Obama Has a Polite Town-Hall Meeting on Health Care

The beginning of the town-hall meeting in Belgrade, Mont., was ominous. As Katie Gibson, the petite woman chosen to introduce President Obama, began, her soft-spoken testimony about losing medical-insurance coverage amid cancer treatment was suddenly overwhelmed by thunderclaps and a heavy downpour of rain and hailstones that reverberated through the cavernous metal airport hangar.

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NASA Earth pictures show extent of eclipse

NASA has released new pictures of the Earth showing the vast extent of Wednesday’s spectacular solar eclipse. The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean, luring millions outside to watch the spectacle.

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Hamas leader: Obama must do more for peace

Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Thursday called on the United States to take a more active role in the Mideast peace process "so that America and the rest of the world can take a break from the headache of the region." “We appreciate the new language Obama used toward Hamas, and it is the first step in the right direction toward launching direct dialogue without any preconditions,” Meshaal said in his address from Damascus, Syria. “We welcome this.” Meshaal — who lives in exile in Syria — is the head of Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory of Gaza

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Russia-Belarus Relations Sour over Milk Ban

It had been a while since Russia pulled out the “sanitary regulations” card to ban imports over a spat with one of its neighbors. But on June 6, after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko publicly voiced his fury at Russia’s raising of energy prices, Russia imposed a ban on dairy products from Belarus, sparking a so-called milk war that has seen tensions between the former allies escalate daily

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Why Iraq Isn’t Korea

In the early days of the Iraq war, the analogy of choice for the Bush Administration was the post-World War II occupations of Japan and Germany. They had been bitter enemies of the United States; were both destroyed in a merciless world war; and eventually turned into peaceful, democratic allies of the first order. Anyone who said democracy couldn’t come at the barrel of a gun was denying the obvious.

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India’s Bharti, S. Africa’s MTN eye merger

Indian telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Limited and South Africa’s MTN Group Limited have renewed merger talks with the aim of creating an emerging market telecom giant, both companies announced Monday. Such a merger would create an operator with combined revenues of over $20 billion and a combined customer base of over 200 million, according to both companies. In addition to savings, “this opportunity also represents a first of its kind in developing an Indian-African initiative that would serve as a shining example of South-South cooperation,” said Bharti chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal.

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U.N. secretary-general in Sri Lanka visit

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toured a displacement camp in Sri Lanka on Saturday, days after the country declared victory in a 25-year civil war against rebels. He visited portions of Manik Farm, a sprawling camp for internally displaced people in the country’s north

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