CANADA-U.S.: Defence Pact Safe Under New Missile Plan – General

A top U.S. military officer has contradicted Canadian officials who suggested the Canada-U.S. military alliance might be diminished if Ottawa does not support and participate in Washington's ballistic missile defence (BMD) system.

POLITICS-CANADA: Haiti Fades as Washington’s Shadow Grows

One of the little noticed outcomes of February's ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appears to be the concept of a Canadian foreign policy that differs from Washington's on major international issues, say critics of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin.

ENVIRONMENT-U.S.: Plan Points Way to Greenhouse Gas Cuts

As a five-year drought threatens water supplies in America's west, a new report sets out how the United States could do its part to curb global warming.

RIGHTS-U.S.: Bush Push for Patriot Act Provokes Unease

Muslim rights groups in the state of California are watching nervously as President George W Bush increasingly talks of renewing the Patriot Act, a mainstay of his "war on terrorism", as he campaigns for the November presidential election.

CANADA: Activists Claim Partial Victory on Export of Generic Drugs

Canada is on the verge of passing a law that would allow makers of genetic medicines to produce and export relatively inexpensive versions of patented, brand name products to developing countries trying to tackle serious epidemics.

/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM-HAITI: Scientist Transformed Radio Into Weapon Against Abuses

"I have no weapon other than my journalist's profession, my microphone and my unshakable faith as a militant for change," said famed Haitian radio personality and human rights advocate, Jean Dominique, who was assassinated four years ago.

RIGHTS: Evidence Grows Against Depleted Uranium Weapons

Washington's insistence that depleted uranium (DU) munitions are not toxic has been undermined by revelations that four U.S. soldiers recently home from Iraq are suffering from radiation poisoning.

POLITICS-U.S.: Arab-American Vote Looms Large

Arab-Americans, one of the U.S.' smallest ethnic minorities, could well tip the balance against President George W Bush's re-election, according to a survey released Wednesday of four key battleground states where the vote could be decided.

DEVELOPMENT: IMF, World Bank Butt Heads With Critics

Leaders of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Thursday disputed charges from critics and activists that the lenders have aggravated poverty in the developing world and devalued the rights of millions of people affected by their programmes.

RIGHTS: Chaplain’s Release Deflates Guantanamo ‘Spy Ring’ Theory

Although spying charges have been dropped against a Muslim army chaplain ministering to the 600 prisoners at Washington's Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, the fate of two others facing similar accusations remains in doubt.

FINANCE: Mixed Economic Results Bad News for Development Goals

Private capital is returning to the developing world but mainly to a few middle-income nations, the World Bank said in a report released Monday.

ECONOMY: IMF to the Rescue of Global Trade

The International Monetary Fund is trying to coax developing countries, wary of western-dictated "free trade", to shelve protection of their own industries and embrace global trade liberalisation.

U.S.: 9/11 Blunders Left Workers, Residents Literally in the Dust

Even as the White House scrambles to defend its handling of the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, the poisonous gas and dust unleashed by the disaster continue to settle in the lungs of thousands of recovery workers and New York City residents.

POLITICS-U.S.: From Nation-Building to Religion-Building

One thing that can be said about U.S. neo-conservatives is they do not lack for ambition.

HAITI-U.S.: Powell to Visit Latest Occupation

Fresh from visiting U.S.-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, Secretary of State Colin Powell will set down in Port-au-Prince on Monday to check out the Bush administration's latest charge, Haiti, where Washington helped oust the democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, less than two months ago.

TRADE: Activists Assess Post-NAFTA Progress

A decade ago, activists from both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border joined hands - many for the first time - to fight a proposed free trade deal that, to little surprise, was adopted by governments in the two countries, plus Canada.

POLITICS-U.S.: Clarke, Watergate Echoes Prompt Rare Bush Reversal

Tuesday's White House decision to permit National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly under oath before the so-called 9/11 Commission marks an unusual reversal by an administration that has fiercely resisted taking any moves that suggests it is capable of making mistakes.

/ARTS WEEKLY/BOOKS: Sweatshop Martyrs Gone But Never Forgotten

Just before quitting time on a pleasant Saturday in late March 1911, someone at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City shouted, "Fire!"

IRAQ: War Launched to Protect Israel – Bush Adviser

Iraq under Saddam Hussein did not pose a threat to the United States but it did to Israel, which is one reason why Washington invaded the Arab country, according to a speech made by a member of a top-level White House intelligence group.

POLITICS-U.S.: Disillusioned Arab Americans Abandon Bush

Although xenophobia has ebbed somewhat in the 30 months since the terror attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, some rights groups are worried that Arab and Muslim Americans are once again being demonised as national security takes centre stage in the nascent U.S. presidential campaign.

HEALTH-U.S.: Women Seniors Battle HIV/AIDS

Miriam Schuler cannot say enough about sex. Over bingo at the senior centre and on the street outside the grocery store, she discusses the topic with unabashed chutzpah, offering up hearty laughter and no-nonsense advice.