How the U.S. Manipulates Key U.N. Appointments

When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announces his new team of senior officials shortly, his appointments will be based not only on merit but also on demands made by the five big powers - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - as well as key donors who sustain U.N. agencies through voluntary contributions.

U.S.: Obama Rejects Giant Keystone Pipeline Scheme

In a decision fraught with political risk, U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday rejected the permit for the proposed giant Keystone XL pipeline project, insisting that his administration needed more time to determine whether it served the national interest.

U.S.: Worries Mount over Blowback of Israeli Attack on Iran

A former senior adviser on the Middle East to the last four U.S. presidents says that "the negatives far outweigh the positives" of war with Iran and the United States should augment Israel's nuclear weapons delivery systems to dissuade it from attacking the Islamic Republic.

Websites Black Out over “SOPA Censorship”

The number one rule young journalists are taught when starting radio broadcasting is simple: No dead air. Cough into the microphone if you must, but don't allow silence to creep in.

CANADA: Opposition Builds to New “Tar Sands” Pipeline

As public hearings began earlier this month into a controversial pipeline that would transport crude oil from the Alberta tar sands to tankers along the coast of British Columbia, environmental groups and First Nations communities have raised staunch opposition to the project, which they say puts both the environment and their traditional way of life at risk.

MIDEAST: All Unclear on Nuclear

Blame for the shadowy war of attrition against Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes usually prompts vigorous U.S. and Israeli denials of involvement, or self-imposed silence. Yet, the two allies risk being hoisted on their own ambiguity petard.

In Signal to Israel and Iran, Obama Delays War Exercise

The postponement of a massive joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise appears to be the culmination of a series of events that has impelled the Barack Obama administration to put more distance between the United States and aggressive Israeli policies toward Iran.

Melting Ice Makes Arctic Access a Hot Commodity

China, Brazil and India want seats on the Arctic Council as global warming creates new opportunities for shipping and resource extraction in the vast Arctic region.

U.S.: Burma Release, Ceasefire Hailed by Obama, Rights Groups

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama Friday hailed the release by the Burmese government of hundreds of political prisoners, suggesting that it went far toward satisfying Washington's conditions for fully normalising ties between the two countries.

Iran’s Relations with Latin America Less Than Meets the Eye

Its economy hurting from sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been making a show of bolstering its ties to Latin America, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this past week making his sixth official visit to the region since taking office in 2005.

Egypt Follows Israel, Eyeing U.S. Aid Without Pre-Conditions

The United States, the largest provider of military aid to Israel, has rarely, if ever, succeeded in using its leverage to get the Jewish state to abandon its continued repression of Palestinians or halt illegal settlements in occupied territories.

Report Exposes “Survival Sex Trade” in Post-Earthquake Haiti

Eighteen-year-old "Kettlyne", a Haitian orphan living in the rubble-strewn Croix Deprez camp – one of the many remaining tent-cities that houses refugees from the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake – is unable to feed her three-year-old daughter.

U.S.: A Decade in the Purgatory Called Guantanamo

Hundreds of protesters, dozens outfitted in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, took to the streets outside the White House on Wednesday to demonstrate against torture and indefinite detention on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. prison facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Clinton Revives Dubious Charge of “Covert” Iranian Nuclear Site

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's charge Tuesday that Iran had intended to keep the Fordow site secret until it was revealed by Western intelligence revived a claim the Barack Obama administration made in September 2009.

Obama Administration Edges Toward Iran Regime Change

The Barack Obama administration is increasingly giving the impression that it supports a policy of regime change against Iran - a policy that could backfire and convince Iran to build nuclear weapons.

Rio+20: The Moment When Everything Changed?

Humanity is driving Earth's climate and ecosystems towards dangerous tipping points, requiring radical new forms of international cooperation and governance, experts say.

US-CHINA: Leading Think Tank Urges Naval Build-Up in South China Sea

While much of the world's attention has been focused on U.S.- Iranian tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, a key think tank is urging Washington to devote more focus and resources on another key hub for international commerce several thousand kilometres to the east.

CANADA: U.N. to Probe Missing and Murdered Native Women

As a United Nations committee initiates an inquiry procedure into the alarming number of missing and murdered Native women across Canada, human rights groups are hoping that an on-the- ground investigation by the international body will finally help stem systematic violence against Native women.

IRAN: Elections Playbook Starts With Crackdown on Critics

Less than two months before Iran's parliamentary elections, as much of the opposition mounts a boycott of the polls, a wave of arrests and lengthy prison sentences for political activists and journalists appears to herald a renewed crackdown in the Iranian capital.

U.S.: A Movement Evolves to Occupy the Future

With its encampments mostly destroyed, the nascent Occupy Movement in thousands of communities across the U.S. and dozens more around the world has not faded away.

Less Counter-Insurgency, More Asia in New U.S. Strategy

Capping a major eight-month review, President Barack Obama unveiled a new defence strategy here Thursday that places more emphasis on U.S. military capabilities in Asia and the Pacific and much less on counter-insurgency and nation-building operations in poorer and conflict-plagued countries.