POLITICS-US: Will Katrina Bring An Isolationist Revival?

It was Jim Hoagland, the Washington's Post's liberal hawk par excellence, who first pondered the possible foreign policy consequences of Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of New Orleans.

POLITICS-US: Hijacking Defence Programme Falters

Amid the cacophony of searing charges about the inadequate performance of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, new questions are being raised about other key DHS programmes.

POLITICS-US: Did FEMA “Buy” Votes for Bush?

As Michael Brown resigned his post as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Monday following a relentless beating in the press for his mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina relief and rescue efforts, details on FEMA's past missteps began emerging.

POLITICS-US: Parties Square Off Over Judicial Activism

The preservation of congressional power over the judicial branch of government emerged as the single most important theme running through the first day of the confirmation hearings on the nomination of John Roberts to be the next chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

POLITICS-US: Pentagon Foresees Pre-emptive Nuclear Strikes

Amid increasing tension between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme, and growing concern about overstretched U.S. ground forces, the George W. Bush administration is moving steadily toward adopting the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states as an integral part of its global military strategy.

/CORRECTED REPEAT/POLITICS-US: A Hyperpower With Feet of Mud

The United States may not quite yet be perceived as the "pitiful, helpless giant" that haunted the dreams of Richard Nixon 35 years ago, but it's getting close.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Gulf States Grapple With Sea of Toxic Sludge

As polluted floodwaters are pumped from the devastated city of New Orleans, the true environmental impact of Hurricane Katrina - including oil spills, chemical leaks and toxic waste - will remain unknown for months.

POLITICS-US: Govt Secrecy Carries a Hefty Price

During 2004, the George W. Bush administration issued more secret court orders, spent 148 dollars creating new classified documents for every dollar spent releasing old ones, invoked the "state secrets" privilege in court cases more frequently than ever before, and received 25 percent more requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

POLITICS-US: Disaster Agency’s Woes Began Long Before Katrina

If there is anything that most observers can agree on about the shamefully slow and painfully inadequate response by the George W. Bush administration during the run-up to, and aftermath of, Hurricane Katrina, it is that Michael Brown, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was not ready for prime time.

POLITICS-US: Katrina Aid Steered to Notorious TV Preacher

Just one week after the U.S. State Department denounced right-wing televangelist Pat Robertson's call for the Central Intelligence Agency to "take out" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Washington's federal disaster agency recommended that people wishing to donate to victims of Hurricane Katrina should send their cash to Robertson's main charity organisation.

POLITICS-US: “We were briefing them way before landfall…”

Republican spin-meisters worked furiously this week to contain the political damage to U.S. President George W. Bush from what he concedes was the government's "unacceptable" response to Hurricane Katrina.

RIGHTS-US: Eco-Radicals Join Neo-Nazis on Domestic Terror List

Ten years after the Oklahoma City bombing left 16 8 people dead, one U.S. national security agency believes the domestic radical right does not pose a substantial threat to the United States, while another labels white supremacists as "terrorists" - along with anti-war groups, affirmative action organisations and animal rights activists.

POLITICS-US: Visa Policy Costing Economy Billions

As Congress returns to Washington facing what promises to be a rancorous debate on how to protect U.S. borders, a leading immigration think-tank is charging that U.S. visa policies - a key tool in promoting national security - are in danger of compromising U.S. economic competitiveness and foreign policy goals.

POLITICS-US: Katrina Exposes the “Third World” at Home

As thousands of people in New Orleans approach their fifth day without food, water or shelter, the news media and, doubtless, millions of ordinary citizens are wondering how state and particularly federal authorities could have been so slow to respond to one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

ECONOMY: U.S. Faces Rising Flood of Poverty

"The rich got richer and the poor got poorer" is a sentence most often used to describe the economic plight of underdeveloped countries.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Wetlands Loss Left Gulf Coast Naked to Storm

Massive destruction of wetlands and rampant coastal development are among the reasons Hurricane Katrina may have killed thousands of people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and wreaked upwards of 25 billion dollars in damages.

POLITICS-US: Iraq War Splurge Hits Home at 230 kph

With state, local, and federal officials still grappling with the extent of the devastation and human suffering inflicted by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and points east, suggestions that the already plunging political standing of Pres. George W. Bush could also be a major casualty of the disaster have begun taking hold.

/CORRECTED REPEAT/LABOUR: Detroit Catches Cold, Canada Sneezes

Twenty years ago, the Canadian Auto Workers split from the U.S.-based United Auto Workers over disagreements about Canadian autonomy and concessions to employers.

RIGHTS-US: Secrecy Shrouds Patriot Act Powers

As the U.S. Congress prepares to vote on the final version of a reauthorised USA Patriot Act, a major civil rights group claims to have proof that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has used the law to snoop into people's library records - a charge the FBI has vigorously denied since the Act was passed in 2001.

POLITICS-US: 9/11 Tapes Underscore Com Breakdown

On Sep. 11, 2001, a New York City police helicopter hovered above the World Trade Centre.

POLITICS-US: Congressional Break Just a Lull in the Storm

When the U.S. Congress returns to work in early September, it will face debate on a number of hot-button issues likely to inflame passions on the political left and right and deepen the country's ideological divide.