POLITICS-U.S.: Border ‘Vigilantes’ Pledge to Return

An armed private group that patrolled the U.S.-Mexican border last month has gone home with an unequivocal endorsement from California Governor Arnold Shwarzenegger and benign media coverage. Come October, they say, they will return to the border in the tens of thousands.

RIGHTS-U.S.: Not-Quite-Suspect Status Throws Lives into Disarray

U.S. law enforcement agencies and prosecutors are using a term that has no standing in law but nonetheless can turn lives upside down, ruin careers, and place people in a long-term legal limbo somewhere between innocence, 'suspect' and 'target'.

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: Secrecy, Propaganda Seen Sweeping U.S.

Freedom of the press is in decline in the United States amid increased government secrecy and propaganda, say media veterans, analysts, and advocates.

POLITICS: Rights Groups Assail Saudi-U.S. Talks

Rights groups and legal scholars are expressing disappointment that this week's meeting between President George W. Bush and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah failed to address human rights abuses and discrimination against women in the oil-rich kingdom.

RIGHTS: U.N. Afghanistan Envoy’s Sacking Highlights Abuses, Secrecy

Cherif Bassiouni, the top U.N. human rights investigator in Afghanistan until his job was eliminated at Washington's behest, has caused a stir by accusing the United States of obstructing, then ousting him in a bid to cover up abuses by its personnel. Even so, he delivered a grim report on the Asian country.

RIGHTS-U.S.: One Year Later, Abu Ghraib Scandal Seen as ‘Tip of Iceberg’

Rights watchdogs have seized on this week's anniversary of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal to protest what they termed a lack of accountability for the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody, and to warn that problems which came to light at the prison in Iraq merely were ''the tip of the iceberg.''

RELIGION: Muslim Scholar Urges Halt to Extreme Punishments

A Muslim scholar who was issued and then denied a visa to teach in the United States because of alleged ties to terrorists has called for an immediate moratorium on corporal and capital punishment and dialogue aimed at creating less repressive Muslim societies.

POLITICS-U.S.: Voters Rally ‘Round the Never-Ending Speech

U.S. voters are rallying around an unusual movement to support a politician's right to make apparently endless speeches.

POLITICS: Domestic Terrorists Seen as Viable U.S. Threat

Domestic terrorism remains a clear and present danger to the United States, rights groups and government agencies warn amid a number of fresh reminders of homegrown terrorism's toll on the U.S. public.

DEVELOPMENT: World Bank’s Critics Look Askance at Dialogue

A new forum launched by the World Bank to find common ground with its non-governmental critics appears to have highlighted rifts among the civil society organizations (CSOs).

ENVIRONMENT: Canadian Greenhouse Gas Plan Spares Industry

Canada plans to shift the burden of massive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions onto the public and away from its booming oil and gas sector.

RIGHTS: Watchdog Demands U.S. Torture Inquiry

A leading human rights group demands that the U.S. government launch a sweeping inquiry into the torture of Iraqi and other prisoners by U.S. troops, and that it name a special prosecutor to probe high-ranking officials' possible role in alleged abuses.

RELIGION-US: Roots of Anti-Semitism Run Deep, Poll Finds

Nearly 35 million U.S. citizens - 14 percent of the adult population - hold "strong" anti-Semitic beliefs, according to a new nationwide survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) watchdog group.

MIGRATION-US: Beyond Bars

Before Sep. 11, 2001, few people in the United States had heard of immigration detention, but in fact, a secretive parallel prison system run by the U.S. government has existed for more than two decades, says author Mark Dow.

POLITICS-U.S.: An Army of the Unwilling

At the end of last month, the U.S. Selective Service System issued a report assuring President George W. Bush that it would be ready to implement a draft within 75 days. While stirring up a storm of speculation, this report may actually be the least compelling harbinger of a draft.

ENVIRONMENT: Earth Day 2005 – Co-opted and Commercialised?

On Friday, thousands of people in hundreds of communities throughout the United States will be celebrating the 35th anniversary of Earth Day.

CORRUPTION: Double Trouble for Halliburton

The Halliburton corporation, already the Iraq war's poster child for "waste, fraud and abuse", has been hit with a new double-whammy.

RIGHTS: Religious Profiling Sparks Federal Lawsuit

Three influential civil rights groups charged Wednesday that border control tactics used by the Department of Homeland Security discriminate against U.S. citizens solely on the basis of their religion and ethnicity, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

RIGHTS-US: Deadly Encounters Fail to Forge Lasting Changes

Friends, families and supporters of people killed by the New York Police Department (NYPD) gathered Monday evening to remember the dead and to demand that the department stop targeting immigrant and low-income communities.

RIGHTS: 10 Million Illegal Immigrants Deserve a Chance, Poll Says

Three-quarters of U.S. voters support immigration reforms that are both "tough" and "fair", with provisions to legalise guest workers, reunify families, and offer residency for undocumented immigrants who are already here, according to a new poll by two leading advocacy groups.

LABOUR: Closure of First Unionised Wal-Mart Sends Chilling Signal

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, may be violating international and Canadian laws by using covert strategies to undermine a unionising drive at its Canadian stores, say labour experts and union activists.