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• AMERICA’S Senate is poised to vote on a sweeping overhaul of the country’s health-care system proposed by Barack Obama. Backers of the bill need 60 votes to ensure that opponents cannot block its passage. They should be able to muster exactly that number if Joe Lieberman, an independent who was formerly a Democrat and has usually voted with his old party, does not follow through on a threat to side with the Republicans over his objections to some provisions of the revised bill. Mr Obama has called for the bill to get through the Senate before Christmas.