Egypt Cracks Down as U.S. Stands By

In the face of police brutality, crackdowns on political parties and media, and a host of other violations ahead of Egypt's Nov. 28 parliamentary election, human rights advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to use U.S. leverage to persuade Egypt to reform its electoral process, allow international monitors to assess the election, and conduct transparent and accountable balloting.

Obama Foreign Policy Likely to Face Republican Challenges

While foreign policy issues played almost no role in Tuesday's election results, the historic Republican landslide will almost certainly make Barack Obama's vision of a more positive U.S. role in international affairs more difficult to pursue.

Republicans Sweep U.S. House

Opposition Republicans have scored major victories in the country's midterm elections by taking control over the House of Representatives from the Democrats and scoring impressive gains in the Senate, which delivered a stinging blow to Barack Obama's presidency.

U.S. Polls Bode Ill for Immigration Reform

With conservatives likely to be the biggest winners in Tuesday's U.S. congressional elections, efforts to achieve a more compassionate national immigration policy may be one of the biggest losers.

Military Jury Tried to “Send a Message” in Khadr Case

A military jury at Guantanamo Bay sentenced a "child soldier" to 40 years in prison – unaware that Omar Khadr's defence and prosecution lawyers had already agreed on an eight-year sentence and further agreed that the United States would send the Canadian home next year.

Climate Change Denial Pervades U.S. Elections

In the run-up to the U.S. elections set to take place Nov. 2, the amount of money being spent and eccentricities on display have reached record levels. This has been particularly obvious in debates over energy and climate change.

U.S.: Planting Oases in a Land of Burgers and Fries

Though close to a billion people remain undernourished worldwide, one in three U.S. children are overweight – a problem that First Lady Michelle Obama has made her priority over the first two years of her husband's administration.

U.S.: Guilty Plea for Child Fighter Averts “Publicity Nightmare”

With tongue in cheek, constitutional experts congratulated the U.S. government Tuesday for negotiating a plea deal with Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, thus avoiding a trial in the military commission "puppet theatre" of a defendant who was just 15 at the time of his offences.

U.S. Aid Shift Envisions Path to Self-Sufficiency

As part of a more general promise of reform to U.S. development policy, the U.S. Agency for International Development is poised to fundamentally alter the way it tackles poverty overseas.

More Iraqi Prison Abuses Exposed on Wikileaks

The publication of a motherlode of secret field reports from the Iraq War are shining a bright light on heretofore unknown or underreported suspicions about the power of private security contractors and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their fellow Iraqis, often with their U.S. military counterparts "turning a blind eye".

AFGHANISTAN: Do Peace Talks Have Traction?

Reports over the past 10 days of high-level talks between the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and senior representatives of the Taliban have spurred growing speculation here about whether Washington is looking for a speedy exit to the longest foreign war in its history.

U.S.: Report Details Tea Party Ties with Hate Groups

Asserting that "the majority of Tea Party supporters are sincere, principled people of good will", the head of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) and other U.S. civil rights leaders are calling on the populist political grouping to purge itself of known racists lest they influence the direction of the movement.

U.S.: Think Tank Calls for “Bold Leap Forward” in India Ties

On the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's maiden voyage to India early next month, an influential think tank is calling for "a bold leap forward" in ties between the two nations.

HAITI: Tensions Mount Ahead of Controversial Polls

The United Nations' role in rebuilding Haiti is again being questioned days after peacekeepers clashed with a group of activists protesting the renewal of the 12,000-member U.N. military and police force near the Haitian capital of Port-au- Prince.

CENTRAL ASIA: U.S. Military Aid Far Outpaces Democracy Assistance

Desperate to secure supply routes to Afghanistan, the United States has been spending at least six times more on military aid for the mostly authoritarian states of Central Asia than on efforts to promote political liberalisation and human rights in the region, according to a new report released here by the Open Society Foundations (OSF).

AFGHANISTAN-US: Report Shows Drones Strikes Based on Scant Evidence

New information on the Central Intelligence Agency's campaign of drone strikes in northwest Pakistan directly contradicts the image the Barack Obama administration and the CIA have sought to establish in the news media of a programme based on highly accurate targeting that is effective in disrupting al Qaeda's terrorist plots against the United States.

U.S. Weighs Endorsing Indigenous Rights Declaration

Just over three years after having voted against it at the United Nations, the United States is in the process of reviewing its position on the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

SUDAN: U.S. Works to Avert Post-Referendum Bloodshed

With just under three months before southern Sudan votes on whether to become an independent country, the U.S. is stepping up efforts to ensure the vote and post-vote resolution are peaceful and credible – and NGOs are stepping up pressure to ensure that Washington follows through.

/CORRECTED REPEAT*/: U.S. Jews Increasingly Hawkish on Iran, Sceptical of Obama

U.S. Jews, who, next to African Americans, have constituted the minority most supportive of Barack Obama, are growing more sceptical of his performance and increasingly hawkish on Iran, according to a new poll released Tuesday by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

Pakistan’s Convoy Halt Forces U.S. to Reduce Tensions

By continuing its halt in NATO convoys headed for Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing into a second week, Pakistan's military leadership has brought an end to the unilateral attacks in Pakistan pushed by Gen. David Petraeus and forced Washington to make a new accommodation.

U.S.-CHINA: Will Renewed Military Ties Relax Regional Tensions?

While a growing dispute between the U.S. and China over the proper valuation of the renminbi is likely to dominate this weekend's annual meeting here of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), another aspect of the complex bilateral relationship between the two global giants may be on the mend.