Cheers as Indian government wins vote

It took more than an hour after members pressed the buttons on the electronic voting machines for the results to be tallied. The normally reticent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh beamed and loudly thumped the wooden desk as Speaker Somnath Chatterjee read the results that gave his ruling coalition a 19-vote victory .

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For Obama, a first step is not a misstep

The Iraqi government on Monday left little doubt that it favors a withdrawal plan for American combat troops similar to what Senator Barack Obama has proposed, providing Mr. Obama with a potentially powerful political boost on a day he spent in Iraq working to fortify his credibility as a wartime leader.

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