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UNITED STATES:DESPITE LEAVING the country for more than a week, Senator Barack Obama raised more than $51 million (€35 million) in July, keeping him in line to collect more than half a billion dollars for his 2008 presidential bid.

The showing, almost double what presumptive Republican nominee John McCain raised in the same month, was fresh evidence that Obama has maintained his record-setting pace after a contentious primary contest with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was also part of a larger trend in which Democratic candidates and party committees have been able to close the fundraising gap with their Republican counterparts.