by Stephanie Haines | Feb 5, 2014 | National Security
WASHINGTON — The al-Qaida threat in Iraq has grown more menacing, according to the House Foreign Affairs Committee which met Wednesday to discuss the severity of terrorism in the region. In 2013, there were 9,000 deaths related to the conflict in Iraq, the highest...
by Preetisha Sen | Feb 5, 2014 | Business
WASHINGTON — The Volcker rule was designed to prevent another financial crisis similar to 2009, but some critics say it will only slow economic recovery. The House Financial Services Committee examined the Volcker rule today in an effort to weigh its impact on job...
by Sophia Bollag | Feb 5, 2014 | Health & Science
WASHINGTON –The federal government should set higher digital security standards for companies collecting consumer information to avoid future data breaches like those at three major national retailers that affected millions of Americans’ data over the last few months,...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 4, 2014 | Health & Science
WASHINGTON – A top official in the national drug czar’s office insisted Tuesday that President Barack Obama’s comments about the safety of marijuana usage do not reflect the White House policy on the legalization of the drug. Michael Botticelli, the deputy director of...
by Jane Herman | Feb 4, 2014 | Immigration
WASHINGTON- Immigration advocates called on President Barack Obama Tuesday to issue an executive order to prevent more immigrants from being deported. The National Day Laborer Organization Network and a group of undocumented immigrants filed an official petition...
by Jeanne Kuang | Feb 4, 2014 | Living
WASHINGTON – If President Barack Obama’s recently announced Promise Zones initiative succeeds, five poverty-stricken neighborhoods across the country — urban and rural — will soon receive resources and volunteers to act on their plans for revitalization....
by Lauren Caruba | Feb 4, 2014 | Health & Science
WASHINGTON — Republicans pushed U.S. surgeon general nominee Vivek Murthy on Tuesday to address whether his support for gun control and the new health care law would affect his objectivity if he becomes the nation’s top doctor during a Senate confirmation hearing....
by Stephanie Haines | Feb 4, 2014 | Environment
WASHINGTON—A bipartisan coalition of senators and congressmen urged President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, the fourth installment of an operation to channel oil from Canada to Nebraska, at a news conference Tuesday. The $7 billion project proposed...
by Christophe Haubursin | Feb 4, 2014 | National Security
WASHINGTON – An Army National Guard program that gave freelance recruiters a bonus for each recruit they referred is under investigation after the reported abuse of $29 million in taxpayer dollars, according to information disclosed at a Senate hearing Tuesday. The...
by Vesko Cholakov | Feb 4, 2014 | Politics
WASHINGTON – The U.S. should spend more money to increase high-speed rail systems as part of a long-term transportation bill because the country is facing an “infrastructure disaster,” former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday at a panel discussion...
by Sophia Bollag | Feb 4, 2014 | Environment
WASHINGTON – Sen. Jay Rockefeller Tuesday blamed inadequate federal regulations for the recent water contamination crisis that left hundreds of thousands of residents in his home state of West Virginia without safe water for at least three weeks. “Regulation is soft...
by Sara Olstad | Feb 4, 2014 | Immigration
WASHINGTON – DREAMer Araceli Mendez had to work cleaning houses instead of going to college after she finished high school. Though the 21-year-old New York City resident had good grades and was accepted into five schools, she was an undocumented immigrant and could...