POLITICS-US: Rights Groups Still Waiting for Obama to Deliver

While human rights and open-government groups are generally pleased with President Barack Obama’s rhetoric during his first 100 days, some are sceptical that he will deliver on his promises.

POLITICS-US: 100 Days of Latitude

One hundred days into his presidency, Barack Obama appears to have largely succeeded in putting U.S. ties with the rest of the world on a significantly more positive track, even as the foreign policy changes he has made thus far have been more rhetorical than substantive.

Q&A: Islamophobia Alive and Well in the U.S.

In an Apr. 6 address to the Turkish Parliament on the final day of his European trip, President Barack Obama praised Muslim Americans for "enriching the United States".

US-LATAM: Summit Will Test Obama Magic

As Barack Obama packs his bags for his first trip as president to Latin America and the Caribbean, the big question is whether he will be bringing much with him - beyond his listening skills and charisma - that will excite the region and its leaders at the fifth "Summit of the Americas" in Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.

POLITICS-US: Help Wanted, Some Travel to Guantanamo…

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered the Navy’s prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by next January, suspended military commission trials, and assigned Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct case-by-case reviews of the 241 prisoners still detained there to determine which ones should be prosecuted, released or sent to other countries.

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Parliament Tightens Protest Ban at Spy Base

Despite ongoing community concerns over the highly secretive Pine Gap spy station in central Australia, the nation’s parliament has moved to effectively ban protest at the joint Australia-United States base.

US-CUBA: Obama Lifts Restrictions on Cuban-Americans

Fulfilling a key campaign promise, U.S. President Barack Obama Monday lifted all restrictions on Cuban-Americans to visit their homeland and send money to family members there.

AUSTRALIA: Government Urged to Conduct Iraq War Probe

The U.K. government’s recent announcement that it will conduct an inquiry into Britain’s involvement in Iraq has led to calls here for Australia to review its own participation in the controversial war.

US: Counterinsurgency Back In Vogue?

As the U.S. prepares to reduce its military presence in Iraq while intensifying its war effort in Afghanistan, hawks within both the Republican and Democratic parties have come increasingly to believe that counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine offers a solution to the central security challenges Washington will face in the 21st century.

US: Obama Team Debates Stance on Israeli Attack Threat

A recent statement by the chief of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. David Petraeus, that Israel may decide to attack Iranian nuclear sites has been followed by indications of a debate within the Barack Obama administration on whether Israel's repeated threats to carry out such a strike should be used to gain leverage in future negotiations with Tehran.

RIGHTS-US: ‘We Shouldn’t Depend on Others to Clean Up Our Mess’

Human rights organisations and legal scholars are applauding the efforts of Spanish lawyers in seeking the indictment of six former officials of the administration of President George W. Bush in connection with the torture of detainees at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison.

RIGHTS-US: Medics and Interrogations Don’t Mix

Human rights advocates are expressing alarm about recent disclosures that medical professionals assisted the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in harsh interrogations at secret prisons overseas and at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. It has also been brought to light that judges have ignored the mental health problems of government witnesses in terror-related trials.

IRAN-US: Deal with the Elephant in the Room!

Despite recent overtures and the establishment of areas of common interest, Iran’s nuclear programme remains central to its goals in dealing with the U.S.

POLITICS-US: New Budget, Not Quite a Fundamental Shift

Secretary of Defence Robert Gates unveiled the U.S.’s much-anticipated new military budget Monday, which aims to reorient the armed forces toward irregular and counterinsurgency warfare while proposing cuts in several major weapons programs.

POLITICS: In Reversal, U.S. to Engage With Human Rights Council

The Barack Obama administration’s decision this week to seek a seat on the world’s top human rights body has affirmed the hopes of many activist groups that the United States will take a far more multilateral approach to diplomacy than in the past.

US-ISRAEL: Visa for Top Netanyahu Aide In Question

The first official test of wills between the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama and the new Likud-led government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could well be waged over the issuance, or restoration, of a simple entry visa.

U.S.: Obama Affirms New Focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan

In what marks a significant escalation in U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Barack Obama Friday outlined what he called a "comprehensive, new strategy" for the two countries to fight al Qaeda and its local allies.

POLITICS-US: Bailout Bitterness Tainting Obama’s Broader Agenda

Two months into his term, U.S. President Barack Obama’s ambitious campaign programme for sweeping "change" has been whittled down to a bid for incremental change, with opposition to some of his proposed broad reforms coming from unlikely places.

RIGHTS-US: Obama Faces Spate of “Terror War” Lawsuits

Human rights lawyers are proving to be a major headache for the new administration of President Barack Obama, stepping up court challenges on issues of prisoner abuse to test the reality of the president's pledge to create a "an unprecedented level of openness" in government.

POLITICS-US: Obama Bailout Plan Not the Right’s Cup of Tea

In December of 1773, colonists in Boston - then a town in the British colony of Massachusetts - protested against the British government after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain.

POLITICS: Despite Obama’s Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq

Despite President Barack Obama’s statement at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Feb. 27 that he had "chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months," a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic U.S. Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label.