The President had a warm, positive conversation with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

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The Israeli prime minister also twice made positive reference to President Obama's own comments and actions.

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And Prime Minister Gilani recently made a very positive statement about the need to pursue reconciliation and encouraging Taliban to join the political process going forward.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing with Jay Carney, Ben Rhodes, and Shawn Gallagher | The White House

The centre-right government of Janez Jansa was replaced in March by a new coalition led by Alenka Bratusek of Positive Slovenia - the country's first female prime minister.

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The prime minister also cited what he called "positive developments" in the Russian economy.

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In Greece, former European banker and ECB vice president Lucas Papademos was named the new prime minister, which is seen as a positive thing for the restructuring country.

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This was the case with VP Singh, who as prime minister (1989-90) redefined policies on positive discrimination in government employment.

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And although Gordon Brown, the prime minister, touts Britishness, Labour has seldom made a positive case for the union, telling Scottish voters at the May elections only that they faced public-service cuts without their English subsidy.

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In a statement, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti thanked all those who had "enabled a positive outcome of this affair, which was made all the more complicated by the extreme danger of the situation".

BBC: Ruined buildings in Marjeh, northern Syria (11 April 2013)