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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

In this Sept. 29, 2020, file photo, a sale pending sign is displayed outside a residential home for sale in East Derry, N.H. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in July for the second month in a row, though they only increased modestly from a year ago, suggesting the red-hot housing market may be cooling off a little. Existing homes sales rose 2% last month from June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

White House announces plan to build 100K affordable homes

The White House said Wednesday it will use existing federal funds to build and provide 100,000 homes to low- and middle-income buyers and nonprofits over the next three years to bolster supply that is often snapped up by deep-pocketed investors.

September 1, 2021
This Oct. 14, 2015, photo shows the Food & Drug Administration campus in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) **FILE**

White House defends COVID booster plan amid staff upheaval, CDC skepticism

The White House defended its COVID-19 vaccine booster shot campaign Tuesday after outside advisers complained of limited data on the need for third doses and senior Food and Drug Administration officials abruptly retired amid criticism of President Biden's decision to trumpet the plan before regulators had signed off on it.

August 31, 2021
President Joe Biden speaks at the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA headquarters, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, in Washington. Hurricane Ida blasted ashore Sunday as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) **FILE**

Approval of Biden’s handling of Afghanistan plummets, poll shows

Americans give President Biden poor remarks on his handling of Afghanistan and more than eight in 10 want U.S. troops to stay until all Americans have been evacuated from the volatile nation -- even as the president sticks to his Tuesday deadline for getting out, according to a poll released Monday.

August 30, 2021
Security personnel gather near the entrance to the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's Hubei province on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The WHO team is investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic has visited two disease control centers in the province. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) **FILE**

Intelligence report on COVID-19 origins inconclusive

A long-awaited intelligence report on the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic is inconclusive, with agencies unable to reach a firm consensus as they found that both a natural origin and a Wuhan lab accident remain plausible.

August 27, 2021
In the file photo, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks Thursday, May 6, 2021, in Lake Charles, La. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) **FILE**

FEMA sending ‘surge team’ to Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Ida

The White House said Friday it is dispatching a "surge response" team from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help Louisiana respond to Hurricane Ida as it careens across the Gulf of Mexico toward New Orleans and the surrounding coast.

August 27, 2021
An emergency vehicle arrives at Wolfson Children's Hospital next to Baptist Heart Hospital Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Jacksonville, Fla. Duval County, which consists almost entirely of Jacksonville, is one of the hardest-hit areas with COVID infection rates in the top third in the state. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Rise in child COVID-19 cases, hospital stays alarms officials

COVID-19 hospitalizations among children have risen to the highest levels of the pandemic, prompting debate on whether the delta-driven surge is more ferocious in kids or if the fast-moving variant is reaching young people who are increasingly out and about and often unvaccinated.

August 27, 2021
President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks about the bombings at the Kabul airport that killed at least 12 U.S. service members, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden to Kabul terrorists: ‘We will hunt you down’

President Biden said Thursday the U.S. will "not forgive" the terrorists who killed a dozen U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians in twin blasts in Kabul and deepened the worst foreign crisis of his presidency.

August 26, 2021