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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

A health worker stands in the Sambadrome as he sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Inspectors begin to spray insecticide around Sambadrome, the outdoor grounds where thousands of dancers and musicians will parade during the city's Feb. 5-10 Carnival celebrations. Brazil's health minister says the country will mobilize some 220,000 troops to battle the mosquito blamed for spreading a virus linked to birth defects. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Brazil moves to wipe out mosquitoes to stem Zika virus

The Brazilian government moved Friday to attack mosquito hot spots in federal buildings across the country, part of its effort to "declare war" on insects that are carrying the Zika virus across Latin America.

January 29, 2016
FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2016, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Detroit. During an interview with Politico posted on its website Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, Obama was extremely cautious in discussing the presidential campaign to avoid showing explicit favor in the Democratic race. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Obamacare not a top issue for voters: poll

Obamacare places pretty far down the list of concerns for Americans, according to a survey, underscoring President Obama's difficulty with just three days left to apply for coverage to get the public to buy into his health care law.

January 28, 2016
A researcher holds a container with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Biomedical Sciences Institute in the Sao Paulo's University, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. The Aedes aegypti is a vector for transmitting the Zika virus. The Brazilian government announced it will direct funds to a biomedical research center to help develop a vaccine against the Zika virus linked to brain damage in babies. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Zika virus: WHO convenes emergency session

The World Health Organization said Thursday it will convene an emergency session to fight the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that is "spreading explosively" in the Americas and has been tied to birth defects and other serious health problems, although the link is murky.

January 28, 2016
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell (Associated Press) **FILE**

HealthCare.gov signups creep to nearly 9M

Nearly 9 million people selected a plan on HealthCare.gov ahead of Obamacare's last week of signups, the Obama administration said Wednesday, inching the program closer to a downgraded enrollment target of 13 million customers in 2016.

January 27, 2016
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire Republican (Associated Press) **FILE**

Senators pledge to fight painkiller, heroin epidemic

A bipartisan group of senators urged Congress on Wednesday to attack the epidemic of heroin and painkiller abuse that is afflicting every state, saying a holistic approach is needed to block reckless prescribing, dispose of excess pills and equip first responders with a drug that can reverse overdoses.

January 27, 2016
People walk past a statue of Gen. John J. Pershing, who had served as general of the Armies in World War I, in Pershing Park, at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ** FILE **

WWI commission announces winning design for D.C. memorial

A national memorial to "The Great War" will feature three main sections for recreation and reflection and preserve parts of the District of Columbia park that now sits there, the World War I Centennial Commission said Tuesday as it kicked off an ambitious scramble to fund and construct the tribute before the 100th anniversary of the war's end.

January 26, 2016
In this Dec. 17, 2015, file photo, Martin Shkreli leaves the courthouse after his arraignment in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Martin Shkreli gets extra time to fight Congress

The weekend winter storm forced House investigators Monday to push back their showdown with Martin Shkreli, the price-hiking drug company executive who is resisting their plans to have him appear before Congress for what he says is his own public embarrassment.

January 25, 2016
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Democrats push fixes to ‘crushing’ student debt

Rising college costs and heaps of student-loan debt are a direct threat to America's future, according to Senate Democrats who proposed legislative fixes Thursday and challenged Republicans to either join them or come up with a plan of their own in a pivotal election year.

January 21, 2016
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this May 12, 2014, file photo. (AP Photo, File)

Top Obamacare official pledges action on failing co-ops

The man in charge of implementing Obamacare told Congress he will take a proactive approach toward nonprofit co-op plans that have failed at a startling rate, pledging to both help co-ops that survived and leverage the Justice Department to seek repayment of taxpayer loans from those that did not.

January 21, 2016
The House budget plan, written by Budget Chairman Tom Price, Georgia Republican, calls for spending $5.5 trillion less than currently projected over the next decade, while the Senate plan, written by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, would spent $5.1 trillion less — a difference analysts said should be easily bridged when the two chambers meet in a conference committee. (Associated Press)

House Republicans eye reconciliation to trim 2017 budget

House Republicans will write their 2017 budget to the maximum level of spending set out in last year's budget deal, but will try to come back and cut spending later this year using the same fast-track tool they turned to in trying to repeal Obamacare, the House Budget Committee chairman said Wednesday.

January 20, 2016