U.S.: Romney Assails Obama’s “Passivity” in Foreign Policy, Middle East

In what was billed as a major foreign policy address, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Monday assailed Barack Obama for “passivity” in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, arguing that it was “time to change course” in the Middle East, in particular.

Coming of Age in a Guantanamo Jumpsuit

Plenty of monikers have been attached to Omar Khadr, one of the most famous Guantanamo Bay detainees - child soldier, terrorist, war criminal, Al-Qaeda family member, security threat.

U.S.: Living with Hate in a Free Market of Ideas

U.S. President Barack Obama’s unequivocal defence of First Amendment protections of blasphemy and hateful speech during last week’s address to the 67th United Nations General Assembly defied calls from Muslim protesters and some foreign government leaders to ban a controversial YouTube video and support stronger restrictions to religious criticism.

U.S. Accused of “Discouraging” Financial Transaction Tax

On Friday, 62 civil-society organisations charged the U.S. State Department with spreading “misinformation” regarding the feasibility of levying a small tax on stock sales and other financial transactions, revenues from which could be used for national and international public goods.

U.S.: Consumer Protection Agency Takes on “Financial Tricks and Traps”

In the wake of the epidemic of home foreclosures, banking scandals and resulting massive financial regulation overhaul two years ago known as the Dodd-Frank legislation, the U.S. government created a new federal agency to protect consumers from being taken advantage of by banks and other institutions.

Changing Demographics Likely to Tip Scales for Obama Re-election

With just six weeks left before the U.S. presidential polls, analysts on Tuesday suggested that recent demographic changes in the United States, particularly through immigration, have made it more difficult than ever for a Republican candidate to vie for president.

U.N. Report Chastises U.S. for Status of Native Population

A top United Nations official has presented the first ever international investigation into the situation of indigenous peoples in the United States, urging the adoption of new policies and mechanisms to “address persistent deep-seeded problems related to historical wrongs, failed policies of the past and continuing systemic barriers”.

New Study Claims Popular Herbicide Causes Tumours in Rats

Researchers are warning that RoundUp, a popular herbicide produced by the U.S. agro-giant Monsanto and which is used heavily on U.S. corn and soybeans, cause tumours, liver and kidney failure in rodents.

Occupy Celebrates Birthday, Forges Ahead

Led by a spirited brass band and waving placards decrying corporate greed, hundreds of occupiers took to San Francisco streets Monday to celebrate Occupy Wall Street’s first birthday, culminating in a ceremony where they symbolically ripped apart loan documents.

U.S.: Public More Concerned About Rising China Than Elites

The U.S. public is more concerned about the rise of China – particularly as an economic power – than are elite sectors, including government officials, business leaders, scholars and media figures, according to a major new survey released here Tuesday by several U.S. think tanks.

Occupy Marks Anniversary Amid Grim Economic Climate

Amid a heavy police presence, thousands of anti-capitalist activists in marked the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement against the U.S. political and economic system, which they say favours billionaires at the expense of the middle and working class.

Canada Tightens Alliance with Israel

Scepticism continues in Canada about why the national government abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Iran earlier this month, although ties between the two states have been rocky since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

In U.S. Politics, Economic Class Speaks Loudest

New research drawn from the past half-century offers one of the clearest pictures yet of the correlation between political involvement and socioeconomics in the United States, while underscoring the significant implications of recent legal and legislative changes for marginalised groups.

Libya, Egypt Embassy Attacks Fuel U.S. Presidential Race

Tuesday’s attacks by alleged radical Islamists on key U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya and Egypt propelled foreign policy, however briefly, to the centre of the presidential race that has been dominated to date by the state of the economy.

Trans-Pacific Trade Talks Grind On

The 14th round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the proposal for a massive free-trade area spearheaded by the United States, got underway here over the weekend.

U.S. Public Satisfied With Less Militarised Global Role

Disillusioned by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. public is becoming increasingly comfortable with a more modest and less militarised global role for the nation, according to the latest in a biennial series of major surveys.

U.S.: Advantage Obama As Election Begins in Earnest

With their respective party nomination conventions behind them, both President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney travelled to the tiny northeastern state of New Hampshire Friday, one of at most a dozen “swing” states whose voters are likely to decide the winner in the Nov. 6 election.

U.S.: Democratic Convention Stumbles Over Jerusalem Controversy

The Democratic National Convention erupted in controversy this week over the removal of a clause in the party platform stating that Jerusalem should remain Israel’s undivided capital and only grew worse when the wording was hastily re-inserted.

U.S. Points to ‘Gross Negligence’ by BP

The U.S. justice department is blaming BP PLC for the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, describing in new court papers examples of what it calls "gross negligence and willful misconduct".

U.S.: Rights Groups Denounce Dropping of CIA Torture Cases

U.S. human rights groups have roundly condemned Thursday's announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder that the Justice Department will not pursue prosecutions of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers who may have been responsible for the deaths of two prisoners in their custody.

U.S.: Government and Industry Partner to Promote Electric Cars

A 120-million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to the nationwide Electric Vehicle (EV) Project aims to promote and expand the use of electric vehicles in the United States.