U.S.: New Yorkers Occupy Streets to Protest Budget Cuts

They have taken over a strip of the sidewalk at Park Place and Broadway, handing out flyers to passersby and taping posters to the ground and to the metal crossbars of the scaffolding that shelters them from the rain.

U.S.: Brain Injuries Especially Invisible Among Homeless – Part II

James Smith is a 53-year-old Portland veteran who used to have a job he loved. After a car accident left him with traumatic brain and neck injuries in 2005, Smith lost his job, ran out of money and wound up on the streets.

U.S.: Brain Injuries May Push Victims into Homelessness – Part I

You might say Nick Patton was born to fish. Literally born on a boat, Nick spent his earliest years living in orphanages along the Alaskan coastline. He ran away at the age of eight and quickly learned how to take care of himself and to rely on others - traveling in groups around the Pacific Northwest, picking apples and doing day labour.

U.S. Civil Rights Advocates Still Fighting “Race War”

Exactly 40 years after former United States President Richard Nixon labelled his administration’s drug policy a "war" in 1971, a huge coalition of civil rights leaders, advocates and educators converged in Washington D.C. to expose an on-going conflict that they believe is less ‘a war on drugs’ and more an assault on the rights of African Americans in the 21st century.

U.S.: Immigration Detainees Shuttled from Jail to Jail

Frequent and long-distance transfers to remote detention facilities are jeopardising the political and human rights of immigrants detained in the United States, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

U.S.: Alabama’s Immigration Bill “Turns Back Clock” on Civil Liberties

On Dec. 1, 1955, at the height of racial segregation in the United States, a little-known middle-aged seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery City bus in the southern state of Alabama.

U.S.: Young, Gay and Homeless

Living on the streets is not easy for anyone, but for gay teenagers it can be even worse. Many suffer rejection from their families - pushing them to homelessness – discrimination at school and even sexual assault on the streets. The Oasis Center, in Nashville, Tennessee, is gathering efforts to combat prejudice and provide a safe space for LGBTQ young people.

CANADA: Documenting the ‘Truth’

"I told you the truth, you don't like the truth", Omar Khadr shouts at a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent. The accused, then aged 16, breaks down: "Ya Ummi! (Mummy!)", he cries in Arabic. This four-day interrogation, captured on CCTV at the notorious Guantánamo Bay prison, lies at the heart of the documentary "You don't like the truth – 4 days in Guantánamo".

Prison Lobbyists Help Spread Anti-Immigrant Laws to U.S. South

Earlier this month, Georgia became the third state to enact some of the most anti-immigrant legislation in recent U.S. history, when Governor Nathan Deal, a Republican, signed the bill, HB 87.

Hotel Maids Say Sexual Harassment Is Part of the Job

With the arrest of the once powerful head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, following allegations that he tried to rape a maid in his 3,000-dollar- a-night penthouse suite at the Sofitel Hotel, a spotlight has been turned on the treatment of female cleaning staff, many of whom are immigrants who keep silent for fear of losing their jobs or being deported.

U.S.: “Toughest Sheriff” in Legal Crosshairs

The United States' self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" has made international headlines for housing inmates at outdoor tent facilities and conducting immigration sweeps in Latino neighbourhoods.

BOOKS: The Lonely Plight of the Whistleblower

"Few paths are more treacherous than the one that challenges an abuse of power," warns "A Handbook for Committing the Truth: The Corporate Whistleblower's Survival Guide" - a primer not only for whistleblowers but for corporate leaders and citizen activists as well, say authors Tom Devine and Tarek Maassarani.

U.S.: Gay, Grey and Groundbreaking

People in the U.S. are becoming more and more open towards homosexuality, in part due to the trendy Hollywood culture that conveys the image of young, hip and good looking gay men and women. But the situation changes when it comes to the elderly.

CANADA: An Electorate Divided

It was a highly disciplined campaign focused on the core base of Canadians, especially in greater Toronto, where a large number of citizens of recent immigrant origins helped to boost the Conservatives Monday to a comfortable parliamentary majority status of 167 seats out of a total 308.

Rights Groups Take on “Ex-Gay” Ministries

Groups peddling the widely discredited notion that gay people can be "cured" of their sexual orientation are encountering staunch resistance to their message, even as converts insist that they are leading happier lives.

U.S.: Activists Fight Deportation of Bi-national Gay Couples

After Erwin de Leon successfully defended his dissertation, he felt relief at being closer to earning his doctorate in public and urban policy. But the achievement also meant that time was running out to find a way to stay in the United States.

U.S.: Connecticut Likely to Abolish Ultimate Punishment

This month, Connecticut became the latest in a growing line of U.S. states to move toward ending capital punishment.

OP-ED: A Developing Health Crisis Across the Gulf Coast

Days after the BP oil disaster began, on Apr. 20, 2010, BP and the U.S. administration pledged that Gulf Coast communities would be made whole. One year later that promise remains unfulfilled: across the Gulf there is a developing health crisis as a result of the oil spill.

U.S.: BP Handling of Claims Slammed by Gulf Residents

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, paid by BP to administer the firm's 20-billion-dollar compensation fund, has become the focal point of anger for Gulf residents who are angry, frustrated and desperate for help following last year's massive oil disaster.

Stress and Anger over BP Oil Disaster Could Linger for Decades

As the one-year anniversary of the record-breaking BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico approaches, mental health experts and social scientists warn of decades of impact on Gulf residents.

U.S.: 2011 Foreign Aid Cuts Not as Great as Feared

While the State Department's overall 2011 international affairs budget was cut sharply from President Barack Obama's initial request, humanitarian and development groups are expressing some relief at the final result given the current political climate.