Recent News

China's ultra-wealthy rev up in style

How are rich people in China showing off their success? Owning one or more luxury and even ultra-expensive cars appears to be one of the most popular ways. Boosted by the ever-increasing numbers of people getting rich as a result of the nation's booming economy, demand for these cars is in the fast lane, offering rich pickings for the world's top luxury carmakers. British brand Rolls Royce,

Westinghouse wins nuclear deal -US

BEIJING - China and the United States on Saturday signed a memorandum that Washington said "will pave the way" for Westinghouse Electric Co. to build four civilian nuclear power plants in China in a deal estimated at $8 billion. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (L) talks to Trade Representative Susan Schwab (C) as they and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez attend a news conference

Authorities to stamp out power abuse

A top legal official has stressed that the establishment of special bureaus tackling civil servants' dereliction of duty and abuses of power shows the authorities are ready to deal with the problem. Twenty-four such bureaus have so far been established at the provincial level since the Supreme People's Procuratorate ordered the renaming and upgrading of the anti-dereliction and infringement

Rumsfeld gets big Pentagon sendoff

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld waves to well-wishers during his farewell tribute at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, December 15, 2006. Rumsfeld will be replaced by former CIA director Robert Gates. At left is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace.[Reuters] U.S. Marines march for U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Armed Forces Full

US, China officials work for economic integration

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (L) greets China's President Hu Jintao after the closing of the Strategic Economic Dialogue at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing December 15, 2006. [Reuters]   The first high-profile economic talk between top American and Chinese officials in Beijing has achieved tangible results: Beijing will invest in an American-led clean coal technology

Inquiry Concludes Diana’s Death Was an Accident

LONDON, Dec. 14 — No, she did not stage her own death and sneak off with her boyfriend to a remote island love nest. Nor was she murdered by MI5, MI6, the Mossad, the C.I.A., the N.S.A., the Freemasons, the Scientologists, the military-industrial complex, or a cabal of sinister British establishment figures led by Queen Elizabeth’s 85-year-old husband, Prince Philip. Instead, an exhaustive

Red Sox Introduce Matsuzaka as Team’s Newest Ace

BOSTON, Dec. 14 - Daisuke Matsuzaka received his first tour of Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon, even though the fabled ballpark looked like a construction site. A chain link fence encircled the field, a Dumpster was filled with debris, and tarpaulin covered the outfield and the plate. But the mound was not covered. Matsuzaka, who had a baseball in his hand, noticed that the mound was one

New Jersey Legislature Votes to Allow Civil Unions

TRENTON, Dec. 14 — The New Jersey Legislature voted this evening to allow civil unions between same-sex couples, quickly settling an emotionally fraught issue but frustrating advocates on both sides. Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who has supported civil unions, he would give the measure careful review but added, “I think we’re doing the right thing.” New Jersey would be the third state, after Vermont

Pakistan Court Drops Charge in London Plot Case

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 13 — A judge threw out terrorism charges on Wednesday against Rashid Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani descent whom prosecutors depicted as a major figure in a plot to smuggle liquid explosives onto trans-Atlantic airliners and detonate the bombs in flight. The ruling means there are now no terrorism charges against two people once accused of being linchpins of a major Al

South Dakota Senator Hospitalized

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota was hospitalized Wednesday, weeks before his party was to take control of the Senate by a one-vote margin. Johnson, who turns 60 on Dec. 28, was admitted to George Washington University Hospital with an undiagnosed illness, said a spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher. She said, however, the senator did not suffer a stroke or heart attack.

Last Hurrah for Street Art, as Canvas Goes Condo

It was as if someone had told devotees of Picasso’s “Demoiselles d’Avignon” or Matisse’s “Dance” that the Museum of Modern Art had changed hands and would soon be shut down for residential redevelopment, with all the art inside to vanish as part of the deal. In this case the art is not hanging inside the building but is splashed all over the walls outside, in spray paint, wheat paste, rubber,

Hevesi to Pay $206,000 for Use of N.Y. Workers

ALBANY, Dec. 12 — Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi agreed to pay a total of more than $206,000 today to resolve an inquiry by the New York State attorney general’s office into his use of state workers to chauffeur and act as companions for his wife Carol. The inquiry found that one state worker, Nicholas Acquafredda, rarely reported to the comptroller’s office, instead assisting Mrs. Hevesi with

Fed Leaves Key Interest Rate Unchanged

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — The Federal Reserve left its interest rates untouched today for the fourth straight time, holding firm to its position that a slowing economy will subdue inflation in the months ahead. But the Fed sounded a cautionary note on prices yet again, saying in a statement that “some inflation risks remain” Those words marked no change in tonefrom the Fed’s October statement, a

Steeple on Historic Harlem Church Replaced

A long-torn hole in Harlem’s skyline was mended today when the Ephesus Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Lenox Avenue got its steeple back in full. To peals of excited laughter and a couple of exultant whoops from congregants gathered at the intersection of West 123rd Street, workers hoisted a replacement pinnacle of lead-coated copper and steel — itself almost four stories tall — and set it

A Bitter Legacy of Division Survives Pinochet

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 11 — On Chilean television Sunday afternoon, supporters of Gen. Augusto Pinochet were pummeling demonstrators celebrating the death of the former dictator. “Look at that,” complained the manager of a car rental agency in the southern town of Pucón. “Even now that he’s dead, Pinochet continues to perturb this country.” Chile seemed calmer on Monday, with the general’s

Buttons at Trial Didn’t Bias Jury, Justices Say

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 — The Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the conviction of a California man who had contended that he was denied a fair trial because people sitting in the courtroom were wearing pictures of the man he killed. The justices ruled, in a case that addressed the relationship between federal and state courts as well as the conduct of courtroom spectators, that Mathew Musladin