The concept has been enshrined in Europe for generations. Health systems are built so inclusive that even illegal immigrants are entitled to free treatment beyond just emergency care. Europeans have some of the worlds best hospitals and have made great strides in fighting problems like obesity and heart disease.
But the system is far from perfect.
In Britain, France, Switzerland and elsewhere, public health systems have become political punching bags for opposition parties, costs have skyrocketed and in some cases, patients have needlessly suffered and died.
Obama has pointedly said he does not want to bring European-style health care to the U.S. and - - - - >

The purchase of the Spanish-owned Banco de Venezuela gives Chavezs socialist government control over more than one-fifth of bank deposits as he tightens his grip over the economy.
The acquisition will “strengthen the public banking system,” which favors sectors including agriculture, energy, housing and tourism, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said in a statement.
In May, the Venezuelan government agreed to pay Spains Grupo Santander $1.05 billion for the bank, ending months of stalled negotiations.
At the time, Banco de Venezuela had 3.2 million clients, 10 percent of the countrys deposits and 6,000 employees.
Combined with other state banks, the government will now control about - - - - >

Soon after taking office in April, Prime Minister Najib Razak scrapped a requirement for 30 percent Malay ownership of companies in certain service industries. This week, he cut the ownership requirement to 12.5 percent for companies that want to list on the stock exchange.
Najib, who is Malay, has also promised to award more government scholarships next year based on academic excellence, rather than racial quotas.
The moves are carefully calculated to avoid angering Malay voters. They touch only a few of the benefits given to Malays, who make up nearly 60 percent of the countrys 28 million people. Still, even these - - - - >

Crude oil is set for a third weekly drop after U.S. unemployment rose to the highest in almost 26 years, signaling the worlds largest energy user remains mired in recession. Prices may drop again next week on speculation that U.S. fuel inventories will climb as the weak economy curbs demand, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.
“It has been a double whammy for crude oil,” said Chris Jarvis, president of Caprock Risk Management LLC in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. “Youve got a stronger dollar and - - - - >

U.K. sales at the unit of Boizel Chanoine Champagne SA rose 5 percent by volume in the past four weeks, compared with the same period of 2008, Paul Beavis, Lansons managing director in the country, said yesterday. For the year through May 16, the quantity of Lanson champagne sold through supermarkets and liquor stores fell 19 percent, he said, citing AC Nielsen figures.
“The weather and the fact that Andy Murray is going so well are clearly helping — champagne is about celebration,” Beavis said in an - - - - >

Payrolls declined by 467,000 and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released yesterday in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983. Earnings per hour climbed at a 0.7 percent annual pace on average over the last three months, the smallest gain since records began in 1964.
Stocks tumbled and bond yields fell as investors bet the 18th straight month of job cuts will further sap consumer spending, weakening a recovery from the deepest recession in half - - - - >

The plan includes a government-run insurance program as an alternative to private coverage, and would cost about $400 billion less than an earlier proposal.
Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a letter to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that the plan would cost $611.4 billion over 10 years, citing an analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO later released a - - - - >

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in New York ended a hearing on the proposed sale without indicating when he would make a ruling. GM lawyer Stephen Karotkin told Gerber he planned to deliver a revised sale order, including changes to resolve objections, by tomorrow, for the judge to consider.
During the three-day hearing, GM sought to persuade Gerber that the sale to U.S. Treasury-funded Vehicle Acquisition Holdings LLC was the only choice available to the Detroit-based company other than liquidation.
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Twelve banks have failed this year in Illinois, the most of any state. The seven lenders seized yesterday, with total assets of $1.49 billion and deposits of $1.34 billion, were closed by state or federal regulators and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver, according to statements from the FDIC. Buyers were named for each of the closed institutions.
The Illinois banks are affiliates of Peotone Bank & Trust Co., in Peotone, Illinois, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Chicago. The failures resulted primarily because - - - - >

Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the worlds largest producer, may cut Arab Heavy by an average of about 70 cents a barrel for August, according to a survey of refiners in Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and India. Aramco may provide prices next week. Prices for Arab Light and Extra Light grades may decline, said the traders, who asked not to be unidentified, citing confidentiality agreements.
Saudi Arabian Oil, or Saudi Aramco, raised the July Arab Heavy level to a discount of 15 cents to the average of price of - - - - >