Brushing aside concerns about his lack of diplomatic experience and language skills, the Senate moved ahead on the nomination of William R. Timken Jr., the Ohio industrialist, as the next American ambassador to Germany.

Mr. Losyukov, the Russian ambassador to Japan, asked in an interview, brushing aside concerns that Moscow might veto a major Chinese investment in energy.

Defiance From Asian Bloc Asean, the Asian trading bloc, said it would admit Myanmar, the former Burma, brushing aside concerns about human rights there.

Defying the wishes of the United States and brushing aside concerns over human rights abuses, the Southeast Asian political and economic bloc known as Asean announced today that it would embrace Myanmar as a member this year.

But questions remain on why engineers put so much confidence in Crater's answers, leading shuttle managers to sweep aside concerns about Columbia's condition.

Brushing aside concerns from the auto industry, the Chinese government has set fuel-economy standards on new cars, sport utility vehicles and vans for the first time, people with copies of the new rules said on Wednesday.

This may feel like a special time, when the American government operates from a harsh posture of suspicion toward aliens, brushing aside concerns about their rights to due process.

He brushes aside concerns about nearly $2 billion in junk bonds held in Equitable's investment portfolio by making a distinction between high- and low-quality junk bonds.

Stunned, Wall Street responded with a powerful rally, sending stock prices up more than 330 points, with investors brushing aside concerns about a possible credit squeeze and market instability.

Kimi Raikkonen brushes aside concerns about motivation after agreeing return with Lotus Renault.