The latest news on Health Care in Senate, Health Care Opposition, Immigration, Sotomayor Nomination, Faith & Technology, North Korea, United Nations, Kenya, Afghanistan, Darfur, South Africa, and Select Op-eds.

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Quote of the day. "I call on humanity to support this sensible and achievable goal. Let us each do our part in this common journey, and thereby ensure that there will be no more victims such as those we honor today." U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, calling for complete nuclear disarmament on today's 64^th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. (Guardian)

Health care in Senate. Senate Committee's Bipartisan Health-Care Reform Talks Move Toward Center "Senate negotiators are inching toward bipartisan agreement on a health-care plan that seeks middle ground on some of the thorniest issues facing Congress, offering the fragile outlines of a legislative consensus even as the political battle over reform intensifies outside Washington." Centrist Democrats Upbeat on Health Care Bill "After a meeting among Senate Democrats to hone their message on revamping health care, some centrist lawmakers who could deliver crucial votes expressed confidence Wednesday that they would be able to sign on to the legislation and sell it to their constituents back home."

Health care opposition. Protests at Democrats' Health-Care Events Spark Political Tug of War "Hectoring protesters at a handful of Democratic town hall forums became a flash point Wednesday in the health-care debate, as party leaders cast the critics as "angry mobs" trying to "destroy President Obama" while Republicans accused Democrats of dismissing public opposition to their proposals." Health care debate gets uglier "The spark for political firestorms around these back-bench Democrats has been President Obama's effort to overhaul the healthcare system. The debate has gotten especially ugly now that Congress is adjourning for a month-long summer recess and critics are mobilizing in force."

Immigration. U.S. to Reform Policy on Detention for Immigrants "The Obama administration intends to announce an ambitious plan on Thursday to overhaul the much-criticized way the nation detains immigration violators, trying to transform it from a patchwork of jail and prison cells to what its new chief called a 'truly civil detention system.'"

Sotomayor nomination. Sotomayor gains more Republican support in the Senate "On Wednesday, three Republicans who are not seeking reelection next year broke with their party and announced they would support Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor."

Faith & technology. Being there in spirit just got a lot easier "Thanks to technology, you really have no excuses left for avoiding communing with the divine, even during the dog days of summer."

North Korea. After Clinton Trip, U.S. Studies Signals From N. Korea "A day after former President Bill Clinton's flight into North Korea to win the freedom of two American journalists, the Obama administration moved Wednesday to send a stern message to the North Korean government: nothing has changed." Clinton, freed reporters leave N. Korea "North Korea's surprise 'special pardon' of two American television journalists today may have reopened the channels of communication between the Obama administration and the secretive regime that for years has defied the world with its nuclear tests and political bombast."

United Nations. U.S. set to pay its debt to U.N. "The Obama administration said Wednesday it plans to pay off the remaining debts to U.N. peacekeeping operations accumulated since 2005."

Kenya. Clinton Pushes Kenyan Leaders to Follow Through on Promised Reforms "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began a major trip to Africa on Wednesday by publicly urging Kenya, a strategic U.S. ally, to move faster to resolve tensions lingering from a disputed 2007 election that precipitated the country's worst crisis since it gained independence." Clinton maneuvers testy time for U.S., Africa "With the 11-nation tour of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, America's often testy relationship with Africa has opened a new chapter."

Afghanistan. Roadside Bomb Kills 21 Afghans "In another sign of growing violence in the last two weeks before national elections, at least 21 civilians, mainly women and children traveling to a wedding party, were killed by a roadside bomb on Wednesday in the southern province of Helmand." Afghan voters rely on warlords for advice "The run-up to the polls on August 20 has been characterized by horse-trading between the candidates and an array of warlords and powerbrokers who promise to deliver the votes of whole communities and ethnic groups."

Darfur. Envoy's Advice on Darfur Draws Criticism "The Obama administration's Sudan envoy is facing growing resistance to a suggestion he made recently to civilians displaced from Darfur that they should start planning to go back to their villages."

South Africa. Zuma pledges SA recession relief "South Africa will set aside 2.4bn rand ($300m; £177m) for a training scheme to help workers facing redundancy, President Jacob Zuma has announced."

Opinion. My plan to drop the bomb (Ban Ki-moon, Washington Times) "The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 marked an end and a beginning. The close of the World War II ushered in a Cold War, with a precarious peace based on the threat of mutually assured destruction." Rethinking North Korea, With Sticks (Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times) "For many years, based on five visits to North Korea and its border areas, I've argued for an 'engagement' approach toward Pyongyang, but now I've reluctantly concluded that we need more sticks."