ECONOMY-US: At Failed Firms, No Bad Deed Goes Unrewarded

Thousands of angry U.S. workers took to the streets Thursday to protest some major banks and insurance companies that have handed out extravagant bonuses on the taxpayers' dime, as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to get some of the bonus money back.

POLITICS-US: Marijuana Legalisation Creates Buzz

Due perhaps in part to the country's economic woes, but also a major shift in political culture, discussion of marijuana legalisation has risen to a level of openness and prominence previously unseen in the United States.

RIGHTS-US: Ill Migrants Left to Languish Behind Bars

Clinical staff at U.S. immigration detention centres systematically abuse detainees in their charge, according to two reports by Human Rights Watch and the Florida Immigration Advocacy Centre (FIAC) that describe the medical care system in these facilities as "dangerously inadequate".

RIGHTS-US: Red Cross Report Bolsters Case for Bush Inquiry

A leaked Red Cross report, detailing chilling accounts of prisoner torture in "black sites" run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, has underlined the need for an independent commission of inquiry into possible war crimes committed by senior officials during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to a statement by 25 prominent clergymen and women.

RIGHTS-US: New Name, Same Detainee Problem

Human rights activists and constitutional law experts were virtually unanimous in their condemnation of the positions taken on prisoner detention and treatment in federal court last week by President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, which one group described as "a case of old wine in new bottles."

POLITICS-US: Freeman Affair Puts Israel Lobby in Spotlight

Although the successful campaign to keep Amb. Charles "Chas" Freeman out of a top intelligence post marked a surface victory for the pro-Israel hardliners who opposed him, the long-term political implications of the Freeman affair appear far more ambiguous.

POLITICS-US: New Drug Czar Praised by Reform Groups

U.S. President Barack Obama's pick for his new drug czar signals a radical shift from the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, by focusing on treatment for drug offenders rather than jail time.

CORRUPTION-US: Homeowner Rip-Offs Spark Scores of Lawsuits

Many of the biggest mortgage lenders in the U.S. have engaged in widespread, systematic schemes that ripped off hundreds of thousands of families seeking to buy a home, refinance or foreclose, according to lawsuits filed on behalf of consumers.

POLITICS-US: Freeman Withdrawal Marks Victory for Israel Lobby

Amb. Chas Freeman withdrew from consideration for a top intelligence post in the Obama administration on Tuesday, following a vitriolic battle that pitted Republican lawmakers and pro-Israel hardliners opposed to his appointment against liberals and members of the intelligence and diplomatic communities who had come to his defence.

U.S.: Bush-Era Bureaucracy Lingers Amid Lengthy Vetting Process

The meticulous vetting process that potential appointees for senior State Department and other posts must undergo is delaying full staffing of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, even as it faces ever-more urgent crises both at home and abroad.

ENVIRONMENT: Pine Beetle Kill No Longer Just Dead Wood

The sheer magnitude of the devastation left by this tiny beetle is shocking on its own.

POLITICS-US: Intel Council Head Draws Ire of Israel Lobby

The appointment of a top-ranking retired diplomat and vocal critic of Israel to a key intelligence post has triggered an intense backlash from hawkish Israel supporters in Congress and the media who are pressing the administration of President Barack Obama to reconsider.

POLITICS-US: Senate Committee Weighs “Truth Commission”

In a preview of the heated divisions likely be triggered by the formation of a "truth commission" to investigate detainee interrogation, warrantless wiretapping and other alleged violations during the administration of President George W. Bush, witnesses before a Senate committee Wednesday characterised such a body as either a "profoundly bad idea" or "critically important to avoiding the mistakes of the past."

CORRUPTION-US: How Wall Street Paid For Its Own Funeral

A new report says that Wall Street has only itself to blame for the misguided deregulation that led to the current deepening financial crisis.

RIGHTS-US: El-Marri Lawyers Seek Supreme Court Review

Lawyers for imprisoned "enemy combatant" Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri are vowing to press the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case even though al-Marri was suddenly transferred to the civilian justice system after more than five years in solitary confinement in a military brig.

RIGHTS-US: Few Safety Nets for Women of Colour

As hundreds of activists from around the world descend on the United Nations Monday for a major two-week meeting on women's rights and equality, the economic crisis here in the host country is continuing to have an especially heavy toll on women of colour.

U.S.: Diplomatic, Aid Spending Set to Rise Under Obama Budget

While most mainstream press reaction to President Barack Obama's whopping 3.5-trillion-dollar 2010 budget has naturally focused on its far-reaching - even historic - implications for the U.S. domestic economy, experts here say it also marks at least the beginning of potentially important shifts in U.S. foreign policy.

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Heat Is On Washington

A boiling point over government inaction on climate change may have been reached in the United States.

U.S.: Gen Y Reads – But Only for Nine Minutes a Day

Are twentysomethings changing the culture of literature?

ECONOMY-US: Job Creation Key to Recovery, Obama Stresses

In his first speech before a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama gave a hopeful assessment of the country’s future and defended his economic recovery plan to get there.

POLITICS-US: Christian Zionist’s Crusade Bears Fruit

During a recent appearance on the Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" programme, Mike Evans accused former President Jimmy Carter of everything from helping overthrow the Shah of Iran to causing the Russians to invade Afghanistan and provoking the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.