POLITICS-U.S.: Hawks Flying High With Rice Posting

U.S. President George W Bush's nomination of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to replace Secretary of State Colin Powell consolidates the control over U.S. foreign policy of the coalition of hawks that promoted the war in Iraq, led by Vice President Dick Cheney.

U.S. ELECTION: Unease Over E-Voting

For its boosters - technology vendors and the election officials who spent millions on their wares - electronic voting (e-voting) passed the test of Nov. 2 with flying colours, withstanding unprecedented scrutiny and making life easier for millions of disabled and non-English-speaking U.S. voters.

POLITICS-U.S.: The Good Soldier Abandons the Field

Monday's announcement that Secretary of State Colin Powell, by far the most popular of U.S. President George W Bush's war cabinet, has submitted his resignation marks the formal launch of a new scramble for top national-security posts that could bring an even more hard-line configuration to power.

U.S. ELECTION: Labour Needs ‘the Vision Thing’

There is no question that organised labour pulled out all the stops to defeat George W Bush.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES-CANADA: Justice Elusive, Prejudice Pervasive

Neil Stonechild was 17 when, it is alleged, Saskatoon City Police took the drunken youth on a "starlight tour" one night, dumping him on the outskirts of the prairie town in -24C weather, where his frozen body was found four days later.

POLITICS-U.S.: Secrecy Cloaked During Election Campaign

"It's always a fight to find out what the government doesn't want us to know. It's a fight we're once again losing ... (President Bush) has clamped a lid on public access ... It's not just historians and journalists he wants locked out; it's Congress ... and it's you, the public, and your representatives."

/ARTS WEEKLY/CULTURE: Swinging Seniors Step Into People’s Hall of Fame

The Swinging Seniors of Harlem are keeping the shim-sham shimmy and the dance traditions of the jazz age alive.

POLITICS-US: Legal Know-How Absent at Guantanamo Bay?

Four months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prisoners held at a special jail at Guantanamo Bay in the U.S. "war on terrorism" have the right to challenge their detention to an independent forum, the legal process appears far from fair, according to human rights groups.

U.S. ELECTION: Minorities Backed Kerry

Minority communities on Tuesday continued their trend of backing the Democratic candidate in the presidential vote, but re-elected George W Bush recorded several sizeable gains among many groups, according to the latest exit polls.

U.S. ELECTION: New Bush Foreign Policy Posture Unlikely

Earnest hopes that U.S. President George W Bush will be prepared to seriously ''reach out'' to U.S. friends and allies overseas to make his foreign policy less aggressive and unilateral in his second term are likely to be earnestly disappointed.

U.S. ELECTION: Religion Figures Big in Bush Win

Conservative Christian groups may have rocked the vote in Tuesday's U.S. election, which saw right wing president George W Bush renew his tenure for another four years, according to several experts and analysts here.

U.S. ELECTION: Bush, Republican Right, Extend Mandate

Despite starting a war with no discernible end and plunging the federal budget into record deficits, U.S. President George W Bush and right-wing Republicans have scored a significant, if narrow, electoral victory that consolidates their control over an increasingly polarised nation.

U.S. ELECTION: Clear Skies, Some Cloudy Intentions

Election Day 2004 here dawned sunny with scattered clouds and widespread apprehension as polls opened at 7 am. But voting skies appear to have remained mostly clear all day.

U.S. ELECTION: Bush Challenges Voting Law

We all know what U.S. citizens will do if they feel cheated in Tuesday's election: go to court.

U.S. ELECTION: Economy Falters, Fuelling Tight Race

The U.S. economy grew by only 3.7 percent in the last quarter - below expectations of a 4.2 percent rate -the government said Friday, news that fuelled rhetoric in the very tight U.S. presidential election.

U.S. ELECTION: Republican Desertions Could Cost Bush

While the vast majority of Democrats who voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in 2000 are now lining up behind Senator John Kerry, Republicans unhappy with President George W Bush are having a much harder time deciding what to do next Tuesday.

POLITICS-U.S.: Arabs, Muslims Puzzled by Govt ‘Outreach’

Groups representing Arab and Muslim-Americans are confused by what appear to be conflicting signals from the Bush administration - which claims to be making serious efforts to 'build bridges' to these constituencies, but simultaneously continues to practise discrimination and harassment.

U.S. ELECTION: Electronic Voting No Quick Fix

In the wake of the electoral roller coaster in Florida following the 2000 polls, many officials around the United States looked to new voting technologies to help provide a smoother ride in the future.

U.S. ELECTION: New Citizens Rising – But at Risk

New citizen voters could make or break the U.S. presidential race, experts say, but they are also more vulnerable to intimidation and harassment on Election Day.

U.S. ELECTION: Fear of Military Draft a Growing Factor

With the presidential election coming down to the wire, the possibility of a revived military draft is looming as a potentially decisive factor in the outcome.

U.S.: Muslim Support for ‘War on Terror’ Plummets

While the Bush administration expresses frustration that its motivations in the "war on terrorism" are questioned throughout the Islamic world, it has a similar problem with Muslims at home, according to a major survey of nearly 2,000 followers of Islam across the United States.