CANADA: Native Way of Life Vanishing into the Clear-Cut

As the Ontario election draws to a close on Wednesday, a long-running land rights battle continues in the east-central Canadian province between First Nations groups and mining and logging interests that have been granted concessions to exploit the resources in a vast boreal forest known as Grassy Narrows.

RIGHTS-US: The Torture Loophole

Senate Democrats plan to closely question the nominee for the next U.S. attorney general about his views on torture following revelations that the Justice Department issued secret directives legally justifying harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

DEATH PENALTY-US: Executions Across Country On Hold

A sudden halt to executions in Texas, the United States's most active death penalty state, may signal that there is now an unofficial national moratorium in place across the nation, pending a ruling by the Supreme Court on whether a specific lethal injection cocktail is legal.

ECONOMY: Chronic Disease Saps U.S.

Life high off the hog is costing the U.S. economy more than 1 trillion dollars a year in lost productivity and medical treatment costs, according to a private foundation that says the toll can be avoided.

POLITICS-US: Christian Right Slams Republicans Over Abortion

Despite its oft-written obituary, the Christian right wing in the United States is alive and functioning.

ENERGY: Citigroup, Bank of America Raked Over Coal

U.S. environmentalists seeking to turn up the heat on the coal industry, which they blame for a litany of problems, are targeting two banks they say have taken the lead in financing mines.

CLIMATE CHANGE: U.S. Moving Backwards

As global warming melts the Arctic, the United States's biggest banks are investing billions of dollars in as many as 150 new coal-fired power plants around the country.

RIGHTS: Small Town a Microcosm of U.S. Racism

A controversial legal case involving a small group of teenagers has sparked a new wave of protests against racist bias towards African Americans in schools and courtrooms.

HEALTH-US: Brain Trauma the “Signature Injury” For Iraq Vets

On Mar. 19, 2004 Corporal Justin Bunce was on patrol in the Iraqi city of Husayba on the Syrian border when a bomb exploded in the wall of a cemetery.

Q&A: "I&#39ve Peeked Behind That Curtain and It&#39s an Unholy Mess"

Mike German is a former agent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who in the 1990s infiltrated white supremacist terrorist groups engaged in violent activities, including a racially-motivated Los Angeles organisation that set off bombs to intimidate and harm people of colour, and a militant neo-Nazi group in Washington state.

POLITICS-US: Florida Can&#39t Resist a Good Electoral Row

A showdown is looming between Florida Democrats and the national party leadership over their decision Sunday to press ahead with an early primary date to select the candidates for next year's presidential election - still some 406 days away.

RIGHTS-US: Tasering of Student Viewed Round the World

Campus police at the University of Florida tackled, then Tasered - or shocked with high-voltage electricity - a journalism student last week, renewing a vigorous debate in the United States and abroad on police abuses of power and the struggle to preserve free speech.

TRADE-CANADA: Losing Water Through NAFTA

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada lost control over its energy resources. Now, with "NAFTA-plus", it could also lose control over its freshwater resources, say experts.

LABOUR-US: Mine Tragedy Spurs Calls for Reform

The worst mine disaster in the United States this year, which occurred in mid-summer, has highlighted what appears to be a pattern of lackadaisical inspection and enforcement by the agency charged with overseeing safety compliance in the industry.

ENERGY-CANADA: Wind vs. Water in Giant Dam Dispute

A controversial hydroelectricity expansion project in Quebec has drawn sharp criticism from aboriginal and environmental organisations on both sides of the Canadian-U.S. border.

CANADA: Many Vets Say Agent Orange Settlement Falls Short

Notorious for its devastating use by the U.S. military in the Vietnam War, the toxic defoliant Agent Orange was tested and sprayed extensively in Canada by both the Canadian military and its U.S. counterpart in the1950s, '60s and '70s

FINANCE: U.S. Rate Cut Reflects Economic Woes

When the U.S. central bank cut interest rates Tuesday, it signaled that the world's largest economy is in worse shape than it was willing to admit just last month.

POLITICS-US: Bush Opts for “Confirmable” Attorney-General

The nomination Monday by President George W. Bush of retired federal judge Michael B. Mukasey for the top spot at the U.S. Justice Department is a departure from business as usual for the administration.

POLITICS-US: Rumsfeld Redeploys to Right-Wing Think Tank

While General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were giving the U.S. Congress an upbeat assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq this week, one of the chief architects of the war was preparing to redeploy to a West Coast conservative think tank.

DEATH PENALTY-US: Florida Court Struggles through IQ Labyrinth

A Florida judge's decision to sentence a convicted killer to death, despite two extremely low IQ scores, has highlighted the possibility that some severely mentally retarded may be missing the lifeline thrown out to them by the U.S. Supreme Court five years ago, some activists say.

ENVIRONMENT: Breakthrough on Mystery of Vanishing Bees

Over the past year, honey bees have been dying across North America in unprecedented numbers and, until this month, no one seemed to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what the cause may have been.