Politics

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Associated Press 'RIGHT ANSWER': Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci hailed the ruling Thursday on Kosovo independence.

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** FILE ** Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, is the federal government's point man for the BP oil-well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo)

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The White House said on Thursday, July 22, that the president (shown in this composite in a March 2010 photo) expressed to Ms. Sherrod his regret about the events of the last several days, noting that the phone call lasted seven minutes. (Credits: Sherrod file photo: AP/United States Department of Agriculture; Obama: Pete Souza for Associated Press)

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An undated photo provided by the United States Department of Agriculture shows USDA official Shirley Sherrod. Mrs. Sherrod is at the center of a racially tinged firestorm involving the Obama administration and the NAACP. Mrs. Sherrod was ousted Tuesday by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack over her comments that she didn't give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago. (AP Photo/United States Department of Agriculture)

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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs pauses as he speaks with reporters on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, at the White House in Washington, about the apparently wrongful firing of a black U.S. Agriculture Department official, Shirley Sherrod, after it appeared she had made racist remarks in unfair and heavily edited video posted on a conservative website. Mr. Gibbs says Mrs. Sherrod is owed an apology for the rush to judgement after the full video indicated those remarks were taken out of context. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. On Thursday, Mr. Reid said the Senate Democrats are abandoning an energy bill, saying Republicans refuse to support the measure. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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In this Thursday, July 15, 2010, file photo, Iraq's Minister of Justice Dara Noureddin, left, and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jerry Cannon, right, hold a symbolic key to the U.S. Theater Internment Facility at Camp Cropper during a ceremony transferring the facility to Iraqi control in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's justice minister says four al Qaeda-linked detainees have escaped from the Baghdad area prison that was handed over by the U.S. to Iraqi authorities a week ago. (AP Photo / Maya Alleruzzo, File)

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, delivers remarks after signing a framework agreement for the U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief with Vietnam Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong, right, at Ngoc Lam Pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, July, 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)

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Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, arrives at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday, July 22, 2010. The U.S. said it will intensify sanctions against North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship, targeting members of Kim Jong Il's regime and the foreign banks that help sustain the country's weapon's industry. (Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg)

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is greeted with flowers as she arrives at Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport to later meet with Vietnamese officials and attend the ASEAN-US Ministerial Meeting, Thursday, July 22, 2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)

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Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, visits the Ngoc Lam pagoda, which receives funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday, July 22, 2010. The U.S. is ready to take relations with Vietnam to a 'new level' 15 years after establishing diplomatic ties with its former adversary, Clinton said. (Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg)

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Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, left, and Nguyen Tan Dung, Vietnam's prime minister, meet at the Office of the Prime Minister in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday, July 22, 2010. The U.S. is ready to take relations with Vietnam to a "new level" 15 years after establishing diplomatic ties with its former adversary, Secretary of State Clinton said. (Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg)

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens to a live translation during a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding for U.S. support of HIV/AIDS programs in Vietnam, at Ngoc Lam Pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, July 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Julian Abram Wainwright, Pool)

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is seen on television monitors while she delivers remarks as delegates, top, listen during the ASEAN-US Ministerial Meeting, Thursday, July 22, 2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool)

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Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, speaks at a luncheon in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday, July 22, 2010. The U.S. said it will intensify sanctions against North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship, targeting members of Kim Jong Il's regime and the foreign banks that help sustain the country's weapon's industy. (Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg)

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attends a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding for U.S. support of HIV/AIDS programs in Vietnam, at Ngoc Lam Pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, July 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Julian Abram Wainwright, Pool)

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Vietnam Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong exchange memorandum of understanding for U.S. support of HIV/AIDS programs at Ngoc Lam Pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, July 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Julian Abram Wainwright, Pool)