More Trouble in West Africa’s Narco State

Some were actually hoping the wretched west African nation of Guinea-Bissau might have a fresh start this summer. In March, both the country’s dictatorial President, Joao Bernardo Vieira, and its mighty army chief Tagme Na Waie were assassinated, creating something of a clean slate, a chance for the country to start anew with a presidential election scheduled for June 28.

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Will the Public Plan Make or Break Health Reform?

To the leaders of the Republican Party, a public health-care insurance option is a “non-starter,” the first step on a slippery slope to socialized medicine; in the eyes of the American Medical Association , it could “restrict patient choice”; and for President Barack Obama, as he put it Monday during his speech to the AMA in Chicago, it’s an essential part of any health care reform package that will “put affordable health care within reach for millions of Americans.” With all the hand wringing over a public plan, you could be excused for thinking there is already a specific plan on the table. There is not. But that hasn’t stopped House and Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle from turning a public plan into one of the most contentious issues being debated inside the Beltway, one that could potentially make or break the passage of landmark health care reform this year

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Anti-war campaigners slam ‘secret’ Iraq probe

Anti-war protesters have criticized a decision by the UK government to hold an investigation into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war behind closed doors. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the House of Commons on Monday the inquiry into the war would hear evidence in private so witnesses can be “as candid as possible.” He added that it would be held along the lines of the Franks inquiry into Britain’s war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in the early 1980s.

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U.S., Canada keeping close eye on Iran’s election outcome

The White House remained neutral on the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, praising the spirited debate among voters, but joined Canada on Saturday in saying it is monitoring reports of irregularities. Ahmadinejad was declared the winner with 62.63 percent of the vote, but his chief rival, reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi, and his supporters are accusing the incumbent of voter intimidation and fraud. U.S

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U.S. student ‘not at home’ night roommate died

American student Amanda Knox was on the stand Saturday for a second day, this time facing questions from the public prosecutor in her trial on charges of murdering her housemate about two years ago. Knox, 21, is charged in the death of British student Meredith Kercher, who was her housemate in this university town north of Rome. Kercher, 20, died in what prosecutors say was a “drug-fueled sex game” after suffering a sexual assault

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