U.S.: Obama Picks Latina Judge as First Supreme Court Nominee

In a nomination that will almost certainly be approved by the U.S. Senate, President Barack Obama Tuesday announced the selection of Sonia Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge whose parents were from Puerto Rico, to the nine-member Supreme Court.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Free-Flowing Rivers Back in Vogue

It may come as no surprise that a dam impeding the flow of a major river would negatively impact fish populations, but it is only recently that benefits of free-flowing rivers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest are beginning to be valued more than those of dams.

POLITICS-US: Obama Defends Guantanamo Closure

President Barack Obama cautiously minced his way Thursday through a political minefield filled with imminent explosions from human rights advocates, national security hawks, and a Congress terrified by the potential political backlash of any move to bring Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the U.S. for trial or detention.

POLITICS-US: Lobbyist Ranks Swell with Advent of Climate Bill

Nearly 140 new businesses and interest groups have joined in the intense lobbying in Washington on climate change, according to the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI).

MIGRATION-US: Arizona Prisoners on Lockdown Amid Hunger Strike

Bad food is not the only reason thousands of mostly pre-trial detainees have been going on an intermittent two-week hunger strike in Arizona’s Maricopa County jails.

RIGHTS-US: Special ‘Terror’ Courts Worry Legal Experts

The administration of President Barack Obama is considering the creation of a national security court to try cases in which there is enough reliable intelligence to hold a foreign terrorism suspect in preventive detention, but not enough to bring a case in federal court or even through military commissions.

ECONOMY-US: Banks in Recovery as Home Foreclosures Hit Record

Just months after getting a massive handout from Uncle Sam to prevent the collapse of Wall Street, big banks say they are back on solid ground and ready to repay the money.

U.S.: Green Groups Hail Plan to Slash Transport Emissions

Environmental groups are applauding President Barack Obama’s new nationwide rules for car emissions and mileage standards, announced Tuesday.

U.S.: Lawyers, Rights Groups Outraged by Gitmo Decision

Human rights advocates are furious at President Barack Obama’s decision to prosecute some Guantanamo detainees through the same military commissions he criticised during his campaign as a "flawed" system that "has failed to convict anyone of a terrorist act since the 9/11 attacks".

FINANCE: ExxonMobil Faces Growing Dissent in the Ranks

After years of boycotts and protests, the pressure on the world’s largest oil company to change its practices might soon be coming from the mutual funds that invest in it, some shareholders hope.

POLITICS-US: Rights Groups Slam Bid to Suppress Abuse Pics

President Barack Obama’s decision Wednesday to object to the planned release of photos showing abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan has drawn quiet praise from the military and some in Congress – and outspoken scorn from human rights advocates, a number of legal scholars and religious leaders, and many on the left of his Democratic Party.

RIGHTS-US: Senate Panel Probes Legality of Torture Memos

"An ethical train wreck" was the phrase used by one witness to describe the legal reasoning behind the Justice Department’s recently released memos justifying the use of waterboarding and other forms of "enhanced interrogation techniques".

RIGHTS-US: Psychologists Under Fire for Role in Interrogations

A leading human rights organisation is charging that an American Psychological Association (APA) task force formed to advise the U.S. military on prisoner interrogations was "stacked with Defence Department and [George W.] Bush Administration officials" and "rushed to conclusions that violated the Geneva Convention."

POLITICS-US: Unwieldy Terror Watchlist Hits a Million

Hundreds of thousands of people are being wrongly identified because of the government’s wasteful and inefficient management of the nation’s one million-strong terrorist watchlist, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

RIGHTS-US: Women Migrants Describe Abuse in County Jails

Broken arms, dislocated jaws, intimidation and vulgarities are part of the daily routine immigrant woman experience in Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) jails, human and civil rights organisations charge.

RIGHTS-US: Obama Considers Revamping Military Trials

Reports circulating in Washington suggest that President Barack Obama may try to revive the military commission system for prosecuting Guantánamo detainees, which Obama himself criticised during the administration of his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

ECONOMY-US: Workers Win and Lose in Chrysler Retooling

The U.S. government will invest billions in Chrysler and the United Auto Workers (UAW) trade union will become majority owners of the company, in a financial rescue deal announced Thursday by the White House.

U.S.: Major Foreign Tests Likely Over Next 100 Days

While Barack Obama has clearly improved Washington's image abroad during his first 100 days in office, the next 100 will almost certainly prove much more challenging for the new president's foreign policy.

FINANCE-US: IRS on the Track of Tax-Cheating “John Doe’s”

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is hitting pay dirt with a novel legal tactic designed to catch tax evaders. And it's going to use it to force international banks to give up the names of tax cheats.

POLITICS-US: Rights Groups Still Waiting for Obama to Deliver

While human rights and open-government groups are generally pleased with President Barack Obama’s rhetoric during his first 100 days, some are sceptical that he will deliver on his promises.

ECONOMY-US: Taxpayer Rage Builds Over Credit Card Abuses

With the U.S. economy in dire straits, Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama are turning their attention to stopping credit card abuses, including high interest rates, fees, and other practices that are affecting millions of U.S. households.