Oct 21 Obama says U.S. will tackle prescription drug and heroin abuse By Kathleen Hennessey, Associated Press WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will take steps to improve doctor training and ease access to drug treatment as part of an effort to help communities battling the scourge of heroin and prescription painkiller abuse. Continue reading
Oct 20 14-year-old student arrested for homemade clock visits White House By Kevin Freking, Associated Press Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teenager arrested after a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a bomb, capped a whirlwind month with a visit to the White House on Monday. Continue reading
Oct 19 Health law fine on uninsured will more than double By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The math is harsh: The federal penalty for having no health insurance is set to jump to $695, and the Obama administration is being urged to highlight that cold fact in its new pitch for health law sign-ups. Continue reading
Oct 17 Watch 3:29 After decision to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan, what happens next? By PBS News Hour President Obama announced this week that 10,000 U.S. troops will remain deployed for another year in Afghanistan to help quell the resurgent Taliban and keep training the country's police force. Austin Long, a professor of international and public affairs at… Continue watching
Oct 15 Whistleblower releases documents into U.S. military's drone program By Joshua Barajas For several years human rights groups have claimed that U.S. drone attacks have killed more civilians abroad than their intended targets. The Intercept published highly classified information Thursday that provided evidence, among other findings, that nearly 90 percent of people… Continue reading
Oct 15 Watch 4:11 What influenced Obama's decision to keep troops in Afghanistan By PBS News Hour The longest-running war in American history will go on even longer than expected. Hari Sreenivasan speaks to the Washington Post’s Greg Jaffe about what prompted President Obama to change course and decide to leave troops in Afghanistan. Continue watching
Oct 15 Watch 2:32 U.S. reverses plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan By PBS News Hour In a policy reversal, President Obama announced that U.S. forces will keep nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan through most of 2016, drawing down to 5,500 in 2017. Despite plans to leave the country completely by the end of next year,… Continue watching
Oct 15 No benefit hike for Social Security next year By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press WASHINGTON — There will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, the government said Thursday. Continue reading
Oct 15 Obama to keep 5,500 troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016 By Julie Pace, Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017, according to senior administration officials, casting aside his promise to end the war on his watch and instead ensuring he hands the… Continue reading
Oct 13 Clinton's personal email server was vulnerable to hackers By Jack Gillum, Stephen Braun, Associated Press WASHINGTON — The private email server running in Hillary Rodham Clinton's home basement when she was secretary of state was connected to the Internet in ways that made it more vulnerable to hackers, according to data and documents reviewed by… Continue reading