Landmark Piracy Bill MOSCOW (MT) -- The State Duma on Friday overwhelmingly passed in the pivotal second reading a landmark bill that defines intellectual property rights and details punishments for violating them. The law, submitted to the Duma more than a year ago, introduces a slew of amendments to the existing law ""on trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin,"" ranging from the legal definition of what constitutes a counterfeit to provisions that require pirates to compensate trademark owners and destroy counterfeit goods at their own expense. ""The reforms also include new protections for owners of famous trademarks and new provisions to reduce bad-faith trademark registrations and unfair competition,"" said Alexander Shelemekh, a member of the Duma's working group on intellectual property and senior vice president of the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights.

Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters marched peacefully on the U.S. White House on Saturday to express opposition to a possible attack on Iraq, some chanting slogans accusing President George W. Bush of planning genocide.

A suicide bomber struck at a gas station next to the entrance of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Sunday, leaving three dead, including the attacker.

Senator Paul Wellstone, a two-term Democrat locked in one of the tightest campaigns in the nation, was killed Friday when his plane crashed in freezing rain near Eveleth, Minnesota, a small town in the northeastern part of the state.

U.S. President George W. Bush has sought Chinese President Jiang Zemin's backing for a new UN resolution demanding Iraqi disarmament, while France and Russia have unveiled rival measures aimed at averting military action against Iraq.

A man sought as a material witness in the Washington-area sniper shootings has been arrested, and prosecutors have announced plans to charge the two suspects in Virginia, the second state where John Lee Malvo could face the death penalty.

A teenager apparently angered by a neighbor went on a shooting spree in eastern Oklahoma on Saturday that left two people dead and at least seven wounded, authorities said.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government will this week unveil a package focusing on the nation's non-performing loan problem, but there are signs that harsh action on the banking sector will be watered down amid fierce political opposition.

Though Iraq's future is hazy, energy companies have begun to weigh the roles they might play in the revival of the country's huge but dilapidated oil industry.