Politics

North Korea said Friday that it has detained an American tourist, which if confirmed would bring the number of U.S. citizens known to be held there to three.

A dispatch from the official Korean Central News Agency states that Jeffrey Edward Fowle entered the country on April 29, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Can more than 1.5 million Texas veterans change the minds of state lawmakers opposed to legalizing medical marijuana?

William Martin, director of the Drug Policy Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, poses that question in the June issue of Texas Monthly. In his article “War Without End,” Martin talks with veterans using pot to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The story that’s most illustrative is a woman who uses the name Myst," Martin says. 

As China prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of its brutal repression of protests around Tiananmen Square, its leaders have presided over an unprecedented pre-anniversary crackdown. Rights groups say at least 50 people have been detained, put under house arrest or disappeared.

The Texas Republican Party has denied the Log Cabin Republicans a space at next week's state convention. Log Cabin Republicans represent gay conservatives and supporters of marriage equality in the party. 

Log Cabin Republican Executive Director Gregory Angelo says the state party denied the group’s application for a booth at the convention because, as homosexuals, they disagree with a plank in the party platform. The plank reads, in part, that "homosexuality tears at the fabric of society."

"It was our obligation to let the voters of Texas know and to let members of the Republican Party in Texas know that that language is in the party platform and it is being used to intentionally exclude gay Republicans from formal participation in the state GOP convention," Angelo says.

The Tea Party had its share of success in Tuesday’s primary runoffs, and more may lie ahead. KERA's Sam Baker looks ahead to the fall elections with Texas Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey.

Polls across Texas are now closed in the 2014 Democratic and Republican primary runoff elections. Since the start of early voting May 19, voters have selected six candidates that will run in November's general election. 

Republican runoff voters cast ballots in four contests:

• The bitter battle for Lieutenant Governor nominee, pitting incumbent David Dewhurst against State Sen. Dan Patrick. Patrick has won the nomination.
• The Attorney General battle between State Rep. Dan Branch and State Sen. Ken Paxton. Paxton has won the nomination.
• The Agriculture Commissioner contest between former state Reps. Tommy Merritt and Sid Miller. Miller has won the nomination.
• The Railroad Commissioner runoff between former state Rep. Wayne Christian and oil and gas consultant Ryan Sitton. Sitton has won the nomination.

On the Democratic side, two contests:

• The nominee for U.S. Senate, between establishment favorite David Alameel and outsider Kesha Rogers. Alameel has won the nomination.
• The Agriculture Commissioner runoff between entertainer Kinky Friedman and unknown Jim Hogan. Hogan has won the nomination.

Before a packed crowd in the White House’s state dining room, President Obama on Friday nominated San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro to become the newest — and youngest — member of his cabinet, as the secretary of housing and urban development.

“I am nominating another all-star who’s done a fantastic job in San Antonio over the last five years,” the president said between jokes about the “good-looking” mayor who had proved to be a “pretty good speaker.”

Pending Senate confirmation, Castro will replace Shaun Donovan, whom the president has tapped as the new director for the Office of Management and Budget.KUT's Ben Philpott explains the politics behind Castro's move to Washington.

It's been 12 weeks since the March primaries. And with so much time, and in some cases so much money on hand, some of the six races on the ballot have turned pretty nasty.

At the top of the list is the headline-grabbing Republican Lieutenant Governor's race between incumbent David Dewhurst and State Senator Dan Patrick.

Some students headed to college this fall will get top-drawer health coverage at little or no cost.

How? Medicaid, it turns out, will pay the premium for the student health plan.

Proponents say students who are eligible for Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people, get access to a wider network of doctors and hospitals by getting coverage through the college health plans. These broad networks can be an important consideration for students who travel for internships, international study or who return to homes far from school during the summer.

The time has come for us all to take a long, step-back look at this thing we call the Tea Party.

The results from Republican primaries in a dozen states so far this year strongly suggest that the party, such as it was, is over.

It may not have made sense to use the term "party" at any time in this movement's brief history. This year, that fact has become increasingly obvious.

Kids under 18 can't buy cigarettes in the U.S., but they can legally work in tobacco fields when they're as young as 12.

One of those kids is Eddie Ramirez, 15, who works the fields in the summer.

"It just sticks to my hand," he says of the plant. "It's really sticky, you know, and really yellow." It's nearly impossible to wash off, he says.