Politics - Bloomberg

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- An election-year standstill in Senate confirmation of George W. Bush's judicial nominees will give the next president a chance to tip the ideological balance of U.S. appeals courts that decide such issues as job discrimination, national security and pollution-cleanup disputes.

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush arrived in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games after criticizing the Chinese earlier today for restricting individual liberties.

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Burmese democracy activists told President George W. Bush today that he should pursue ``more assertive diplomacy'' with the military regime in Myanmar.

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Government scientist Bruce E. Ivins acted alone in committing the 2001 anthrax killings, U.S. authorities said, citing evidence that he controlled access to the strain used in the attacks and tried to deceive investigators.

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The North Carolina waterfront community of Elizabeth City witnessed an early skirmish in a high-stakes political battle over registering new black voters, which may help decide the outcome of the presidential election.

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain said that if elected president he would tap former U.S. Comptroller David Walker to help balance the federal budget, calling the deficit hawk someone who could help convey the ``truth'' to the public.

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush and his South Korean counterpart urged North Korea to keep its denuclearization pledge five days ahead of a U.S. deadline to remove the communist regime from a list of nations that support terrorism.

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The most unlikely alliance in this election year hasn't come out of any political campaign. It's in the convergence of interests between billionaire oilman and Republican Party backer T. Boone Pickens and former vice president turned environmentalist Al Gore.

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said the presidential race in his state will be ``close,'' and he's urging fellow Democrat Barack Obama to campaign in rural areas where his support has been weakest.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Senator Barack Obama, poised to become the first black presidential nominee of a major party, rejected John McCain's claim that he's playing ``the race card'' and accused his Republican rival's campaign of cynicism rather than racism.

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- An election-year standstill in Senate confirmation of George W. Bush's judicial nominees will give the next president a chance to tip the ideological balance of U.S. appeals courts that decide such issues as job discrimination, national security and pollution-cleanup disputes.

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush called on China to respect the rights of its citizens in a speech detailing the U.S.'s ``deep concerns'' over religious freedom and human rights in the world's most populous country.

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Presidential candidate John McCain said that, if elected, he would tap former U.S. Comptroller David Walker to help balance the federal budget, calling the deficit hawk someone who could help convey the ``truth'' of the nation's budget deficit to the public.

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- A divided U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin, a convicted murderer whose case became an international dispute because he wasn't told of his right to seek help from the Mexican consulate.

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama sparred for a second day over their competing plans to ease the pain of rising energy costs in two battleground states hit hard by the sagging economy.

(Corrects location of Keating speech in 16th paragraph of story published Aug. 4.)

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said nations fighting AIDS need to reform their health-care systems to reach high-risk groups neglected during the past quarter century.

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama won applause and praise from leaders in Europe and the Middle East, even from skeptical Israelis, last month during his eight-day trip abroad.

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Barack Obama kicked off a week focusing on energy policies with an advertisement that accuses Republican rival for president John McCain of being ``in the pocket of big oil.''

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- When Barack Obama or John McCain takes over the presidency in January, he will inherit a stable U.S.-China relationship. Part of the credit will belong to someone who gets few kudos for his foreign-policy initiatives: George W. Bush.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said he's willing to support an expansion of offshore oil drilling that's part of an $84 billion Senate plan aimed at increasing domestic energy production.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said he's willing to support an expansion of offshore oil drilling that's part of an $84 billion Senate plan aimed at increasing domestic energy production.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A Barack Obama victory in the U.S. presidential election would do ``wonderful things for the confidence of black people around the world,'' the Guardian said, citing London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Congress approved legislation allowing Libya to settle the remaining claims by the families of U.S. victims of its state-sponsored terrorism and gain immunity from future lawsuits.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama and John McCain have plenty of advisers working on vice presidential candidate lists. The opposition is ready to help, too.

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Jack Reed said it was Republican candidate John McCain who injected race into the presidential campaign and is stooping to negative tactics out of fear he can't win the election any other way.

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Yamaha Motor Co. and Polaris Industries Inc., makers of all-terrain vehicles, are among the few companies who claimed victory with congressional passage of a measure to tighten consumer safety rules.

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The three-dozen strangers gathered at Manassas, Virginia's city hall gave up their Friday night to come up with a wish list for the nation. Brenda Kelley-Nelum, 65, a retired auditor, bemoaned health-care costs. Teacher Christine Dunn, 38, said inner-city schools needed to be safer. Accountant Lee Shaffer, 57, criticized the federal deficit.