Full Coverage: United States

27.02.2004 Once again the U.S. has stepped out of line with the rest of the world, this time by reversing its ten-year ban on anti-personnel landmines, representing a "complete about-face" of earlier policy, Human Rights Watch denounced today. Ten years ago, the U.S. was the first country to renounce their use.

27.02.2004 The Bush administration's refusal to respond to the urgent need for funds to fight AIDS is Africa appears to be evidence of racism as a determinant of U.S. policy and of a double standard that devalue Black lives, charged Africa Action today in statement calling for $15 billion in AIDS funding, immediately.

27.02.2004 Not only is the aerial coca-eradication program in Colombia harming the environment and driving peasant farmers to produce coca elsewhere, it has made virtually no difference in cocaine consumption in the U.S., say EarthJustice and two other NGOs in reports issued on the eve of the annual State Department certification of the controversial narcotics program.

27.02.2004 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 27 (OneWorld) -- Aerial spraying of Colombia's coca crops should be halted because of its harmful impact on local farmers and the environment, and because it is not heaving a measurable impact on the availability of cocaine in the United States, three NGOs argue on the eve of the State Department's release of its annual report of countries cooperating in the U.S. anti-drug war.

27.02.2004 Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld's trip through Central Asia, including stops in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, brought nothing in the way of support for such ideals as democracy and human rights in Uzbekistan, writes Esmer Islamov. Nor did Rumsfeld have anything to offer beleagured Afghan President Hamid Karzai--not even a pledge to find Osama bin Laden.

27.02.2004

© CorpWatch

Eleven leading arms control organizations are concerned that the U.S. position at multiparty talks with North Korea over its nuclear program will be so "hard-line" as to stifle negotiations, and thus perpetuate a stalemate rather than contribute to progress by engaging North Korea in meaningful discussions.

27.02.2004 Leading human rights and refugee groups have issued sharp reminders to the United States about its legal obligation to permit Haitian refugees to seek asylum here. In New York, the UN Security Council yesterday refused to commit to any concrete steps to halt the growing violence, despite pleas from Haiti's Caribbean neighbors.

26.02.2004 A coalition of activists across the U.S. is calling on Pres. Bush and Congress to play a more active role in scrutinizing defense contracts--especially those obtained by Halliburton--to ensure that taxpayers are getting their dollar's worth from what are often noncompetitive, cost-plus contracts.

26.02.2004 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 26 (OneWorld) -- Three days before the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) is due to ratify a Fundamental Law to guide the country's transition until a permanent constitution can be drafted, 16 Democratic members of Congress have asked President Bush to urgently clarify its strategy for guaranteeing the rights of Iraqi women.

26.02.2004 The U.S. needs to develop a model for international trade that will guarantee job security here, while promoting sustainable development and prosperity overseas. As Congress prepares to vote on the Central America Free Trade Agreement this summer, advocacy groups will be rolling out a series of fact sheets assessing the CAFTA proposal in this light.

26.02.2004

© Unicef / United Nations Children's Fund

Five girls will tell a Senate Committee about their experience as minors in the American sex trade Monday, when they appear at a Capitol Hill briefing to testify to the need for tighter controls over commercial sexual exploitation.

26.02.2004

Voter registration © United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

A widely recognized expert on Afghanistan, journalist and author Ahmed Rashid, stated unequivocally this week that the elections planned for June 2004 are ill-timed and should be postponed. The timing of the Afghan election has more to do with the Bush administration's electoral agenda than with the reality on the ground in Afghanistan, he charged.

26.02.2004 An environmental report card on the 108th Congress--including votes on energy, forest policy, global warming and other key issues--reflects a "chasm" between the Congressional leadership and rank-and-file lawmakers on issues related to the environment and public health. See how your congresspersons voted.

26.02.2004 WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (IPS) - President Bush and Congress should join Pentagon and State Department probes into allegations that construction giant Halliburton overcharged the U.S. government for its work in Iraq, to ensure accountability of other military contractors, watchdog groups here say.

26.02.2004 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 26 (CSM) -- For weeks Haiti's political crisis has posed a latent threat to the 7 million inhabitants of the hemisphere's most impoverished country. But the political opposition's rejection of a US-brokered power-sharing plan, and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's warning of an exodus of boat people for the shores of Florida, raise the specter of a looming humanitarian crisis.

26.02.2004 The National Education Association has asked President Bush to fire Education Secretary Rod Paige for calling the union a "terrorist organisation.'' Paige, who made the comment in a private meeting with governors, later apologised for a poor choice of words, but maintained the union uses "obstructionist scare tactics.''

25.02.2004 The Bush administration is trying to keep the U.S. from participating in the POPS treaty--aimed at banning a dozen of the world's most toxic chemicals--by insisting on complex legislative changes, according to this analysis published today by BushGreenwatch, a new OneWorld U.S. partner.

25.02.2004

Books not bombs © Global Exchange / Global Exchange

Coming to a high school or college campus near you! A broad-based coalition of student groups across the United States plans a day of 'Books Not Bombs' protests against the war in Iraq, militarization of campuses, lack of respect for civil liberties, and de-funding of education.

25.02.2004 "Unamerican, shameful, and divisive." These strong words characterize Pres. Bush's support for a Constitutional ban on gay marriage, according to a rights group defending sexual freedom of choice. The U.S. branch of Amnesty International has compiled a chilling dossier on police brutality toward gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans.

24.02.2004 Scientists have found DNA from genetically engineered crops in traditional varieties of three major U.S. food crops that have no history of genetic engineering. A new study suggests that this contamination could be pervasive, threatening public health and the environment.