July 18, 2010
The UK’s health care system is the most efficient, says a study of seven industrialised countries. The Commonwealth Fund report looked at five areas of performance – quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and healthy lives. The US came last in the overall rankings, which also included data from Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand. But [...] more
July 16, 2010
Palestinian officials in President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party expressed reluctance on Friday to move from indirect to direct negotiations with the right—leaning government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. more
Legislation that could bar BP from getting new offshore oil leases in the United States passed another hurdle in Congress on Thursday while a separate bill to boost safety requirements for offshore drilling advanced through another congressional panel. more
A suicide attack on a mosque in south—eastern Iran killed at least 27 people and injured 167, the local governor said on Friday. more
British energy giant BP is speeding up the sale of up to 20 billion dollars (15.5 billion euros) of assets in a bid to boost funds after the Gulf oil spill, the Financial Times reported Friday. more
slight majority of Californians favor Arizona’s controversial law that makes illegal immigration a state crime and allows police officers in the Grand Canyon state to question people’s immigration status based on “reasonable suspicion,” according to a Field Poll released today. more
Until recently, it was a given that President Barack Obama would make good on his campaign pledge to let the Bush-era tax cuts that benefited wealthy Americans expire at the end of this year. Ditto for his promise to maintain the tax cuts for households earning up to $250,000 a year. more
July 15, 2010
In its most significant revision to church law since a sex abuse crisis hit the United States a decade ago and roared back from remission in Europe this spring, the Vatican on Thursday issued new internal rules making it easier to discipline priests who have sexually abused minors. more
The most far-reaching overhaul of financial rules since the Great Depression moved to the verge of enactment as senators approved a key procedural measure that sets the stage for a final vote. more
The Egyptian Red Crescent is transporting an estimated 2,000 tons of Libyan food and medical aid to the Gaza Strip by land on Thursday. The aid was being off- loaded from the Moldovan-flagged Amalthea at the port of El-Arish in Egypt late on Wednesday. more
President Barack Obama — Inauguration, Transcript and Video
First of Many Disagreements to Come
ATF Disrupts Plot to Kill Obama and Blacks