POLITICS-US: Censorship Seen in Exclusion of Foreign Scholars

A leading legal rights group charged Tuesday that the Barack Obama Justice Department is using immigration law to censor debate by selectively barring U.S. entry to foreign scholars.

POLITICS-US: Veils of Secrecy Lifting in Washington

As President Barack Obama’s Justice Department issued sweeping new guidelines to reverse the secrecy policies of former president George W. Bush, a federal judge ordered the Central Intelligence Agency to produce unedited summaries of some 3,000 documents related to its admitted destruction of 92 videotapes of prisoners being subjected to extremely harsh interrogation techniques.

US-IRAN: From “Axis of Evil” to “Happy New Year”

In an unprecedented move, President Barack Obama has reached out to both the people and the government of a leading U.S. adversary to wish them well in their upcoming Norouz, or New Year, holidays.

POLITICS: Brazil Could Play Key Role in US-Latam Thaw

Relations between the United States and left-leaning governments in South and Central America are likely to improve under the administration of President Barack Obama, according to some foreign policy analysts here.

U.S.: Obama’s New Sudan Envoy Faces Big Challenges

As the humanitarian situation in Darfur deteriorates, President Barack Obama's new Special Envoy for Sudan is likely to find his inbox filled with urgent challenges - none more immediate than how to get relief groups back into the province.

U.S./LATAM: Economic Crisis May Overwhelm Obama’s Goodwill

For all the goodwill that U.S. President Barack Obama is showing toward Latin America, he may find his efforts overwhelmed by the global economic crisis and growing pressure from labour unions - a key Democratic constituency - opposed to the kind of "free trade'' agreements favoured by his two predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

RIGHTS-US: Red Cross Report Bolsters Case for Bush Inquiry

A leaked Red Cross report, detailing chilling accounts of prisoner torture in "black sites" run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, has underlined the need for an independent commission of inquiry into possible war crimes committed by senior officials during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to a statement by 25 prominent clergymen and women.

AUSTRALIA: Pressured to Do More in Afghanistan

With the internecine battle among some of the 42 contributing nations to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) over burden-sharing in Afghanistan continuing, the Australian government is giving little away about its intentions regarding an expected request for more troops.

RIGHTS-US: New Name, Same Detainee Problem

Human rights activists and constitutional law experts were virtually unanimous in their condemnation of the positions taken on prisoner detention and treatment in federal court last week by President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice, which one group described as "a case of old wine in new bottles."

U.S.: Plan to Split Taliban Lures Obama Deeper into War

Advanced reports on the Barack Obama administration’s strategy to "peel off" a majority of insurgent commanders from the "hard core" of Taliban suggest that it will be presented as a political route to victory in Afghanistan that would not require U.S. and NATO troops to win militarily.

POLITICS: Perils Seen in Obama’s Afghan Strategy

With official announcements about a new strategy for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan expected in the coming weeks, details of the plan are starting to emerge in press accounts which describe a renewed focus on the war-torn Central Asian country and its volatile neighbour, Pakistan.

POLITICS-US: Freeman Affair Puts Israel Lobby in Spotlight

Although the successful campaign to keep Amb. Charles "Chas" Freeman out of a top intelligence post marked a surface victory for the pro-Israel hardliners who opposed him, the long-term political implications of the Freeman affair appear far more ambiguous.

US-MIDEAST: Even Mixed Signals Mark a Policy Shift

The British government has announced it will hold talks with the political wing of Lebanon's Hizbullah. The Barack Obama administration sent two envoys to Syria to discuss steps to improve relations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has invited Iran to take part in a conference on the future of Afghanistan.

POLITICS: Obama Sets New Course at the U.N.

After nearly a decade of an often tense and estranged relationship with the United Nations, Washington appears to be taking a much more conciliatory and multilateral approach to the world body.

POLITICS-US: New Drug Czar Praised by Reform Groups

U.S. President Barack Obama's pick for his new drug czar signals a radical shift from the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, by focusing on treatment for drug offenders rather than jail time.

US-CUBA: NGOs Hail Congressional Moves to Ease Embargo

Leading advocates for lifting the nearly 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba are hailing Congress's approval Tuesday of a general appropriations bill that eases - albeit in a mostly symbolic way - several restrictions on travel and sales to the Caribbean nation.

U.S.: Islamist Govts Not the Enemy, Say Mideast Experts

Scores of Middle East and democracy experts released an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday asking him to focus more of his foreign policy efforts at making reforms in the region, including boosting human rights.

POLITICS-US: Freeman Withdrawal Marks Victory for Israel Lobby

Amb. Chas Freeman withdrew from consideration for a top intelligence post in the Obama administration on Tuesday, following a vitriolic battle that pitted Republican lawmakers and pro-Israel hardliners opposed to his appointment against liberals and members of the intelligence and diplomatic communities who had come to his defence.

POLITICS: Pundits Hope for Renaissance in U.S.-Latam Ties

While U.S. relations with Latin America hover near their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, the election of President Barack Obama "has opened the way for a new U.S. approach" to the region, according to the latest report released here Tuesday by the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD), a Washington-based hemispheric think tank.

U.S.: Bush-Era Bureaucracy Lingers Amid Lengthy Vetting Process

The meticulous vetting process that potential appointees for senior State Department and other posts must undergo is delaying full staffing of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, even as it faces ever-more urgent crises both at home and abroad.

Q&A: Gitmo Uighurs Highlight a Complex Ethnic Problem

Although United States President Barack Obama was quick to order the closure of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay soon after assuming office, the question of what to do with the roughly 175 current inmates who are unlikely to be prosecuted by the U.S. remains.