Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and representatives from over 60 countries are meeting in Kabul today. This is the first major international conference in Afghanistan since the 1970s, and the first time Afghanistan is playing host to its major donors. Atop of the agenda: how to hand more responsibility for Afghanistan to the Afghan government. This comes at a crucial period, as American troops are expected to start leaving Afghanistan by next year. 

In March, a South Korean warship was torpedoed, killing 46 sailors and sinking the vessel. Recent evidence strongly implicates North Korea as the most likely power responsible for the attack, though Pyonyang denies any involvement. Now, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has said his country will boost its defense, sever all trade with North Korea and deny North Korean merchant ships access to their sea lanes. The U.S. has backed the South Korean stance. 

But this is not the first time North Korea has taken a hostile maritime policy, nor is this the most explicit act of aggression by Pyongyang.

Two years after a contested and hot-spirited primary campaign, Barack Obama's strongest rival has morphed into a great ally as the president and the secretary of state find their footing on the international stage. It took some time for Hillary Clinton to find her voice in the Obama administration, but is now a strong member of the team.

Every Monday, we look ahead at the week's news, with our partners at The New York Times and the BBC. This week, Marcus Mabry of The Times, and Vladimir Hernandez of the BBC look at where health care reform is headed next; the effects of a visit to Haiti by Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush; and the future of America's war on drugs as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Mexico.

It's Monday, which means that we're joined by Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times, to look at what's ahead this week. 

It's been four days since an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile and since then, the country's military and police force have been tested in some of the hardest hit areas, where there have been reports of curfews, looting, and vigilantes protecting their threatened property. At the same time aid has been arriving from around the world, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arriving in the capital yesterday.

In a flashback to the '90s, when then–First Lady Hilary Clinton went out and stumped for health care reform, new First Lady Michelle Obama starts hawking health care today. She'll pitch herself as a soccer mom who gets what families need from their insurance plans. And, though the tactic is different, it's hard not to hear echoes of Hillarycare. We speak to former Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers and Nia-Malika Henderson, White House reporter for Politico, to ask: How do first ladies fit into health care reform, and are there lessons to be learned from the Clinton White House? 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ends her 11-day trip across Africa today with a stop in the nation of Cape Verde. The State Department calls Clinton’s Africa trip a success, but her critics brush it off as little more than a “goodwill listening tour." Jendayi Frazer, former assistant secretary of state for Africa under the Bush administration, helps The Takeaway assess the significance of Clinton's trip.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in India today. Joining The Takeaway to talk about Clinton's trip and Washington's challenges in the subcontinent are Linda Blake, Wall Street Journal contributor in Delhi, India, Professor Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research in Delhi and Richard Wolffe, Daily Beast Columnist and political analyst for MSNBC.

Read Linda Blake's blog Global Reporter

Watch a clip of Secretary of State Clinton's speech to India on July 15, 2009 below.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been out of the media spotlight lately. But yesterday she staged a coming out party in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her speech focused on Iran and she had forceful words for the Islamic nation. Mark Landler is The New York Times Diplomatic Correspondent and he joins The Takeaway with his analysis of Clinton’s speech yesterday. Also joining the conversation is Afshin Molavi, a fellow at the New America Foundation and author of The Soul of Iran: A Nation's Journey to Freedom, to help us understand the shifting relationship with the U.S. and a post-crackdown Iran.

Watch Hillary Clinton's speech below:

On Friday, Hillary Clinton arrives in Beijing for talks with China’s leaders. This is the first visit to China by a senior member of the Obama administration. Everything from the economy, climate change, trade and human rights is on the table. To talk us through the issues facing China-U.S. relations, we’re joined by Cheng Li who is research director and senior fellow at the China Centre at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. For the view from China, we turn to the BBC's Quentin Somerville in Beijing.