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...   POLITICS-US: Vets Mull Wins and Losses in Benefits Fight Aaron Glantz* SAN FRANCISCO, 4 Jul (IPS) - You could hear the joy in Patrick Campbell's voice as he reflected on U.S. President George W. Bush's signing Monday of a new GI Bill of Rights for veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. more...   IRAQ: Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah Dahr Jamail SAN FRANCISCO, 3 Jul (IPS) - U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing. more...   RIGHTS-US: 'State Secrets' Privilege Derails Rendition Suit William Fisher NEW YORK, 3 Jul (IPS) - Maher Arar, whose 'rendition' to Syria is widely viewed as an egregious example of mistaken identity, has again been denied the right to appear in court, and Congressional efforts to rein in the George W. Bush administration's widespread use of national security as a defence appear to be foundering. more...   /UPDATE*/POLITICS-US: Afghanistan Moves Back into the Limelight Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 3 Jul (IPS) - Six and a half years after the ouster of the Taliban, U.S. media attention is returning to Afghanistan where more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than in any previous month. more...   POLITICS-US: In Search of a Legacy, Bush Looks to the Past Analysis by Bill Berkowitz* OAKLAND, California, 3 Jul (IPS) - Before 9/11, before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, before the suspension of habeas corpus, before the administration's tardy and shameful response to Hurricane Katrina, before cronies and Republican congressional leaders were dropping like flies, before former administration operatives were writing unflattering tell-all books, before Dick Cheney said 'So?' in response to a question about public opinion being firmly against the administration, before the Valerie Plame affair, before gas prices were nearly five dollars a gallon, before housing foreclosures hit record numbers, and before his approval rating dipped to all-time lows, there was President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative. more...   POLITICS-US: Afghanistan Moves Back into the Limelight Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - Six and a half years since the ouster of the Taliban, U.S. media attention is returning to Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than in any previous month. more...   RIGHTS-US: Critics See Vendetta in Al-Arian's Legal Limbo Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - Palestinian activist and former university professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday in U.S. federal court on two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify in a grand jury investigation of a Northern Virginia Muslim think-tank. more...   POLITICS-CANADA: Few Mourn Fallen Foreign Minister Am Johal VICTORIA, 30 May (IPS) - Canada's gaffe-prone foreign affairs minister, Maxime Bernier, resigned suddenly this week after revelations that he left sensitive and confidential government documents at the home of his ex-girlfriend, Julie Couillard. 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...