US President George Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to cooperate more closely but failed to break new ground today toward resolving differences over trade and nuclear tensions with Iran and North Korea.

A 216-year-old sculpture – the most accurate and detailed rendering of George Washington in existence – will undergo a laser scan this year to produce a precise, three-dimensional depiction of the first US president.

TO those Americans engaging in that tired old game of France-bashing, does October 19, 1781, mean anything? This is the ultimate French connection.