe Biden’s character, record, and commitment... Read More

CHICAGO — Customers spent almost $3.2 million on legal weed in Illinois on the first day of recreational marijuana sales Wednesday, marking one of the strongest showings of any state in the history of pot legalization. “This is particularly impressive... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are locked in a stare-down over the terms of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, which carries political risks for both sides if it continues deeper into January. The... Read More

WASHINGTON — The number of House members deciding to retire has already exceeded the average for recent election cycles, and more could be coming as lawmakers return to the nation’s capital after the holidays. Since 1976, an average of 23... Read More

PARIS (AP) — Global powers warned Friday that the world became a more dangerous place after the U.S. assassinated Iran’s top general, urging restraint on all sides. Britain and Germany also suggested that Iran shared some blame for provoking the targeted killing... Read More

WASHINGTON — More than 200 lawmakers, mostly Republicans, filed an amicus brief Thursday urging the Supreme Court to upend the precedents set by two landmark abortion rights cases, elevating abortion as a campaign issue ahead of this fall’s elections. The... Read More

BAGHDAD (AP) — The United States killed Iran's top general and the architect of Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East in an airstrike at Baghdad's international airport early on Friday, an attack that threatens to dramatically ratchet up tensions... Read More

Brace yourselves, Iowans. The 15 remaining Democratic presidential wannabees have reportedly scheduled 92 events this month in the Midwestern state, which hosts the first contest in the race Feb. 3. Former vice president Joe Biden is scheduled to speak at... Read More

WASHINGTON — If you thought American politics moved at a frenetic pace in 2019, brace yourself for 2020. Over the course of the next 308 days, Donald Trump is poised to become the first president in history to face a... Read More

An Iran-backed Iraqi militia broke up its encampment outside the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, a move that could ease tensions between Tehran and Washington that escalated after fighters attacked the compound. The Popular Mobilization Units had called on the fighters... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former Obama housing secretary Julián Castro is ending his run for president. His announcement Thursday comes as Castro failed to garner enough support or donations to make the recent Democratic presidential debates . The former San... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — David Stern had basketball as a passion and law as a profession, one he figured he could return to if a job at the NBA didn’t work out. He never did. Instead he went to Europe,... Read More

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg's campaign says he raised more than $24.7 million in the last three months and now has a campaign staff of 500 people nationwide, a show of financial and organizational strength heading into the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s old congressional campaign website now redirects visitors to his newly created personal Twitter account. The change to MikePompeo.com, which took place on Dec. 27, comes as Pompeo publicly downplays his interest in a... Read More

WASHINGTON — The late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore left $1 million in unspent campaign funds, according to election records. That raised an unanswered question: What happens to all that money now? In Washington, the campaign accounts of deceased... Read More

CHICAGO — Illinois’ population went down by an estimated 51,250 people in 2019, or 0.4%, marking the sixth consecutive year the state has lost residents, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Since the turn of the decade,... Read More

ORLANDO, Fla. — Not everyone’s New Years celebration is happy and healthy as a study finds the day to be the deadliest holiday of the year behind the wheel. Nearly 1,000 people died on U.S. roadways over a three-day period... Read More

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China at the White House next month. Trump says Tuesday in a tweet that he'll then travel to Beijing... Read More

Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering... Read More

A U.S. astronaut set a record Saturday for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, breaking the old mark of 288 days with about two months left in her mission. Christina Koch, a 40-year-old electrical engineer from Livingston, Montana, arrived... Read More

Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon and most senior black lawmaker in Congress, said he’s been diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. “I have been in some kind of fight — for freedom, equality, basic human rights — for... Read More

ATLANTA — A faulty test was used to screen hundreds of Puerto Ricans who applied for Georgia driver’s licenses and identification cards over many years, a new Georgia Bureau of Investigation report shows. Department of Driver Services investigators used the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Bill Clinton’s impeachment two decades ago set the modern template for President Donald Trump’s upcoming trial in the Senate. But the process may be even more contentious this time given sharper tribal divisions in Washington. Clinton’s four-week proceeding... Read More

CHICAGO — The project has gained Chicago City Council approval, many of the architectural drawings of the Obama Presidential Center have been drafted and refined and a collective of contractors has been hired to build the campus. But nearly four... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was 7:30 a.m. inside a nearly vacant Giant Eagle grocery store in New Albany, but in the back corner there were 18 people standing outside the shuttered liquor section. The liquor store didn’t open until 9... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — The presidential politics calendar turned to 2020 nearly a year ago. This week, the actual date catches up. What we’re watching as the preseason closes and election year opens: Days to Iowa caucuses: 35 Days to general... Read More

WASHINGTON — Imagine a scenario where, on the eve of next year’s presidential election, the Democratic nominee appears in a video where he or she endorses President Donald Trump. Now, imagine it the other way around. Or that both endorse... Read More