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Faced with a weak economy and a need to improve Italy's debt ratio, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government will include illegal drug sales and prostitution when it figures the country's gross domestic product.

That's according to a report from Bloomberg News, which says:

"Renzi, 39, is committed to narrowing ...

House Republican leadership decided Thursday that it was inappropriate to insert a provision in the defense authorization bill allowing DREAMers — immigrants brought to this country illegally as children — to earn permanent residency by serving in the military.

At the same time, leaders allowed to the floor an ...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has named Democrats to the special committee investigating the death of the U.S. ambassador in Libya in 2012. There have already been 8 probes into the attacks.

The proposal would allow undocumented adults who came to the U.S. as children to enlist in the military, and start on a path to citizenship. The House Rules Committee won't let it come to a vote.

A normally routine House Rules Committee meeting Tuesday could showcase the ongoing battle over immigration reform within the Republican Party.

California Republican Rep. Jeff Denham wants immigrants who were brought to this country illegally as children — often referred to as "DREAMers," after a legislative acronym — to be able ...

Why would anyone pay for something when the exact same thing is available for free? The answer seems obvious, yet the question remains relevant for an obscure federal agency still pursuing its Cold War mission in the age of the search engine.

Say you wanted to know more about supersonic ...

As hopeful Republicans anticipate how their new select committee will get the Benghazi issue a full airing, and as Democrats gnash their teeth at what they're calling a political stunt, here's another possible scenario: It won't make much difference either way.

The new committee has subpoena power — just like ...

House Speaker John Boehner is almost certain to win re-election in his suburban Cincinnati district, but that will only get him back to Congress.

To get another term as speaker, he'll need to win a floor vote that doesn't happen until January — and Boehner's prospects in that contest are ...

For political junkies reading the 2016 tea leaves, Jeb Bush offers this newly emptied cup: "I'm thinking about running for president."

That's the report from an attendee of Wednesday's closed-door Catholic Charities fundraiser in New York to Fox News, who said this was in response to a question about ...

Democrats made lots of speeches about the horrors of the GOP's Ryan budget. Republicans made lots of speeches about its wonders. The actual effect on public policy? None.

It's a classic example of supply and demand: How much would you pay for a bottle of fresh air in one of the world's most polluted cities?

When Beijing artist Liang Kegang returned home from a vacation in France, he brought with him a jar of clean air he had ...

Among the alleged crimes committed by Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the heart of the tax agency's targeting of conservative groups: singling out Crossroads GPS, Karl Rove's nonprofit group that spent $165 million in the last election attacking Democrats and helping Republicans.

That's according to House Republicans pushing ...

Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans both can find plenty to love in House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's new plan.

For conservatives, there's the promise of a balanced budget by 2024; a repeal of Obamacare; cuts and structural changes to Medicaid totaling $732 billion in savings; a subsidized alternative ...

There are budget earmarks from powerful congressmen, earmarks from not-so-powerful congressmen and, as it turns out for an old mining town in Pennsylvania's Appalachians, there's even an earmark from a long-dead congressman.

In the 1960s and 70s, powerful Democrat Daniel Flood worked to find a federal government buyer for the ...

What might have been a routine update on the state of the federal budget Tuesday instead became the newest front in the ongoing political war over President Obama's signature health care law.

At issue: a revised estimate about how many people would voluntarily leave the workforce because they can get ...

If the primary calendar played a role in the GOP's defeat in the 2012 presidential election, that part, at least, is now fixed.

By a vote of 153-9, the Republican National Committee approved rules changes Friday designed to start the 2016 primary season in February and end it as early ...

A year after losing the popular vote for the fifth time in the past six presidential elections, the Republican Party has crafted a series of rules tweaks designed to regain control of — and dramatically shorten — its presidential nominating process.

The subcommittee charged with looking for fixes has approved ...

Want to understand why House Republicans aren't onboard with an immigration overhaul? Take a close look at the districts they represent.

Hispanics today make up 17 percent of the nation's population and are the fastest-growing ethnic group. But an NPR analysis of U.S. census data shows they live disproportionately in ...

The nation's biggest labor group is taking its support for an immigration overhaul to the TV airwaves, with Spanish-language ads that hammer Republican House members.

One ad uses the words of three GOP members. There's Steve King of Iowa saying: "They're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the ...

If the Republican establishment doesn't get its preferred candidate in Tuesday's Alabama special congressional runoff election, it won't be for want of an overwhelming cash advantage.

Bradley Byrne, a former head of the state's community college system, has outraised Tea Party favorite Dean Young $689,000 to $260,000, according to the ...