USA
Among Democratic voters in New Hampshire, Illinois Sen. Barack Barack Obama has caught up with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a CNN/WMUR Poll released Wednesday. Clinton, whose support among women has eroded, is favored by 31 percent of the state's Democrats, Obama by 30 percent.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez signed a long-awaited trade agreement in Beijing Tuesday that the US travel industry believes will open the floodgates to a wave of Chinese tourists and an influx of billions of dollars. The deal will permit US tourist destinations to advertise directly to the Chinese public and will allow Chinese travel agencies to market US tours.
San Francisco aims to be the most solar-powered city in the country, city officials said Tuesday, in unveiling an ambitious incentive program of refunds and loans. The goal is to raise the number of solar-powered homes and buildings from 660 to 10,000 over the next decade. Voters and the city's Board of Supervisors must still approve the plan.
In a symbolic gesture of support by TV show fans for writers during the six-week-old strike, members of the Writers Guild of America delivered thousands of pencils (above) to network executives in Los Angeles.
By a 390-to-0 vote, the House Tuesday passed a bill to raise the retirement age for commercial pilots from 60 to 65 and bring the US into conformity with the international standard. The Senate now takes up the legislation.
The International Olympic Committee officially stripped US track and field star Marion Jones of her five 2000 Olympic medals Wednesday for her admitted drug use. The IOC, however, postponed a decision on whether to recall the medals of her 100- and 1,600-meter relay teammates.
Nearly 37 percent of today's 17-year-olds won't have any money in 401(k)-style plans at retirement, according to Government Accountability projections released Tuesday.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals introduced the nation's first Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation Unit in New York Tuesday. The forensic vehicle will travel to assist national and local law enforcement officers in their efforts to investigate and prosecute cases of animal abuse. It also will be used to care for mistreated animals. Above, veterinarian Melinda Merck and ASPCA CEO Ed Sayres inspect a puppy in the new mobile unit.
