China's family planning rules at issue in US asylum cases

Partners of Chinese women who were forced to have abortions are pressing the Supreme Court to make it easier to get asylum in the United States.

The Bush administration is resisting the male partners' efforts to get asylum, even though the Republican congressman who wrote a 1996 asylum law said it was intended to cover men as well as women who are victims of China's controversial family planning policy. There is no dispute that women can seek asylum under the law.

The justices will consider appeals by two men in the coming weeks.

U.S. courts have taken varying approaches to claims by Chinese men that they should be allowed to stay in the United …

Lottery

Here are the winning numbers drawn Monday:

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Contracting Successes

AMCOM's Contracting Professionals of the Quarter. A U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) Acquisition Center contracting team is recognized for its efforts in awarding a Program Executive Office Air and Missile Defense Common Hardware/Software-3 requirement. The 5-member team used various acquisition reform measures to successfully negotiate and award, in an unprecedented 45 days, a competitive hest-value, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, time and materials contract with a potential value of $2 billion over a 10-year period of performance. The AMCOM team placed special emphasis on encouraging and maximizing small-business participation. The winning proposal has a 29.1 …

China's Canton Fair suffers drop in attendance

China opened the final session of the Canton Fair _ the country's biggest trade show _ on Sunday amid complaints that attendance has been dismal because of the financial crisis clobbering the nation's biggest export markets in the U.S. and Europe.

The biannual event, which started 51 years ago in this freewheeling southern city, has long been a key barometer of global demand for Chinese goods. Foreign buyers traditionally flock to the event to haggle over an astounding array of goods _ everything from wrenches, bathroom sinks and copper tubing to solar panels, laptops, motorcycles and high-heeled shoes.

Final attendance figures will not be ready until the …

The Northwest Side home of Jacek Helenowski was announced recently as one ...

The Northwest Side home of Jacek Helenowski was announced recently as one of the greenest in the country by Rep. Mike Quigley and Green Building Council members. The "net zero" home uses no energy that it does not create, and it has a LEED certification of 119 out of 136 possible points. ABOVE: Helenowski shows hydroponic plants growing on the lower level. RIGHT: The green roof contains solar panels and a turbine windmill. | Al Podgorski~Sun-Times photosThe geothermal pool.The …

CNA takes units off the market

CNA Financial Corp., the second largest U.S. business insurer,dropped plans to sell its life insurance units because potentialbuyers were unwilling to meet its billion-dollar price.

The company, controlled by billionaire investor Laurence Tisch andhis family, has decided "not to sell these businesses for less thanthey are worth to CNA," said Bernard L. Hengesbaugh, chairman andchief executive.

In March, Chicago-based CNA hired Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette tosell its individual life, long-term care and retirement servicesunits to focus on its main …

Rights group says wanted Congo criminal walks free

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A former Congolese warlord accused of conscripting child soldiers walks freely and is serving in the Congolese military despite a warrant for his arrest, an international rights group said Wednesday.

Bosco Ntaganda was first indicted on war crimes charges in 2006 by the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. The court has accused Ntaganda of using child soldiers for fighting in Ituri, in northeastern Congo, from 2002 to 2003.

The United Nations also has implicated Ntaganda in the 2008 massacre in the village of Kiwanja in Congo's North Kivu province. More than 150 people were killed by rebels under Ntaganda's command, …