POLITICS: U.S. Citizens View Obama as Strong on Security

Opinion polls by two major U.S. television networks show that the majority of the country's citizens have faith in President Barack Obama's ability to protect them from "future acts of terrorism".

CANADA: Olympics, 21st Century Style

Restrictions on art displays and signage critical of the upcoming February 2010 Winter Olympics and the creation of a massive high-tech security network are putting a damper in some residents' minds on what should be a celebratory sports extravaganza in Vancouver.

U.S.: Democrats Get a Push from the Left

National progressive groups are gearing up for the 2010 Congressional elections by targeting centrist Democrats in the U.S. Congress and supporting their more left-leaning opponents.

U.S.: Triage for a Terminally Ill Health System

Early on Christmas Eve morning, the United States Senate will vote on the health care reform legislation that has been at the forefront of President Barack Obama's domestic agenda since he was sworn into office just over 11 months ago.

U.S.: Poorest Families Face Widening Housing Gap

The number of housing units affordable to extremely low-income (ELI) families in the U.S. has declined over the last year, even as the number of families needing those units has increased, according to a new report by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

U.S.: White Supremacists Crash Anti-Obama Tea Party

It began with Apr. 15 Tax Day protests as thousands rallied in a number of cities across the country.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Copenhagen Fizzled, California Forges Ahead

As countries failed to reach a substantive climate change pact at Copenhagen last week, action at the subnational level has emerged as one of the likeliest paths toward significant climate action.

RIGHTS-US: Death Sentences Hit 30-Year Low in 2009

The global recession has brought pain to many, but good news for at least one group - opponents of the death penalty in the United States.

U.S.: Aging Coal Plants Still a Fixture in South

As governments negotiate future greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen, a recent report from Environment America has highlighted the problem of the United States' older coal-fired power plants, which generated nearly three-quarters of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in 2007.

U.S.: The Guantanamo Shell Game?

Human and rights advocates and members of the Republican Party found unusual common ground Monday.

RIGHTS-US: Guantanamo Prisoners Not “Persons”

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to review a lower court's dismissal of a case brought by four British former Guantanamo prisoners against former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the detainees' lawyers charged Tuesday that the country's highest court evidently believes that "torture and religious humiliation are permissible tools for a government to use".

US: Reconsidering War on Drugs

As the war on drugs moves closer to home and a new administration presents new ideas, policymakers in Washington are taking notice of 30 years' worth of ineffectual drug policy and beginning to think about different ways of addressing the northward flow of narcotics.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: Obama’s $3B Settlement Not Enough?

Though pleased with the Barrack Obama administration’s decision to compensate the indigenous tribes for unjust occupation of their lands, American Indian activists are saying that Washington has to do more to heal their nations’ wounds.

US: Obama Launches Freedom of Information Initiative

Advocates for greater freedom of information are expressing approval of the Obama administration’s new ‘Open Government Directive’ - but some are sounding cautionary notes that executive agencies are still hiding behind "national security" to conceal government misconduct.

U.S.: “We All Breathe the Same Air and Drink the Same Water”

Some 8,000 kilometres from the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Native American environmental experts from 66 tribes came together at a summit here this week to address the most pressing needs in their communities - problems, all emphasised, that know no geographic boundaries.

U.S.: Katrina Lawsuit Raises Broader Questions About Levee Safety

Since a federal judge ruled earlier this month that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for the devastating 2005 levee breach at the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, some legal scholars believe that millions – or even billions - could be owed to additional Hurricane Katrina victims.

ENERGY-US: Paper Mill Is Reborn, Sans Fossil Fuels

A paper mill that runs without fossil fuels and has a neutral carbon footprint? That's the goal for Flambeau River Papers in Park Falls, Wisconsin, and the company is already on its way, thanks to a switch to biomass fuel, plus a biorefinery in the works.

POLITICS-US: High Court to Hear Patriot Act Challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging a law that critics say treats human rights advocates as criminal terrorists, and threatens them with 15 years in prison for advocating nonviolent means to resolve disputes.

EDUCATION-US: Social Justice Schools Shape New Wave of Activists

While most U.S. public schools are responding to new high-stakes testing requirements by teaching more math and English to the neglect of social studies and civics, a very small minority of schools are pushing forward a different agenda.

RELIGION-US: Will ‘The Road’ Be a Tool for Evangelism?

Two movies with doomsday scenarios highlight this year's pre-holiday releases - "2012", a special effects spectacular, is based on the Mayan calendar, whose end date - not to be confused with the end of the world, most scholars agree - is Dec. 21, 2012.

GENDER: For U.S., Lessons in CEDAW From San Francisco

In 1998, San Francisco stepped up and joined the world.