US-LATAM: Disappointment May Yield to Distrust

While U.S. officials took strong exception to outgoing Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva's recent complaint that "nothing has changed" in Washington's relations with Latin America two years into the Barack Obama administration, many independent U.S. analysts ruefully nodded their heads.

AFPAK: People Turning Against Taliban

The Taliban once regarded as true jihadists here are rapidly losing popularity in response to their ongoing targeting of mosques, schools and innocent people.

SUDAN-U.S.: Referendum May Be Only the Beginning

Amid growing certainty that the much-anticipated weeklong referendum on independence for south Sudan will indeed begin Sunday as scheduled, U.S. officials and independent experts are warning that the situation in both the north and the south is likely to remain very fragile for some time to come.

Pressure Mounts on Security Council to Rein in Israel

Calls are growing for a swift international response to the situation in the Middle East, as Israel continues to build new settlements in Palestinian territories with increased military actions against civilians.

Oil Leak, Haiti, Afghanistan Dominated 2010 U.S. TV News

The disastrous BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, and the continuing war in Afghanistan comprised the major news stories in 2010, according to the latest annual review of network news coverage by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

How Afghanistan Became a War for NATO

The official line of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO command in Afghanistan, is that the war against Afghan insurgents is vital to the security of all the countries providing troops there.

Indigenous Peoples Gain U.S., U.N. Recognition

As 2010 draws to a close, both the United States and the United Nations have reached out to one of the world’s most marginalised groups in society: indigenous peoples.

RIGHTS: Guantanamo Closure Recedes Into Distance

President Barack Obama's hopes of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility appear as far from being realised as ever in the wake of new legislation approved by Congress this week.

Obama Scores Win with New START Ratification

U.S. President Barack Obama scored key wins Wednesday in both foreign policy and domestic politics as more than the required two-thirds of the Senate - including 13 Republicans who defied their party's leadership - voted to ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia.

Peace Must Be “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned”, Diplomats Say

The U.S. move to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan may be seen in Washington as the only effective and viable strategy to stabilise the country, but not everyone in the diplomatic community here at U.N. headquarters agrees.

US Stepping Up Pressure on Pakistan

This week's leak to the New York Times of a proposal for U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) raids against Afghan insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan may be intended to put more pressure on the Pakistani military to take action against those sanctuaries.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal Marks Rare Victory for Obama

The U.S. Senate's repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy Saturday ended what had become for many an embarrassing and awkward policy - and marked a rare victory for the agenda of President Barack Obama in the U.S. Congress.

BOOKS-IRAQ: Division Accomplished

Few in Washington want to talk much about Iraq these days.

Gains in Kandahar Came with More Brutal U.S. Tactics

The Barack Obama administration's claim of "progress" in its war strategy is based on the military seizure of three rural districts outside Kandahar City in October.

U.S., Last Holdout on Native Rights Declaration, Reverses Stand

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Thursday he was reversing the U.S.'s position and endorsing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

U.S. Readies New Sanctions on Iran Ahead of Talks

The Barack Obama administration is preparing a new batch of sanctions against Iran to be announced next week in advance of nuclear talks in Turkey.

U.S. Moves Closer to Development Policy Reform

The U.S. took a major step toward overhauling the way it engages in diplomacy and development work Wednesday.

U.S.: Pakistani Ambassador Unknowingly Hosted Neocon Fundraiser

Amid putting on a two-and-a-half day conference focused on escalating measures against Iran, a neoconservative think-tank held a fundraiser at the residence of Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., according to an IPS investigation.

U.S.: And Justice for Few

Poor defendants on death row, immigrants in unfair deportation proceedings, torture victims, domestic violence survivors and victims of racial discrimination - all these groups are consistently being denied access to justice while those responsible for the abuses are protected, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Govt Accused of Fuzzy Math in Gitmo Report

A prominent public interest law firm that has defended numerous Guantanamo Bay detainees charged Thursday that a recent government report on a high rate of recidivism among former inmates is loaded with "vague and unsubstantiated claims and misinformation".

Of Wikileaks, Whistleblowers and Whipping Boys

As pro- and anti-Wikileaks forces draw their battle lines, and Wikileaks' impresario Julian Assange marks time in storied, overcrowded and very Victorian Wandsworth Prison in southwest London, a group of his supporters are taking a different tack.