Politics

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**FILE** A Lebanese army soldier passes in front of burned cars at the site of a car bomb explosion in an overwhelmingly Shiite area and stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, at the southern suburb of Beirut on Aug. 16, 2013. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** President Obama speaks Aug. 22, 2013, at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, leaves the podium after discussing the Affordable Care Act at a news conference in Atlanta on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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This image provided by Shaam News Network on Aug. 22, 2013, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show several bodies being buried in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, during a funeral on Aug. 21, 2013. Syrian government forces pressed their offensive in eastern Damascus on Thursday, bombing rebel-held suburbs where the opposition said the regime had killed more than 100 people the day before in a chemical weapons attack. The government has denied allegations it used chemical weapons in artillery barrages on the area known as eastern Ghouta on Wednesday as "absolutely baseless." (Associated Press/Shaam News Network)

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**FILE** Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter speaks on Aug. 8, 2013, during a news conference at City Hall. (Associated Press)

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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (left) listens Gen. Chang Wanquan, China's defense minister, speaks during their joint news conference at the Pentagon on Monday, Aug. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Steve Lonegan (center), a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, talks during a news conference in which New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (right) announced his endorsement of Mr. Lonegan, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, in Flemington, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)