POLITICS-US: Right Puts Obama in Media Crosshairs

The unveiling this week of a new campaign advertisement by the North Carolina Republican Party - using video of controversial remarks made by Senator Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and attacking two North Carolina Democratic candidates for governor - is a reminder that the race for the presidency will likely only get uglier as the summer goes on.

POLITICS-US: Courts May Get More Latitude on “State Secrets”

The U.S. Congress moved a step closer Thursday to reining in the legal practice that the government has used to block lawsuits by whistleblowers and victims of "extraordinary rendition", as well as actions that would embarrass the George W. Bush administration.

POLITICS-US: Taking on the Two-Party Monopoly

"Politics in the U.S. is at a crisis level," Green Party presidential hopeful Cynthia McKinney told IPS during a rare sit-down interview. "Disillusionment, lack of participation, and establishment of false choice - what is one to do? For me, I can't give up hope. I said yes when the Green Party said 'okay, now you want to do it?'."

DEATH PENALTY-US: Court Says, &#39Pay Up – Or Let Live!&#39

After eight years and millions of dollars spent, New Mexico has decided to quit pursuing two death penalty cases when lawmakers ducked away from voting additional money for court-appointed defence lawyers.

POLITICS-US: Primary Win Keeps Clinton Alive

The six weeks since the last actual vote was cast in the battle for the Democratic nomination have been filled with speculation, but Tuesday's primary in Pennsylvania finally settled something: this election is far from over.

THEATRE-US: The Houswife’s Lament

Since the 1950s, views in the United States have changed a lot about whether marriage is good for women - or at least about the nature of its serious disadvantages.

POLITICS-US: Outspoken War Critic Poised for Green Party Run

With media attention focused almost exclusively on the dramatic contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, millions of U.S. voters probably have no inkling that there is a ballot option beyond the Democratic and Republican Parties.

CLIMATE CHANGE-US: Governors Unite to Cut Emissions

U.S. state governors say they are fed up with the George W. Bush administration's foot-dragging on climate change and will go ahead - and around - the White House to reduce greenhouse gases.

CLIMATE CHANGE-US: Little New in Bush Climate Plan

Seven years after rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday called for halting the growth in U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025, a goal greeted with derision by Democrats and environmental groups.

POLITICS-US: Religious Right – Growing Pains, or Death Throes?

During a recent appearance at the National Religious Broadcasters conference, Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, expressed deep concern about the future of the conservative Christian movement he helped build and define.

POLITICS-US: Army “Rewards” Outspoken Antiwar Soldier

One of the leading voices of dissent inside the U.S. Army has been promoted.

POLITICS-US: Lobbyists Spend Record Sums to Influence Washington

The old jab about the United States having the best democracy money can buy took on new meaning Thursday.

Q&A: "We Wanted to Know How a Corn Cob Gets into a Pepsi"

Browsing through the aisles of the local supermarket, few consumers fully grasp the role corn plays in their daily lives.

POLITICS-US: Vets Press McCain to Back Greater Benefits

A leading political action committee founded by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans has launched a new internet video and petition demanding Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain throw his support behind a new G.I. Bill to provide improved education benefits for soldiers returning home from the two wars.

ENVIRONMENT: Major Climate Campaign Hits U.S. Airwaves

Building on his Oscar for the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore Wednesday launched a 300-million-dollar media campaign to mobilise the public for concrete action to reduce global warming.

POLITICS-US: Media Wrong on Rev. Wright, Critics Say

Amid the explosive controversy over remarks made in sermons by Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, critics are charging that the U.S. mainstream media has distorted his comments, failed to understand the African American church, and sought to punish the Democratic Party presidential hopeful through "guilt by association".

POLITICS: U.S. Image Improved Slightly in 2007

After three years of steadily declining ratings, global perception of the United States as a positive influence in the world appears to have improved marginally during 2007, according to a survey of 23 countries released by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Wednesday.

CANADA: Taser Use Soars as Concerns Mount Over Safety

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has doubled its use of Taser stun guns since 2005, according to an investigation by CBC and the Canadian Press. The RCMP has also been found to be less than forthright in producing information related to Taser incidents.

RIGHTS-US: Court Rules No Death Row for Mumia Abu Jamal

A federal court has ruled that Mumia Abu Jamal, known the world over in the fight against the death penalty, be taken off death row for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner.

RIGHTS-US: Jailed Professor on Hunger Strike

Webster's New Dictionary defines "justice" with words that represent lofty ideals; "integrity", "impartiality", and "the awarding of what is due". But in the case of Palestinian activist and former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, critics say, the U.S. Department of Justice under President George W. Bush has failed miserably to meet any of those standards.

ENVIRONMENT: Floating Cities, But Without a Sewer System

Cruise ships are dumping sewage in the waters off Canada's coast, but the federal government seems content with voluntary compliance standards and loose regulations, according to civil society critics.