UGANDA: U.S. Congress Clears Anti-LRA Bill

The U.S. Congress has cleared legislation requiring President Barack Obama to devise a strategy over the next six months to help capture the leadership of the Lord's Revolutionary Army (LRA) and protect the civilian population in four eastern and central African countries from its rampages.

U.S. Nudged Toward Closer Cooperation with ICC

The upcoming review conference of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has restarted the debate here in Washington about how the U.S. should engage with the ICC despite ongoing concerns about the prosecutorial authority and jurisdiction afforded to the court.

U.S. Urged to Probe “Second Prison” at Bagram

Pressure is mounting on the U.S. government to investigate reports that inmates from the notorious prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan have been moved to a second separate facility - known as the Tor Jail, which translates as "black jail" - where they say they were held in isolation in cold cells with a light on day and night and deprived of sleep by U.S. military personnel.

US: Govt Can’t Shut Down Charities Without a Warrant, Court Rules

In a major decision overturning a George W. Bush-era policy that has been continued by the administration of President Barack Obama, a federal court ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department cannot freeze a charity's assets without a warrant, and must also give access to any classified evidence before effectively shutting the group down.

New U.S. Drug Strategy Still Heavy on Enforcement

Along with an expanded focus on domestic prevention and treatment, the U.S. will make a renewed effort to disrupt the flow of narcotics into its borders and weapons and money out of them, according to the White House's long-anticipated National Drug Control Strategy released Tuesday.

Pentagon Faces Battle in Effort to Reverse Military Contracting

Pentagon chief Robert Gates has called for a cutback of 15 billion dollars in wasteful military spending on contractors as well as government bureaucracy, or risk not being able to pay for its current force.

High Court Nominee Already Drawing Fire from Left and Right

The question of whether U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will move the court to the right or the left continued to be among the main points of contention among legal scholars Monday.

Pentagon Doubts Grow on McChrystal War Plan

Although Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's plan for wresting the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar from the Taliban is still in its early stages of implementation, there are already signs that setbacks and obstacles it has encountered have raised serious doubts among top military officials in Washington about whether the plan is going to work.

U.S. Business Groups Fault Rush to Sanctions on Iran

The U.S. Congress is moving forward with a bill to sanction companies that do business in Iran despite the White House's efforts to build international support for U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

U.S. House Clears Haiti Trade Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday approved a major trade bill designed to boost U.S. and other investment in Haiti's textile and apparel industry following January's devastating earthquake in which at least 200,000 people are believed to have been killed.

US-CUBA: Radio, TV Marti Seen as Bust

Despite spending more than half a billion dollars over the last quarter century, U.S. government broadcasts to Cuba have gained only a tiny audience and have had virtually no effect on the island's politics, according to a new report by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Will Arizona Give Immigration Reform a Shot in the Arm?

Advocates for comprehensive immigration reform are working against time to transform a groundswell of popular support into concrete legislation that the U.S. Congress can pass this year.

NPT Meet Draws Thousands of Anti-Nukes Activists

Japanese women in kimonos carrying signs urging "No More Hiroshima", an 80-year-old grandmother, and 18 mayors from around the world were just some of the almost 15,000 people who marched in New York City Sunday to rally for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Pentagon Map Shows Wide Taliban Zone in the South

The Pentagon was still trying to spin its report on the war in Afghanistan issued this week as holding out hope because the instability had leveled off, even as some news outlets were noting that it documents the continued expansion of Taliban capabilities and operations.

Q&A: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime Has Triple Standards

The abolition of nuclear weapons - and a halt to the spread of the deadly armaments - will be a major talking point at the month-long Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), scheduled to take place at the United Nations beginning next week.

U.S./IRAN: Sanctions Debate Heats Up

Wednesday's highly unusual public launch of a "conference committee" of both houses of Congress to hash out differences in long-pending legislation to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran marks a new stage in the escalating debate over what to do about Tehran's nuclear programme.

US-Japan Airbase Spat May Have Regional Ripples

A protest of more than 90,000 Okinawans Sunday over the proposed relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps airbase in the southern Japanese prefecture has fueled speculation in Washington that the U.S.-Japanese alliance may be facing a serious test with the election of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), and that such strains might have serious implications for the U.S.'s ability to balance Chinese naval power in East Asia.

U.S.: Protests Mount Against Immigrant Crackdown

Three civil rights organisations are suing the U.S. government to obtain records related to a little-known programme known as "Secure Communities" that further involves local and state police in federal immigration enforcement.

U.S.-MIDEAST: To Peace Plan or Not to Peace Plan, and When?

Reports earlier this month that President Barack Obama may present a comprehensive U.S. peace plan for resolving the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict have spurred a growing public debate over its wisdom and timing.

U.S. to Face Litany of Complaints at UN Human Rights Council

Human rights groups are telling the United Nations that the United States is failing to hold corporations, including private government contractors, accountable for human rights abuses ranging from human trafficking to murder.

U.S. Nuclear Option on Iran Linked to Israeli Attack Threat

The Barack Obama administration's declaration in its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that it is reserving the right to use nuclear weapons against Iran represents a new element in a strategy of persuading Tehran that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites is a serious possibility if Iran does not bow to the demand that it cease uranium enrichment.