CLIMATE CHANGE: Gap Between Science and Pledges Likely to Outlive Cancun

Though there is widespread acknowledgement that the ambitions for this year's climate change conference are considerably lower than for last year's, the U.N. and other groups say even the deal struck a year ago will not go far enough to stop climate change.

Egypt Rejects “Interference” in Elections

Egypt's authoritarian government ramped up its crackdown on journalists and opposition politicians ahead of the Nov. 28 parliamentary elections and rebuffed a U.S. call for international observers to monitor "free and fair" balloting.

U.S.: Will Pentagon Be Exempt from Budget Cuts?

With pressure to slash the 1.3 trillion-dollar federal deficit rising sharply, the public debate over whether to exempt the Pentagon from such cuts is moving rapidly toward centre-stage.

New York Terror Verdict Hailed as Vindicating Civil Trials

The conviction of the first Guantanamo Bay detainee brought to New York for trial is triggering a wide range of reactions from politicians and legal experts.

U.S.: START Supporters Play Iran Card in Lame-Duck Congress

Of all the arguments the Barack Obama administration is marshalling in support of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, the one that may have the greatest resonance with Republicans is over Iran.

Obama Scrambles to Save Arms, Foreign Policy Agenda

Two weeks after U.S. voters gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives and a sharply reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate, President Barack Obama is scrambling to save his foreign policy agenda.

Funding Cuts on Horizon for Global Health, AIDS

Over the past several years, the number of people needing treatment for HIV/AIDS has risen, but so has the amount of funding for the treatment and prevention of the disease. The United States has been at the forefront of that funding, but with the new emphasis in Washington on reducing government spending that may be about to change.

U.S.: Health and Privacy Concerns Dog Airport Body Scanners

Privacy advocates called on the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Tuesday to end its controversial new initiative of whole-body scans and enhanced pat-downs of airline passengers, calling the programme "dangerous to health, ineffective and unconstitutional".

US-IRAN: Study Group Urges “Strategic Engagement”

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama should pursue a policy of "strategic engagement" with Iran that would offer Tehran more attractive incentives to curb its nuclear programme, according to a study group convened by two centrist Washington think tanks.

Britain to Settle Rendition, Torture Case for Millions

The British government will reportedly pay millions in compensation to seven British nationals who were unlawfully "rendered" to U.S.-run prisons and tortured with the cooperation of British intelligence.

EGYPT: Mubarak’s Critics See Hypocrisy in U.S. Support

The Egyptian government's crackdown on political opponents continues unabated in advance of parliamentary elections Nov. 28, even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week hailed the "partnership" between the two countries as "a cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyond".

U.S.: Blue-Ribbon Panel Finds AfPak Strategy at “Critical Point”

The administration of President Barack Obama should begin shifting to a counterterrorism (CT) strategy requiring many fewer troops in Afghanistan if its pending review finds that the current counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy is not working, according to a new report by a bipartisan task force of 25 prominent analysts and former top foreign policy officials.

U.S.: Looming Partisan Shift Adds Urgency to Nuke Treaty

When U.S. President Barack Obama capped a flurry of activity on nuclear non-proliferation this spring by welcoming the largest gathering of world leaders ever in Washington for a Nuclear Security Summit, many experts hoped to see cascading effects that would lead to even further elimination of nuclear weapons.

IRAQ: Formation of New Govt Hailed (Tentatively) by U.S.

After an agonising eight-month delay, the first concrete steps toward the formation of a new coalition Iraqi government were greeted by senior U.S. officials here Thursday as a major advance in stabilising the long-suffering nation.

Outrage Mounts over Bush’s Waterboarding “Confession”

After a three-year investigation, President Barack Obama's mantra – "look forward and not backwards" – appears to have trumped the rule of law as a special prosecutor declined to pursue criminal charges against the Central Intelligence Agency operatives involved in the destruction of video recordings of interrogations of "war on terror" suspects.

Behind Drone Issue in Yemen, a Struggle to Control Covert Ops

The drone war that has been anticipated in Yemen for the last few months has been delayed by the failure of U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) to generate usable intelligence on al Qaeda there.

Obama Lawyers Defend “Kill Lists”

Lawyers for the Barack Obama administration told a federal judge Monday that the U.S. government has authority to kill U.S. citizens whom the executive branch has unilaterally determined pose a threat to national security.

Muslim Americans Foil Terror Threats

A new report on violent extremists in the United States finds that terrorism plots by non-Muslims greatly outnumber those attempted by Muslims, and that Muslim-American communities helped foil close to a third of al Qaeda-related terror plots threatening the country since Sep. 11, 2001.

Multi-Billion-Dollar Arms Deals Could Haunt U.S.

When the Shah of Iran, a strongly pro-U.S. ally, was ousted from power after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the stridently anti-U.S. regime of Ayatollah Khomeini that captured power also inherited a military bonanza: billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art weapons provided by the United States.

US-IRAN: Netanyahu Pounds War Drums

Less than a week after Republicans made major gains in the U.S. midterm elections, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called on President Barack Obama to "create a credible threat of military action" against Iran.

BOOKS-US: Dissecting the Perpetual War Machine

Andrew J. Bacevich emerged in the first decade of the century as this country's most widely read and widely respected critic of U.S. militarism and empire.