Voter’s anger over shutdown is inspiring Democrats to run
OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska has not elected a Democrat to the House of Representatives since 1994, and until this month, prospects for changing that were dim at best. Of the state’s three House seats, a Democrat has a fighting chance only in the district encompassing Omaha and its suburbs. And the party’s sole hope there, Omaha’s popular City Council president, had declared that he was not going to run.
A long shot for Geithner as he begins Beijing talks
BEIJING — Timothy F. Geithner, the U.S. Treasury secretary, came to Beijing on Tuesday hoping to persuade Chinese leaders to toughen their diplomatic stance toward Iran and soften their opposition to fiscal changes like a stronger renminbi that might help the U.S. economy.
US envoy says rights in China ‘backslide’
BEIJING — The chief U.S. representative to human rights discussions with China offered a cheerless portrait of those talks after their conclusion Thursday, saying the United States was worried by “a serious backsliding” of freedoms in China and at loggerheads with Beijing officials over many aspects of the issue.
Make no mistake: In China, state-run firms rule
During its decades of rapid growth, China thrived by allowing once-suppressed private entrepreneurs to prosper, often at the expense of the old, inefficient state sector of the economy.
People’s Republic of China Dismisses Its Minister of Education
Facing rising criticism over the quality of schools and a crush of jobless college graduates, China’s legislature announced Monday that it had removed the minister of education after six years on the job and replaced him with a deputy.
South Africa Closes Mine That Trapped 3,200 Below Ground
One day after a freak accident stranded 3,200 gold miners more than a mile underground, South African officials said Thursday that they had closed the huge Elandsrand mine for up to six weeks to determine the cause of the mishap.