| Health care: The promise, and the perils, of bipartisanship Posted: 18 Jul 2017 02:03 PM PDT ![Health care: The promise, and the perils, of bipartisanship]( "Health care: The promise, and the perils, of bipartisanship") Last week, when Republican senators unveiled their revised health-care plan, reporters swamped Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine, a crucial swing vote, pinning her against a wall just steps from the Capitol's magnificent rotunda. Inching her way forward, reporters flowing along like flotsam and jetsam, she urged starting anew with a bipartisan, open approach – the way significant bills of the past were forged in Congress. Indeed, on Tuesday morning, the Senate Democratic leader, Charles Schumer of New York, took to the Senate floor to say that "the door is open right now, Republican leadership only needs to walk through it." This, after Republican support for the GOP health-care plan collapsed on Monday evening, prompting majority leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky to announce a last-ditch effort at delayed repeal – an idea that also looked to be going nowhere.
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| South Carolina debuts a new model for bridging racial divides Posted: 18 Jul 2017 12:19 PM PDT ![South Carolina debuts a new model for bridging racial divides]( "South Carolina debuts a new model for bridging racial divides") In this rural outpost, a pair of statues collectively called "Reconciliation" celebrate two natives and their heritage, Jewish financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch and African-American baseball legend Larry Doby. The South's stubborn, persistent history of racial prejudice is usually not so brazenly on display. In the wake of the mass shooting, he helped set up the South Carolina Collaborative for Race and Reconciliation at the University of South Carolina (USC), an initiative designed to encourage communities to address racism by building stronger alliances and friendships across racial lines.
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| What is stirring Russia's youth to rally around Alexei Navalny? Posted: 18 Jul 2017 11:50 AM PDT ![What is stirring Russia's youth to rally around Alexei Navalny?]( "What is stirring Russia's youth to rally around Alexei Navalny?") Mikhail Aralov is part of the biggest political surprise of the year in Russia. The 22-year-old student chef has been arrested twice in the past few months for taking part in unsanctioned protest rallies called by Russian opposition leader and aspiring presidential contender Alexei Navalny. Not only is Mr. Aralov unrepentant, he says he's ready to hit the streets again and again, until the Kremlin agrees to let Mr. Navalny run against Vladimir Putin in elections that are less than a year away.
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| A toehold for peace in Syria Posted: 18 Jul 2017 11:24 AM PDT ![A toehold for peace in Syria]( "A toehold for peace in Syria") After six years of war, nearly 100,000 civilian casualties, and rising foreign intervention, Syria has a toehold on peace. A truce in southwest Syria, brokered on July 7 by Russia and the United States, has so far held up. While the silencing of guns may fail, it at least shows growing war fatigue and provides some hope for a reshaping of Syria by peaceful means.
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