Delegates

BEIJING - China's leaders are often thought of as men with near-identical suits and hairdos. But among the 2,268 delegates to the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, there are 521 women. So how are they contributing to this much-touted national gathering, which will culminate Thursday with the unveiling of a new generation of senior officials? Judging from the Chinese press, one primary contribution is their looks. On Friday, the People's Daily website published a 14-photo slide show labeled “Beautiful Scenery from the 18th Party Congress.” The slides featured female delegates, many of them ethnic minorities in exotic garb and towering hair ornaments.

WASHINGTON - Tuesday's election dramatically changed the face of California's congressional delegation, shuffling in an eclectic group of freshmen lawmakers whose lack of seniority may diminish the state's Capitol Hill clout in the short term. At least 11 of the delegation's 53 House members will be newcomers in the biggest turnover in 20 years. Democrats currently outnumber Republicans, 35 to 15, and are leading in three tight races. The new delegation will have a more diverse look: The number of Latinos will increase to nine from six. But San Pedro Democrat Janice Hahn's defeat of incumbent Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach)

BEIJING - A popular joke making the rounds in Beijing touts the superiority of China's political system to that of the United States. After all, while the race between President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney went down to the wire, the Chinese have known for years the outcome of the 18th Communist Party congress that opens Thursday in Beijing. Vice President Xi Jinping has been groomed since the last congress in 2007 to replace President Hu Jintao (first as secretary-general of the Communist Party)

WASHINGTON -- New Hampshire voters will send an all-woman delegation to the next Congress. That was among the changes coming to the U.S. House of Representatives after an election on Tuesday that kept Republicans in the majority. Although a number of races were still undecided, Republican strategists were predicting a net loss of five to seven seats. Heading into the election, Republicans held a 240-190 majority with five vacancies, three previously held by Democrats and two by Republicans.

CHICAGO - Ending a seven-day walkout that left 350,000 students out of class, delegates for Chicago teachers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to go back to work. School will resume Wednesday in the nation's third-largest district, ending its first teachers strike in 25 years. "This settlement is an honest compromise," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "It means returning our schools to their primary purpose: the education of our children. " PHOTOS: Chicago teachers go on strike Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis exuded optimism.

The Chicago teachers strike may not end the way they want it to: Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans Sunday evening to sue the union and force what he called an illegal strike to end immediately. “I will not stand by while the children of Chicago are played as pawns in an internal dispute within a union,” the mayor's office said in a statement. “This was a strike of choice and is now a delay of choice that is wrong for our children.” After little over two hours of reportedly contentious deliberation on Sunday afternoon, 800 teachers union delegates voted against ending the strike after negotiators from the district and the union had reached a tentative deal.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa defended his performance during a platform kerfuffle at the Democratic National Convention this week, saying that he took the actions called for by President Obama and followed procedure when Democrats realized they had left the words “God” and “Jerusalem” out of the party platform. Such a change requires a two-thirds vote by delegates, and on Wednesday they were asked to approve language invoking God and affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The gift bag for politicians who stopped by to chat up Iowa delegates this week included a lapel pin, stationery with a drawing of the state's iconic gold-domed Capitol - and a fold-up map of Iowa's 99 counties, a nod to the fact that the race for the 2016 presidential campaign has begun. The main purpose of the Democratic National Convention was the renomination of President Obama, but outside the convention hall, candidates eyeing the open Democratic primary in 2016 wooed party activists and showered attention on the states that hold the early voting contests.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In one of the most fiery speeches so far of the night, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm roused cheering delegates to their feet as she shouted out President Obama's actions on behalf of the automotive industry, taking swipes at GOP challenger Mitt Romney along the way. Granholm quipped that Romney loves cars so much “they have their own elevator.” But she said when “the entire auto industry, and the lives of...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Harpreet Sandhu, a Sikh from the Bay Area, had just left a breakfast for California's delegates at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday when several Muslims there for a meeting greeted him and clasped his hands. They sympathized with Sandhu, a 53-year-old U.S. Postal Service employee, for the Aug. 5 attack by a white supremacist at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., that killed six worshipers. Sandhu said it reminded him of the killing of a Sikh who was mistaken for a Muslim three days after the terrorist attacks of Sept.