Omar al-Bashir was sworn in Thursday to another five-year term. Among those in attendance was a U.S. foreign service officer.

The State Department notes that the inauguration also was for a vice president, Salva Kiir, from the largest party representing southern Sudan.

Al-Bashir is sought by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for allegedly masterminding atrocities in Darfur.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday that al-Bashir should cooperate with the court and "should be held accountable."

China has kick-started a key process to frame its first immigration law to better manage immigrants as the world's fastest economy seeks to attract more foreigners to boost its development.

Experts on migration have advised the government to learn from other countries in regulating immigration, said Zhang Jijiao, researcher with the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology under the China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

Zhang said in the era of globalisation, China needed to attract a variety of talents, investors, skilled workers, and in particular "seagulls" -- a Chinese term for foreign merchants who work with multinationals and must travel across the world -- to contribute to its development.

A sounder migration policy would definitely enhance China's appeal, Zhang said.

The Ministry of Public Security, the Beijing Law Society, the Chinese People's Public Security University and the CASS held a liaison meeting last year. But the discussions had yet to result in any concrete preparations, Zhang told state-run Xinhua news agency at a global forum on migration.

Unlike Western countries, which have special laws to regulate the management of transnational migrants, there were few Chinese legal instruments to regulate immigration and foreign investment.

"This reflects how China's transnational migration management has long been focused on the legitimacy of entry and exit out of economic considerations," said Zhang.

Prospects for an immigration overhaul are fizzling this year and some Democratic lawmakers are focusing blame on the pugnacious Democratic operative who works just down the hall from President Obama.

Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff and longtime party strategist, has argued privately that it's a bad time for Democrats to push an immigration bill, a potential landmine in the midst of a crucial mid-term election.

Emanuel's stance, coupled with his long-held wariness about the politics of immigration, is emboldening key Democrats to come forward and ask that he step aside from the issue.

"There's always a sense that no matter how hard we work, to get through the White House, we have to get through Rahm,'' said U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva. "I would like immigration not to be part of the chief of staff's portfolio. It would make our ability to convince and access decision-makers in the White House a lot easier.''

Emanuel has a complicated history with the immigration question, dating back to the 1990s. As a top aide to former President Bill Clinton, he stressed the message that Clinton was hardnosed about policing illegal immigration.

• Drunk Driving (DUII, DUI, DWI) - including underage drinking and driving, refusing a breathalyzer test, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and other drug or alcohol related driving offenses
• Criminal Driving Offenses - including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, hit & run, attempting to elude police, reckless driving and licensure issues
• Drug Crimes - including possession

Starbucks Corp has been sued by a customer who allegedly suffered second-degree burns after being served tea that was too hot.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff Zeynep Inanli was served tea that was "unreasonably hot, in containers which were not safe," at a Starbucks store at 685 Third Avenue in Manhattan.

As a result of Starbucks' negligence, the plaintiff suffered "great physical pain and mental anguish," including the burns, the complaint said.

The plaintiff seeks unspecified damages.

Starbucks, based in Seattle, did not immediately return requests for comment. The plaintiff's lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.

Retailers periodically face lawsuits for serving beverages at temperatures that customers say are too high.

In one well-known case, a jury in 1994 ordered McDonald's Corp to pay $2.86 million to Stella Liebeck, an Albuquerque, New Mexico woman who claimed she scalded herself with the restaurant's coffee. The parties later settled.

The Vatican will make the arguments in a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds filed in Louisville, Ky., but it could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See.

The Vatican's U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said it will include a response to claims that the 1962 document "Crimen Sollicitationis" — Latin for "crimes of solicitation" — barred bishops from reporting abuse to police.

Lena said Sunday there is no evidence the document was even known to the archdiocese in question — much less used — and that regardless it didn't mandate that bishops not report abusive priests.

Attorneys for 28-year-old Ingmar Guandique (gwan-DEE'-kay) had argued he would not get a fair trial in Washington because of the extensive publicity. But Judge Gerald Fisher denied a motion Friday to change the venue of Guandique's trial in October.

Levy disappeared in May 2001 and her remains were found a year later in Rock Creek Park. Guandique faces a first-degree murder charge in her death.

The judge still has to rule on another defense request to suppress statements Guandique made to authorities in 2008.