POLITICS-US: Obama’s Momentum Carries Congress

When U.S. president-elect Barack Obama takes his historic oath of office on the steps of the Capitol at his inauguration in January, he can know that the building he's standing before will be filled with allies.

MEDIA-US: Massive Iraqi Death Toll Ignored by Tabloid Culture

The year is 1994. Pictures of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley cover the pages of prominent U.S. newspapers and magazines. Yet hidden from national view is the attempted elimination of the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda.

RIGHTS-US: Mental Heath Concerns Grow for Thousands of Condemned

The length of time convicted murderers wait for their execution is steadily rising in the U.S., raising concerns that more will suffer from the mental illness known as "death row syndrome".

POLITICS-US: Massive Turnout Expected to Tip Vote for Obama

On the eve of Tuesday's elections, Sen. Barack Obama and his fellow Democratic candidates appear to be on the verge of a historic victory, according to political experts attached to both major parties and the latest polling.

POLITICS-US: Can Naturalised Citizens Tip the Balance?

Juan Carlos Jimenez had already lived legally in the United States for nearly 40 years when he became a citizen in October, at 44. He joined hundreds of other immigrants at a New York courthouse to take his oath.

POLITICS-US: Racism Won’t Keep Arab Americans From Polls

Arab Americans are expected to vote in large numbers Tuesday, despite concerns over voter intimidation and weak outreach from the presidential candidates, representatives of major community organisations say.

POLITICS-US: Vote-Flipping Reported on E-Voting Machines

Several U.S. citizens reported watching their votes flip on electronic voting machines in different states during the early voting period, highlighting the continued vulnerability of "e-voting" systems, which about 50 million U.S. citizens will use on Tuesday, despite problems since as early as 2004.

ECONOMY-US: Congress Gives a Nod to Anxious “Main Street”

U.S. consumers are in no mood to spend, and that calls for action, Congress and the George W. Bush administration said this week.

U.S.: Arab Americans Stoke Strong Minority Support for Obama

With only one week left before the Nov. 4 presidential elections, Arab Americans have sharply increased their support for the Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, according to a poll released here Tuesday by the Arab American Institute (AAI).

ECONOMY-US: Millions Lose Homes, As Families Plead for Help

Bank crashes in Iceland, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout of Ukraine and volatile stock markets the world over - it all links back to the U.S. communities where hundreds of thousands of families are losing their homes with no let up in sight, those on the frontlines say.

U.S.: A Week Out, Obama and Democrats Poised for Victory

With only one week before the Nov. 4 elections, Democrats are increasingly hopeful that they will emerge next Wednesday with control of the White House and substantially increased majorities in both houses of Congress.

POLITICS-US: Plumbing the Depths of Spin

In the waning days of an interminable United States presidential campaign, a plumber and would-be small businessman bestrides the narrow race like a colossus with a tool belt.

RIGHTS-US: New Davis Reprieve Raises Hopes of Retrial

A federal appeals court in Atlanta has stayed the execution of Georgia death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis scheduled for Monday - the third time he has been pulled back from the death chamber in just over a year.

ARTS-US: Spotlight on 40 Years of Black Theatre

For decades, playwrights writing realistically about the black experience in the United States could not get their works produced, black directors didn't get jobs, and even the most successful performers were confined to roles as servants in plays about whites.

EDUCATION-US: Credit Crunch Hits College Students

The credit crunch is limiting college access for some students in the United States by making it more difficult for them or their parents to obtain student loans to finance the steep cost of a four-year education.

ECONOMY-US: It’s Not the “Greedy Poor People”

A 31-year-old law designed to put an end to "redlining" and other restrictive practices that effectively shut poor and minority families out of home-ownership and neighbourhood development is being attacked by conservative commentators as a major cause of today's sub-prime mortgage mess.

BOOKS-US: A Liberal’s Travels in “Flyover Country”

"What are they thinking?" is a question my mother screams at the television every election season. A union nurse in overwhelmingly liberal, Democratic San Francisco, she cannot believe that the presidential election is even close.

POLITICS-US: Campaigns Spar Over Broken Health System

For a man who said he watched his mother battle with insurance companies while dying of cancer in a hospital bed, and whose 85-year-old grandmother is said to be in serious condition, healthcare for all citizens has become a defining issue in the historic campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

POLITICS-US: E-Voting Worries Focus on Swing States

A common criticism of technology is that the more complex it gets, the more likely it is to break down; more moving parts means more potential problems.

ECONOMY-US: From the Guys Who Brought You Enron…

The global credit agencies Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch propelled the financial meltdown by giving high marks to failing financial companies and their risky, sub-prime investments, lawmakers said Wednesday.

BOOKS: Is the Sun Setting on U.S. Empire?

The unlikely political journey of Andrew J. Bacevich has been one of the most potent symbols of the transformation in foreign policy debates wrought by the George W. Bush years.