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Failing to reform health care ‘truly scary,’ Obama says

President Obama complained Tuesday about opposition scare tactics against a proposed health care overhaul but said that failing to fix problems in the current system would be the scariest outcome of all. Obama addressed a supportive town hall meeting that contrasted with combative events held by Democratic Congress members, which have generated heated and sometimes disruptive responses. Also Tuesday, hostile crowds shouted questions and made angry statements against proposed health-care legislation at meetings in Pennsylvania and Missouri led by Democratic senators Arlen Specter and Claire McCaskill.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Is Dead at 88

— President John F. Kennedy’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who carried on the family’s public service tradition by founding the Special Olympics and championing the rights of the mentally disabled, died Tuesday morning, her family said in a statement. She was 88.

Pakistani Taliban chief alive according to group’s spokesman

Pakistan’s Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is alive, the group’s spokesman told CNN on Tuesday — disputing the Obama administration’s contention that he was killed by a CIA missile strike. Spokesman Maulvi Umar said Mehsud is ill, but safe at an undisclosed location

Taliban still a major threat 8 years later

It has been nearly eight years since U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan, but the war against the Taliban insurgency is bloodier than ever. The number of Afghan civilians killed in the wake of the war has increased 24 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same time period last year, according to the United Nations.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s relatives called to hospital

Relatives of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a sister of President Kennedy, were summoned Monday to a hospital on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a source close to the family told CNN. “It’s minute to minute right now,” the source said. Shriver, 88, founder of the Special Olympics, has been in the hospital for several days, her family said, and her relatives were summoned after she suffered a setback, the source said

China mourns death of ex-leader’s wife, Communist stalwart

Chinese leaders Monday mourned the death of Zhuo Lin, wife of former national leader Deng Xiaoping. Zhuo, a former consultant of the Central Military Commission General Office, died July 29 at age 93 and was cremated Monday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. She was “an excellent Communist Party of China member and time-honored loyal communist fighter,” the party said in a written statement

Honduras to admit diplomatic mission

Honduras reversed course Monday, saying it will allow a delegation from the Organization of American States to visit the country — on the condition that the organization’s head attends only as an observer. A day earlier, Honduras had rejected the planned visit, calling the organization’s Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza biased and unprofessional.

On Obama’s Mexico Agenda: Stopping the Guns from El Norte

The camcorder shakes as it films the thud of thick .50 caliber bullets ripping through a steel plate target in the heat of the Arizona desert. Panning across the jagged rocks and cacti, the camera then focuses on the shooter: a smiling Mexican sitting down on the dust as he uses both hands to fire the huge state-of-the-art weapon that can tear through tank armor

Official: Likelihood of Pakistani Taliban leader’s death ’90 percent’

The United States believes Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone attack last week, President Obama’s national security adviser said Sunday. “We think so,” Gen.

How to Leave Iraq

There are two big schools of thought about what the U.S. should do next in Iraq, and both schools are almost certainly wrong.