U.S. Polls Bode Ill for Immigration Reform

With conservatives likely to be the biggest winners in Tuesday's U.S. congressional elections, efforts to achieve a more compassionate national immigration policy may be one of the biggest losers.

Military Jury Tried to “Send a Message” in Khadr Case

A military jury at Guantanamo Bay sentenced a "child soldier" to 40 years in prison – unaware that Omar Khadr's defence and prosecution lawyers had already agreed on an eight-year sentence and further agreed that the United States would send the Canadian home next year.

Broad Coalition Rallies for BP Accountability

Gulf coast fishers, conservationists, seafood distributors and oil workers rallied here at Louisiana's capital over the weekend to demand that oil giant BP be held accountable for the "ongoing" use of toxic dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S.: Immigration Policing Opt-Out Called into Question

Will U.S. local law enforcement be forced to participate in a programme that critics say will put city police in the position of enforcing federal immigration law and, in the process, divert scarce resources from essential community policing, discourage immigrants from working with police to solve crimes and increase racial profiling?

Foreclosure Mess Reveals Longstanding Problems

The discovery of apparent massive fraud in mortgage and foreclosure documents has called into question millions of pending foreclosures in the U.S. Several banks have enacted partial or complete moratoriums until the issues can be resolved.

Black Floridians Await Settlement on Toxic Contamination

It is safe to say that the candidates running in Florida for the Nov. 2 congressional elections do not have a campaign stop planned for Tallevast. Residents there believe that they have been abandoned by the government.

U.S. Inmates Exposed to Toxic E-Waste

Past U.S. inmates and prison staff in electronic waste recycling programmes face serious health risks after officials willfully violated health, safety and environmental laws, a new report has found.

U.S.: Planting Oases in a Land of Burgers and Fries

Though close to a billion people remain undernourished worldwide, one in three U.S. children are overweight – a problem that First Lady Michelle Obama has made her priority over the first two years of her husband's administration.

U.S.: Guilty Plea for Child Fighter Averts “Publicity Nightmare”

With tongue in cheek, constitutional experts congratulated the U.S. government Tuesday for negotiating a plea deal with Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, thus avoiding a trial in the military commission "puppet theatre" of a defendant who was just 15 at the time of his offences.

Despite Heavy Oil, Louisiana Keeps Fisheries Open

Massive slicks of weathered oil were clearly visible near Louisiana's fragile marshlands in both the East and West Bays of the Mississippi River Delta during an overflight that included an IPS reporter on Oct. 23. The problem is that, despite this, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has left much of the area open for fishing.

U.S.: Report Details Tea Party Ties with Hate Groups

Asserting that "the majority of Tea Party supporters are sincere, principled people of good will", the head of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) and other U.S. civil rights leaders are calling on the populist political grouping to purge itself of known racists lest they influence the direction of the movement.

Senate Urges Pentagon to Rein in Afghan Contractors

Failures in vetting, training and supervising Defence Department private security contractors are putting U.S. and coalition troops as well as Afghan civilians at risk and unwittingly aiding Afghan militants by hiring security contractors provided by the Taliban and by warlords, warns a new report released last week by the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.

Canada Sees Climate Change “Prosperity” Instead of Calamity

The first comprehensive look at the expected impacts of climate change on Canada offers an embarrassing and misleading "don't worry, be happy" vision, citing more golf days and better access to northern deposits of oil and gas courtesy of global warming, critics say.

US: NGOs Condemn Merger of Immigration and Criminal Justice

As two Democratic senators introduced yet another version of immigration reform legislation - and two Republican senators immediately condemned it - more than 500 not-for-profit organisations called on President Barack Obama to end what they called "the merger of immigration enforcement with criminal justice."

Fatal Blast Puts Focus on Web of Gas Pipelines

A natural gas explosion in San Bruno, California that almost decimated an entire city earlier this month has fuelled concerns about the outdated, aging, and dangerous gas pipelines that underlie many U.S. cities.

U.S.: 9/11 Rescue Workers Still Waiting for Healthcare

Election-year interparty political wrangling is threatening to again sabotage congressional efforts to provide medical help for tens of thousands of firefighters and other first responders whose health was damaged by the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Centre.

FBI Raids Seen as Political Retribution

Recent raids by federal agents on the homes and offices of peace activists are being viewed by civil libertarians and civil society groups as further proof that the U.S. is morphing into a "surveillance state" where the right to privacy and other constitutional protections are being quietly whittled away.

Ashcroft’s Post-9/11 Roundups Spark Lawsuit

Hundreds of people who believe they were falsely detained and imprisoned by the Department of Justice in the wake of the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks are now seeking redress through the U.S. courts.

U.S.: Sikhs Need Not Apply

A North Carolina man is joining a growing group of Sikhs who are looking to U.S. courts to remedy the "ignorance and intolerance" faced by practitioners of the religion, especially since the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, which they say "unleashed a torrent of discrimination".

U.S.: Librarians Lead Fight Against Banned Books

Penguins are indisputably cute. And a children's book about such inoffensive animals could hardly be expected to trigger a nationwide controversy. But then came "And Tango Makes Three" and a heated debate was fired up.

U.S. Defence Spending Set for Downward Course

Although U.S. military spending will reach an all-time high next year, the Pentagon budget almost certainly faces steady cuts over the medium to long term, mainly as a result of increasing pressure to reduce the ballooning national debt, according to a growing consensus among defence experts.