Though Italy’s unemployment rate is at an almost 12-year high and its economy continues to contract, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti struck a hopeful tone on Sunday, asserting that the austerity measures undertaken by the country had put Italy in a more competitive position within the EU.

Iran’s economic minister said on Sunday that, despite increasing sanctions, Iran will not give up its nuclear program and warned that the upcoming EU embargo on Iranian oil will have an adverse effect globally. He said oil could reach $160 a barrel this summer.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said that if President Obama is reelected in November, Europe’s current economic crisis will be America’s future.

An intensive, one-on-one weight loss program developed by the Veterans Affairs Department failed to attract many comers, and the few who did take part didn’t lose much weight, researchers report.

On the surface, the funding that the Senate and House appropriations committees want to allocate for NASA in fiscal year 2013 isn't that much different from what they provided to the agency in recent years.

Better dialogue between the White House and the oil and gas industry has lobbyists and congressional Republicans screaming “politics,” arguing that both sides have something to gain from warmer relations in an election year. But National Journal’s Energy & Environment Insiders say that this ostensible “détente” won’t really do much for President Obama in November. 

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have spent almost $2 billion since 2001 to buy drugs to treat mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder despite growing evidence some of those drugs exacerbate PTSD symptoms, a Nextgov investigation shows. In addition, military research released this week highlighted that Defense faces what one Army clinician called an epidemic of mental illness.

Like a lot of self-made millionaires, Nick Hanauer has a theory on how to fix the ailing economy. Except that his involves imposing higher taxes on the rich to pay for more investments for the middle class.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski announced on Thursday that the agency will consider and likely adopt a plan to dedicate a nationwide swath of spectrum to the operation of wireless medical monitoring devices.