With control of the health care debate slipping from his grasp, President Barack Obama pitched his ambitious plan to both conservative talk radio and his own liberal supporters on Thursday — and denied a challenge from one backer that he was "bucklin' a little bit" under Republican criticism.

Canadians on Tuesday re-elected a minority Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in the first polls in a major economy since the eruption of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.