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May 07, 2012 | | OBESITY The nation’s most powerful anti-obesity groups are teaming up for a new HBO documentary—but they push the same tired advice. Newsweek’s Gary Taubes on the research they're ignoring—and why getting the country back in shape will mean changing the entire American food economy. EQUALITY One day after Vice President Joe Biden expressed his support for gay marriage, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he too believes couples of the same sex should be allowed to wed. In an appearance on Morning Joe Monday, Mark Halperin asked Duncan, “Do you believe that same-sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the United States?” Duncan replied, “Yes, I do.” The secretary said that he had not been asked before what his stance on the issue was. After Biden said yesterday that he was “comfortable” with gay marriage, the White House was quick to say that he was speaking for himself and not signaling an administration policy change. CAPTIVE In a shocking video released Sunday, 70-year-old American Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped in Pakistan last year begs Obama to save him. The Daily Beast’s Matthew DeLuca on how the development worker ended up in captivity. EURO ZONE German Chancellor Angela Markel instilled a small measure of confidence in European investors Monday, saying she would welcome newly elected French President Francois Hollande with "open arms." Stocks dipped, then advanced in the first day of business after elections in Greece and France that were widely seen as rebukes by voters against leaders who favored austerity measures to solve Europe's debt crisis. Market indexes rose in 10 out of 16 European nations early Monday after sustaining brief pre-trading dips. Merkel told reporters she is ready to work with the socialist Hollande to promote sustainable growth for the euro zone. OPINION Americans should take two lessons from the recent diplomatic tussle that erupted over blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, writes former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Monday in The Wall Street Journal. The country’s influence may be growing, but “the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is profoundly insecure.” On top of that, people from all walks of Chinese life “are increasingly demanding a more transparent and fair society.” The American government and electorate need to come to a better understanding of these often contradictory forces, Huntsman argues. The example of Chen “has given us an opening that we can either see as a source of conflict as an opening for expanding our dialogue” as America looks to develop more open relations with the Asian power. | | 
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