ECONOMY: Little to Cheer on U.S. Independence Day Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 4 Jul (IPS) - The world's biggest economy marked Independence Day Friday with little cause for economic cheer. Job losses are the worst in nearly six years and a de facto recession appears to have gripped all sectors. more...   ENVIRONMENT-US: Funding Questions Dog Everglades Clean-Up Mark Weisenmiller TAMPA, Florida, 3 Jul (IPS) - Environmentalists in Florida are excited over the state's planned 1.75-billion-dollar buyout of 187,000 acres of land owned by the United States Sugar Corporation as part of a restoration of the vast Everglades wetlands, although many of the details of the deal remain sketchy. more...   ECONOMY: Dismal Picture for U.S. Workers Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - U.S. companies are shedding workers in numbers not seen for nearly six years, and there seems little hope of a turnaround any time soon. more...   LABOUR: Atlantic Alliance Seeks Equal Footing with Global Firms Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 27 May (IPS) - New moves to form the first transatlantic union could supersede the conventional view that while business is global, labour remains mired in local preoccupations. more...   POLITICS-US: Obama Draws Line on Cuba, Latin America Policy Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 23 May (IPS) - In a major policy address on U.S.-Latin American relations, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, pledged Friday to immediately roll back key sanctions imposed by President George W. Bush against Cuba over the last several years and called for a 'new alliance of the Americas' in which Washington's southern neighbours would no longer be treated 'as a junior partner'. more...   POLITICS: U.S. and China Go Bump in the Middle East Khody Akhavi WASHINGTON, 26 Jun (IPS) - For China these days it seems that nothing -- not rising energy prices; not sanctions aimed at its more unsavoury business partners, Burma and Sudan; not even the prospect of a nuclear Iran -- can curb its thirst for oil. more...   ECONOMY-US: Lenders Scramble as Foreclosures, Criticism Pile Up Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 19 Jun (IPS) - Top U.S. lenders, faced with public and political ire over a rising flood of foreclosures, have announced stepped-up efforts to help troubled borrowers. more...   ENERGY: IEA Sees Oil Demand Moderating, Defends Speculators Abid Aslam WASHINGTON, 1 Jul (IPS) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) has cut its five-year forecast for global oil demand, saying high prices are forcing consumers to leave gas-guzzling vehicles in the garage. more...   POLITICS: U.S. Still a Potent Influence in Asia Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, 18 Jun (IPS) - Despite its steady rise as a global power, China still falls behind the U.S. in its regional sway in East Asia, according to a survey of countries in the region released Tuesday. more...   US/LATAM: Critics Fear Anti-Drug Aid Will Fuel Impunity Charles Davis WASHINGTON, 19 May (IPS) - Funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan may be temporarily stalled in the U.S. Congress, but last week lawmakers here did approve 400 million dollars in spending for another controversial war, this one aimed primarily at cutting off the transport of illicit drugs from Latin America into the United States. more...