Public option: ‘Nothing is ever dead on Capitol Hill’

As lawmakers huddled this summer to put together the framework for health care legislation, it quickly became evident that the battle over President Obama’s top priority would be neither quick nor easy. After months of debate and missed deadlines, the public option has emerged as the main sticking point

Share

Merkel eyes new coalition after victory

Re-elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel is eyeing a new coalition to replace the “grand coalition” her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party shared with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the previous parliament. If, as expected, Merkel forms a new coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FPD) it will have wide-reaching implications for Germans.

Share

Economic summit comes year after financial meltdown

As the leaders of the world’s industrial powers gather this week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, their economies are starting to emerge from the shadow of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression. A year ago, global markets were in free fall as governments moved to prop them up, sometimes nationalizing financial institutions and automakers.

Share

Reports: Tax authorities swoop for Maradona’s earrings

Football legend Diego Maradona had his earrings seized by Italian authorities Friday to help pay off his back taxes, according to media reports. The current coach of Argentina’s national team was staying at a clinic in northern Italy in a bid to lose weight when finance police swooped, Reuters.com reported

Share

Turkish leader denies press crackdown

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is denying accusations that a record fine levied against the country’s largest media conglomerate, Dogan Holding, was politically motivated. “I believe it is not right to mistake the routine works of the state agencies with freedom of press,” Erdogan said, according to Turkey’s state news agency, Anatolian

Share

Obama about to pull the ‘trigger’ on health care?

President Obama’s speech to Congress on Wednesday on health care reform will probably be one of the high-noon moments of his presidency. Surrounded by liberals demanding a government-run public option and centrist Democrats — along with Republicans — who want to dump the option, Obama just might have his finger on something that can get him through this health care showdown: the “trigger” option

Share