Russia Moves to Boost its Role in Central Asia

On July 30, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev sat down for talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, two countries that sit in the crosshairs of the U.S.-led war on terror. The meeting with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Zardari, took place in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan.

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Swim club offers olive branch after racism allegations

A suburban Philadelphia swim club has invited children from a largely minority day-care center to come back after a June reversal that fueled allegations of racism against the club, a spokeswoman said Sunday. The development came during a hastily called Sunday afternoon meeting of the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. Club members voted overwhelmingly to try to work things out with the day-care center, which accused some swim club members of making racist comments to black and Hispanic children contracted to use the pool, said Bernice Duesler, the club director’s wife.

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Indonesians vote in presidential election

Polls closed across Indonesia on Wednesday after citizens cast ballots to elect their next president and vice president. Preliminary election results were expected within a few hours, with official results expected no sooner than next week. Indonesia has 175 million registered voters spread over 17,000 islands.

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Michael Jackson Settles Out of Court with Sheik

Michael Jackson avoided a much-anticipated appearance in London’s High Court by reaching an out-of-court settlement with Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the prince of Bahrain, who was suing him for $7 million. “As Mr. Jackson was about to board his plane to London, he was advised by his legal team to postpone his travels since the parties had concluded a settlement in principle,” Celina Aponte, Jackson’s London-based spokeswoman, said late on Sunday

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Comment: UK Speaker’s resignation first step to clean stables

Michael Martin, forced to resign as Speaker of the British parliament, has become the highest profile victim of the expenses scandal which has dominated public life in Britain now for nearly two weeks. Martin has suffered because as Speaker he not only chaired debates in the Commons chamber but was in effect parliament’s chief executive. In that role he was responsible for the Fees Office.

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Five Challenges Facing India’s Election Victors

Despite predictions of a close race forcing an unstable coalition government, India’s Congress Party on Saturday claimed a major victory in national elections, leaving it with enough parliamentary seats to form a government with only minimal support from other parties. Congress is expected to win 205 out of 543 seats, according to India’s Election Commission, garnering 124 million votes. So how does Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plan to use the electorate’s strong mandate for his second term in office?

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Firing Line: Tough New German Gun Laws Could Ban Paintball

To its fans, paintball may seem like a harmless enough sport, a game of skill and tactics in which teams of players shoot colored paint pellets at one another. But under controversial new gun laws and other measures being considered by the German government, games that are deemed to “simulate the killing” of your opponent — which, according to some, could include paintball — may be banned.

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