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AP - House Democratic leaders abandoned a long struggle to strike a compromise on abortion in their ranks, gambling Thursday that they can secure the support for President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care legislation with showdown votes looming as early as next week.

Originally posted here:
Dems look to health vote without abortion foes
(AP)

Brazil’s President Lula is criticised for comments that appear to compare Cuban dissidents on hunger strike to common criminals.

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Lula criticised for Cuba comment

Several hundred people are now reported to have been killed in an ethnic clash near the Nigerian city of Jos, officials say.

Originally posted here:
‘Hundreds dead’ in Nigeria attack

AP - President Barack Obama ratcheted up his attacks against insurance companies Monday in a last-ditch attempt to get a reluctant public and skittish Democrats behind his health overhaul legislation.

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‘How much higher do premiums have to rise?’
(AP)

AP - Among the 1.5 million condolence letters sent to President John F. Kennedy’s widow after his assassination in 1963 were more than two dozen from Jane Dryden, a dogged and dramatic 11-year-old who churned out a letter a week for six months straight.

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JFK condolence letters published for 1st time
(AP)

AP - The Dalai Lama says he doesn’t fault President Obama for his low-key reception in Washington because he recognizes that the president must juggle ties to the Tibetan spiritual leader with concerns about angering China.

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Dalai Lama doesn’t fault Obama for low-key meeting
(AP)

AP - President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday unilaterally creating a bipartisan commission to rein in unruly deficits after Congress rejected a similar body with considerably more enforcement power.

The rest is here:
Obama sets up deficit panel without help from Hill
(AP)

Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja is being held by soldiers after gun battles in the capital, a government source tells the BBC.

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Niger leader ‘held by soldiers’

AFP - Soldiers opened fire Thursday in the Niger capital — where explosions and long bursts of gunfire resounded across the city — in what a top French official said was a coup attempt against President Mamadou Tandja.

More here:
Soldiers launch coup against Niger president: sources
(AFP)

The US sends one of its top diplomats to Syria in its latest move to improve ties with Damascus after years of tension.

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US visit seeks to warm Syria ties