U.S.: Obama Offers Internationalist Vision

Speaking before a record crowd estimated at between two and three million people at his inauguration here Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama promised a foreign policy of "humility and restraint" and "greater cooperation and understanding between nations".

FINANCE-US: Treasury Nominee Failed to Halt Bond Scam

U.S. senators at Timothy Geithner's confirmation hearing for Treasury Secretary Wednesday may want to ask him about a failure to act that is costing the U.S. a lot more than the amount he evaded on taxes.

RIGHTS-US: After the Party, Obama Has One Long To-Do List

As an estimated two million celebrants converge on the U.S. capital for the inauguration festivities of President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday, the mood among human rights groups and some religious leaders is somewhat more sombre.

BOOKS-US: Wounded Veterans Treated as an Afterthought

"But the [George W.] Bush administration was never seriously interested in helping veterans. The sorry state of care for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans is not an accident. It's on purpose."

POLITICS-US: The Youth Are Getting Restless

Young voters were an important factor in Barack Obama's victory last Nov. 4, but will their new political enthusiasm stand the test of time?

POLITICS-US: Vets Health System in Need of Triage

Eighteen U.S. veterans kill themselves every day. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas. One in every three homeless men in the United States has put on a uniform and served his country. On any given night, the U.S. government estimates 200,000 veterans sleep on the street.

U.S.: Clinton Stresses “Cooperative Engagement”, “Smart Power”

In the first comprehensive statement of President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy priorities, his nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Clinton, said "cooperative engagement" backed up by what she called "smart power" will define Washington's approach to the rest of the world.

RIGHTS-US: Fate of Guantanamo Detainees Still Murky

Human rights groups are hailing reports that President-elect Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order on his first full day in office directing the closing of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. But they are urging him to provide details on when and how it will be done and what will happen to those now imprisoned there.

CANADA: Paper Mill Seizure Boosts Populist Premier

The man dubbed "Canada's Hugo Chavez" is in the hot seat again.

POLITICS-US: Obama Intel Picks Send Mixed Message

Announcing his choices for top intelligence positions on Friday, President-elect Barack Obama was lauded by some for breaking strongly with the policies of the outgoing Pres. George W. Bush administration, while other observers offered sharp criticisms.

U.S.: Economy Goes Down, Congressional Pay Goes Up

U.S. workers are losing jobs in record numbers, scores of businesses are shuttering and hundreds of thousands of families are newly homeless - and Congress just gave itself a generous pay raise.

BOOKS-US: Dick Cheney, Master Bureaucrat

While lazier caricatures have always cast Vice-President Dick Cheney as the puppet-master pulling George W. Bush’s strings, it is the image of Cheney as master bureaucrat that provides the real key to understanding his power.

ECONOMY-US: Obama to Inherit Legacy of Free Market Free Fall

Despite hundreds of billions of dollars thrown at banks large and small, the U.S. economy is in a free fall, just weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, analysts say.

ECONOMY-US: Carmaker Rescue Could Cost Workers

After debating whether it was wise for the Republican administration to let the U.S. automotive industry collapse under its watch, Pres. George W. Bush, who leaves office next January with a battered legacy marked by an unpopular war in Iraq that has consumed billions of tax dollars and an economic meltdown at home, finally came to the aid of General Motors and Chrysler with a 17.4-billion-dollar rescue package.

LABOUR-US: Demand Dries Up For On-Demand Workers

Outside a Home Depot store, it's a typical December morning in Seattle: cool and gray with a light sprinkle falling. At 7:30, about 50 men wait at the entrances to the parking lot. Most wear jackets, jeans and work shoes, and some carry day packs with tools, water and lunch. They stand silently with hands in pockets, alone or in knots of three or four, baseball caps or sweatshirt hoods deployed against the chilly mist.

POLITICS-US: Scientists Hail Return to Fact-Based Policies

Key appointments announced by President-elect Barack Obama suggest that science will soon make a major comeback in the U.S. government.

FINANCE-US: AIG's Offshore Strategies Hide a Scam

The company getting the biggest U.S. bailout operated a scam to help clients cheat on U.S. taxes, regulators say. It is AIG, American International Group, the world's largest insurance conglomerate.

FINANCE-US: AIG's Past Could Return To Haunt

The U.S. will invest 40 billion dollars in American International Group (AIG), and will provide credit lines that could bring federal funding up to 144 billion dollars. It's the largest subsidy that a U.S. corporation has ever received.

ECONOMY-US: Where Have the Bailout Billions Gone?

A new U.S. investigative panel is demanding answers from the U.S. Treasury about how the agency has spent money from the 700-billion-dollar bailout fund.

ENERGY-US: Obama Faces Hungry Nuclear Industry

As Democratic President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office in a few weeks, he faces a hungry nuclear industry that wants to be included in his energy plan.

POLITICS-US: Conservative Pastor’s Star on the Rise

For a president who had little to do but pardon turkeys on Thanksgiving and throw the switch on the national Christmas tree, little to look forward to but packing his bags and evacuating the White House, and less positive accomplishments to look back on than most presidents, this year's World AIDS Day was clearly a high point. And Pastor Rick Warren was there to share the spotlight with him.