US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez called illegal copying of American products the top trade issue between the US and China Thursday at the start of his first official trip to China. In April, the US put China on a "priority watch list" for intellectual property law violations. Gutierrez visited Russia this week to address [...]
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Thursday that she would call a national convention in 2006 to change the constitution and form of government of the Philippines from an American-style system with a president and bicameral legislature to a federal, parliamentary system. Arroyo says the new system would be more effective in enacting reforms. Economists say [...]
A Spanish High Court judge ruled Thurday that there was adequate evidence to bring Arnaldo Otegi and a fellow member of the Batasuna party to trial after prosecuters alleged that the two men were ETA leaders. The charges, brought just days after Otegi was released on bail , may have the effect of bringing the [...]
A controversial French law passed last spring that banned conspicuous religious symbols such as headscarves and veils from public schools has improved the integration of students, French officials say. French Muslim groups have nonetheless urged the government to reconsider the law , and a number of students have been expelled for refusing to comply . [...]
A chance encounter in 1970 started the friendship that ultimately created "Deep Throat", Watergate Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward wrote in a WashPost article Thursday. On Tuesday, former FBI deputy director W. Mark Felt was confirmed as the source that helped Woodward and colleague Carl Bernstein break open the Watergate scandal and eventually force the [...]
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has announced plans to air TV commercials opposing the confirmation of African-American California state judge Janice Rogers Brown to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The commercials will air in Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Maine, whose US senators the group hopes to influence. Brown was [...]
US military forces in Afghanistan have released 53 prisoners after declaring that they were no longer considered threats. The release, made Tuesday, came just a few days after Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for Afghan custody of Afghan prisoners held by US forces amid reports of US abuses of Afghan detainees . The prisoners, all [...]
In a White House ceremony, President Bush has formally nominated Rep. Christopher Cox of California to succeed William Donaldson as SEC Chairman. Cox now awaits Senate confirmation, a process he withdrew from when in line for appointment to the US Court of Appeals after the Democrats gained control of the Senate in 2001. AP has [...]
A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California was narrowly defeated early Thursday by a 37-35 vote in the the 80-member California State Assembly . The vote came on the heels of state appeal Tuesday of an earlier judicial ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional . Supporters of the bill have [...]
The Durban High Court convicted an associate of South Africa's Deputy President Thursday at the end of a high-profile corruption trial that had gripped the nation. Financial advisor Schabir Shaik was found guilty of fraud in his business dealings with South African politician Jakob Zuma . The judgment, read live over radio and television for [...]