While US president George Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao hoped their discussions inside the White House would cool tensions over a yawning US-China trade gap, demonstrators massed outside today to protest Beijing’s human rights policies.

A video showing an American soldier sharing military information with undercover agents he believed to be al-Qaida members is expected to be among key evidence in his court martial, beginning today.

AN American soldier about to leave for Iraq tried to contact al-Qaida terrorists through the internet, offering the group information on US military capabilities and weaponry, defence officials said yesterday.