Of all the promises President Donald Trump made for the early part of his term, controlling stinging drug prices might have seemed the easiest to achieve.

An angry public overwhelmingly wants change in an easily vilified industry. Big pharma's recent publicity nightmare included thousand-percent price increases and a smirking CEO who said, "I ...Read more

AUSTIN, Texas -- Cities have long regulated what can be done to trees in parks, along public streets or on government property, deciding when they can be trimmed, treated for disease or removed.

In recent years an increasing number of cities also have started regulating what happens to trees on private property -- on land owned by either ...Read more

When high levels of lead were discovered in the public water system in Flint, Mich., in 2015, Medicaid stepped in to help thousands of children get tested for poisoning and receive care.

When disabled children need to get to doctors' appointments -- either across town or hundreds of miles away -- Medicaid pays for their transportation.

When ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Louie Gohmert believes Arizona Sen. John McCain should be recalled while he battles brain cancer and so that the GOP can replace him with someone who will support the party's latest effort to repeal the 2010 health care law.

"Nothing inhibits recovery from cancer like stress," the Texas Republican told "Fox & Friends" Monday....Read more

Advocates for immigrants Monday condemned the latest incarnation of President Donald Trump's travel ban, calling it an abuse of presidential authority and potentially unconstitutional, as they vowed to continue fighting the president's travel restrictions.

The new measure, which takes effect Oct. 18 and will apply indefinitely, bans entry by ...Read more

Can the addition of North Korea and Venezuela save President Donald Trump's third travel ban from the constitutional flaws of his first two? By rights, the answer should be no -- and the new ban would be unlikely to survive careful judicial scrutiny of its shaky logic.

But in the real world, the U.S. Supreme Court may take the opportunity to de...Read more

MIAMI -- Voicemails left on Florida Gov. Rick Scott's cellphone by employees of the Hollywood, Fla., nursing home where 11 died in the post-Hurricane Irma heat have been deleted, according to the governor's office.

Scott gave out his number to nursing homes and assisted living facilities ahead of the hurricane so administrators could report ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans want to ensure any legislation replacing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, would have the support of the majority of their conference before it goes to the floor.

That's why Speaker Paul D. Ryan formed a task force featuring a cross section of Republicans who serve on committees with ...Read more

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is betting that he can crush a weak opposition in next month's election. The margin of victory may determine whether his ruling party replaces him in 2018.

Abe announced on Monday that he would dissolve parliament later this week, more than a year before its term expires. He framed the election as a ...Read more

BERLIN -- Alternative for Germany, the populist party that won its first seats in the nation's parliament on Sunday, faced an immediate rift when one of best-known leaders said she won't join the caucus.

A day after its biggest electoral triumph, the anti-immigration party, known as AfD, signaled its potential for unpredictability over the next...Read more

The "Donald Trump is becoming presidential" trope recently made the rounds again, shortly after new Chief of Staff John Kelly started cleaning house in the West Wing, and Trump himself cut a bipartisan debt-ceiling deal with Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

As I've noted in this space before (and will surely note again) Trump...Read more

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican flags poke from near the rubble piles of what were once homes, shops and offices.

A group of youthful cheerleaders marches down a street, clapping their hands while rhythmically chanting, "Mexico! Mexico!"

Bystanders gathered at the site of a flattened office building break into an impromptu rendition of "Cielito Lindo,"...Read more

This is the way a nuclear war begins.

Simulations of a war on the Korean peninsula usually start with a relatively minor incident at the demilitarized zone between South Korea and its hostile northern neighbor, or a provocation that develops into a conventional war and then escalates.

President Donald Trump's threatening posture toward North ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- For as many as 143 million consumers whose personal data was stolen in the breach of the Equifax credit bureau, here's how criminals might take advantage:

They might try to buy a gun in your name. Or get a second mortgage on your house. They could lease a car by impersonating you, and crash it. They might steal your tax refund ...Read more