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Contenders tread carefully through coal dispute
Local communities are bitterly divided between supporters of mountaintop mining, who view it as a crucial economic lifeline for a struggling region, and opponents who say the practice wrecks lives by polluting water and causing floods
Gates picks Microsoft chief to run his charity
Jeff Raikes, the former head of the software maker’s business division, will take over in September as chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Gideon Rachman: Oily truth about foreign policy
In 1973 the US imported 33% of its oil; today it imports about 60% and this figure could rise to 70 per cent by 2020. US politicians have, so far, responded to this problem with a mixture of wishful thinking and anger, writes Gideon Rachman
BlackRock CEO gives $10m to top college
The chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, the US asset manager, has donated $10m to one of the world’s leading business schools
Jurek Martin: Do not let Limbaugh decide it
When he goes on a rant about Wright’s marriage, I have to wonder where Iraq and the credit crunch feature in the election, writes Jurek Martin
FBI raids special investigator’s office
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the office and home of Scott Bloch, the chief of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent Washington agency investigating the possible misuse of authority by administration officials
Bad weather threatens US maize harvest
Bad weather is threatening a big shortfall in this year’s US maize harvest, according to US officials, risking a further upward push to food and energy prices
Family in the News: The Rockefellers
Long regarded as patrons of the arts and science, America’s foremost dynasty has turned its considerable attention to shareholder activism at ExxonMobil
Comment: A video game crammed with guts, gore and social insight
Grand Theft Auto will not teach your children how to tell right from wrong; but neither does Pop Idol or Wagner’s Ring cycle, writes Peter Aspden
Obituary: Woody ‘Spider’ Brown
Woody ‘Spider’ Brown, who has died aged 96, was a record-breaking aviator, built the first modern catamaran and will be remembered as a legendary surfer

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