Schwarzenegger: New budget is ‘perfect medicine’ for California

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state budget plan passed by state lawmakers early Thursday is "the perfect medicine for our ailing economy." The measure, which awaits the governor’s signature, includes tax increases, spending cuts and borrowing to close a $42 billion deficit.

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Afghanistan, trade on table as Obama visits Canada

President Obama takes his first foreign trip as head of state Thursday when he travels to Canada. And though he enjoys an 81 percent approval rating north of the border, Obama is expected to tackle several explosive issues with America’s largest trading partner. • The war in Afghanistan: Canada has about 2,800 troops in Afghanistan, but Parliament has voted to pull them out by 2011.

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GM Bailout: Billions to Put People Out of Work

GM says it needs more money from the federal government or it will run out of cash next month. It has made some progress with its creditors and the UAW, but neither of those negotiations is final, so some of what GM can do to cut costs and improve its balance sheet will have to be taken on faith. The parts of the GM restructuring the the company can claim are firm are the closing of some brands including Saturn and Hummer, the shutdown of several factories, and the firing of 47,000 people.

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Why Annie Lennox is ready to move on

Annie Lennox has incredible eyes. They’re a translucent blue-green, both kind and inviting in one glance, then piercing and all-knowing in another. At 54, Lennox’s orbs are as captivating today as they were when they stared at us from under that fiery orange crew cut in the music video for the Eurythmics hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” That was 1983

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Obama: Troops alone cannot win in Afghanistan

Diplomacy will play a bigger role in U.S. efforts in Afghanistan in future even as the Pentagon announced a significant troop increase, President Barack Obama said Tuesday in an interview on Canadian television. “I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means,” Obama told journalist Peter Mansbridge as part of a wide-ranging interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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