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Treasury chief to meet with Chinese leaders

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is set to meet with several high-ranking members of the Chinese leadership this week, marking the Obama administration’s first major overture to the powerhouse nation. Geithner left Saturday for meetings in Beijing, where he’ll discuss ways to strengthen relations between China and the United States, according to the Treasury Department. China is one of America’s most important trading partners, and its economy is tightly intertwined with efforts to reverse the global downturn

The soldier and the shipyard worker

One was the archetypal military strongman, intent on maintaining the social order and saving his country from "catastrophe." The other was a charismatic shipyard electrician and trade union leader who was just as determined to lead his countrymen to freedom.

Britain’s Got…Pride? How Susan Boyle’s Loss Could Be the UK’s Gain

It takes a powerful magic to keep Brits quiet on a Saturday night — just ask the nation’s beleaguered police. Yesterday evening pubs and clubs fell silent as 20 million people tuned into a TV show to see a question of global significance finally resolved. The final of Britain’s Got Talent wasn’t just about whether Susan Boyle — Scotland’s least processed export since steel-cut porridge oats — would triumph

Militants battle Pakistani troops in Waziristan

Twenty-five militants and six soldiers were killed Saturday night in two separate clashes between security forces and insurgents in Pakistan’s tribal region, officials said. Both clashes took place after militants ambushed security forces in South Waziristan, one of seven districts in Pakistan’s mostly ungoverned tribal region along the Afghan border, said military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas.

Myanmar junta justifies Suu Kyi detention

The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi has been postponed until Friday while the country’s military junta once again justified — albeit indirectly — its detention of the opposition leader. Without mentioning Suu Kyi by name, a full-page article in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Saturday laid out the penalty for someone running afoul of the state’s subversion laws — under which the pro-democracy advocate is being tried. “The restrictions can be extended up to a total of five years with the prior approval of the government in accordance with the law,” the article said

Feeling the Recession in the Art World

How will the show go on? On their first date, Barack and Michelle Obama went to the Art Institute of Chicago. Back then it was possible for them to go to a museum without attracting much attention

Iranian officials defuse bomb found on plane

Iranian security officials defused a bomb on a domestic flight en route to Tehran, the country’s semi-official news agency said Sunday.

Iraqi former official arrested on way out of country

Iraq’s former trade minister, who resigned this month amid accusations of corruption, was arrested by security forces as he was trying to leave the country, officials confirmed to CNN.

Pakistan secures key Swat Valley city

The Pakistani military says security forces have taken back the city of Mingora from the Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive against the Taliban. Mingora is the largest city in Pakistan’s Swat Valley where security forces have been fighting the Taliban in a month-long offensive. “It is a great accomplishment,” said Pakistani Maj

The Limits of Empathy for Sonia Sotomayor

If you doubt that President Obama has changed American politics, consider that we are about to have the first Supreme Court confirmation hearing in almost a quarter-century that does not revolve, in one way or another, around Roe v.