WASHINGTON – Despite tough calls Thursday from President Bush for Chinese President Hu Jintao and his country’s administration to work with the United States on trade, human rights and other issues, Hu gave no concrete assurances. Hu’s visit began with an official welcoming ceremony on the White House South Lawn, …

PHILADELPHIA – Comcast Corp. and SonyPictures Entertainment will unveil a new horror and thriller network this Halloween through video-on-demand, the first collaboration between the two companies under a deal to create new cable channels. The as-yet-unnamed channel, to be announced Monday at National Cable & Television Association’s annual The National …

NEW YORK – Hundreds of thousands of people demanding U.S. citizenship for illegal immigrants took to the streets in dozens of cities from New York to San Diego on Monday in some of the most widespread demonstrations since the mass protests began around the country last month. Rallies took place …

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – You might think a slump in the compact-disc industry would be bad news for a CD manufacturer. But no one is complaining at Disc Makers. Sales of CDs have declined four out of the last five years and fewer sold last year than in 1995. Still, business …

TOMSK, Russia – The leaders of Russia and Germany called on Iran to fulfill its international nuclear obligations Thursday, a day before a U.N. Security Council deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also told reporters Thursday in the Siberian city …

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A Fort Benning soldier missing 12 days before his body was discovered in a downtown hotel died after he got caught in an industrial-sized air conditioner, officials said Saturday. A maintenance worker at the DeSoto Hilton hotel found the man’s body Friday in an area accessible through …

NEW YORK – “The Da Vinci Code,” the mega-selling thriller, does not infringe the copyrights of a book published in 2000 by another author because the books are not substantially similar, a federal appeals court says. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a five-page order this week which …

KATMANDU, Nepal – Security forces in a southern town shot into a crowd marching on the main highway to protest Nepal‘s royal dictatorship Monday, killing one and wounding five, a local administrator said. The shooting was the fifth time in recent days that security forces have opened fire on demonstrators …

KIEV, Ukraine – Homemade bombs exploded in lockers at two supermarkets in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, wounding as many as 14 people, authorities and news agencies said. The blasts occurred at about noon in supermarkets near one another in Kharkiv, a duty officer at the Kharkiv Emergency Situations Ministry said, …

NEW YORK – Billionaire financier Kenneth Langone Monday asked a New York state judge to dismiss him from a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over his alleged role setting the controversial compensation of former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso. Langone, head of Invermed Associates …