Why Rob Thomas avoids the spotlight

Rob Thomas is a busy guy — so busy, he apparently hasn’t had much time to check in with his Matchbox Twenty bandmates. We only know this because we ran into guitarist Paul Doucette at the BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills several weeks ago, where he was picking up a plaque for songwriter of the year

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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.

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ETA claims responsibility for attacks in Spain

The Basque separatist group ETA claimed responsibility Sunday for a series of attacks in Spain in June and July, including ones that killed two Civil Guard agents and a police officer. In a statement released to the Basque newspaper Gara, ETA said the attacks were in retaliation to a government initiative to aggressively go after the group.

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Book Excerpt: Reset by Kurt Anderson

Author Kurt Andersen’s new book, Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America, examines the economic, political and cultural opportunities to be found in the wake of the financial crises. In this excerpt, the second of five pieces to appear on TIME.com, he examines the corporate ingenuity that often arises in the wake of fiscal disaster. If you want to feel encouraged about our economic near future — not this damned decade but the teens — go talk to some venture capitalists

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Iran’s Show Trials: The Hard-Liners Build Their Case

On Sunday, Iran’s state TV broadcast a wrenching and stunning 20-minute confession from a well-known public figure. But former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist cleric, was clearly not himself. For one, he was not allowed to wear his clerical robe, and he had lost visible weight

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Is China the New Us? Or Are We?

Author Kurt Andersen’s new book, Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America, examines the economic, political cultural opportunities to be found in the wake of the financial crises. In this excerpt, the first of five on TIME.com, he glances back through history to see how national destinies can change. It was fitting that as I was writing my previous book, an historical novel called Heyday published in 2007, I turned 50.

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