"Our nation’s sons and daughters are dying and killing in Iraq out of loyalty to their country but in the name of lies from the Bush throne," charged Al Fishman, head of the Detroit Area Peace and Justice Network, in his statement as part of a panel convened yesterday in Detroit by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to highlight the 3rd anniversary of the Downing Street Memo.

Hundreds of people were turned away today as capacity crowds packed public forums in U.S. cities to discuss the Downing Street Memo and related evidence that President Bush lied about the reasons for war. 

I read in the morning paper about the People’s Bank of China’s decision to end its tie of the yuan, the Chinese currency, to the U.S. dollar. The article mentioned the old and new value of the yuan per dollar. This move, I read, will make exports from China to the U.S. more costly. Meanwhile, U.S. exports will become less costly.

Faced with a question about whether or not he will keep his promise to fire those involved in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent while we are at war, President Bush backed away from his initial pledge and lowered the ethics bar.

It should be noted that the US has neither supported India's claim to UN Security Council membership nor recognized it as a nuclear weapons power but merely as a "state with advanced nuclear technology". The US has only agreed to consult with its partners in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and try to get an agreement from the US Congress to provide fuel supplies for India's nuclear reactors at Tarapur.

We write from the After Downing Street Dot Org Coalition in the United States to thank you for your solidarity on this third anniversary of a meeting that we were never meant to know about, a meeting that took place some yards from where you stand.

On July 27th, the governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will choose their new president. Currently, the position is held by Enrique Iglesias of Uruguay, who revitalized the IDB and infused it with ethics and a sense of professionalism that had eluded the organization throughout its long history.

Despite the blatant crimes committed against Guatemalan women, the U.S. has chosen to all but ignore the problem, instead rewarding the Guatemalan military with $3.2 million in aid in March of 2005, while burying the subject during the current CAFTA debate...Washington claimed that the Guatemalan government had made marked improvements in reforming its army, which played the greatest role in committing human rights abuses...

Just one day after the President’s announcement of his nomination of Judge John Roberts to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, grassroots activists opposed to Roberts’ confirmation launched the Stop John Roberts campaign.

An extraordinary session of the PDS 9th Congress taking place on 17 July, 2005 in Berlin has decided by 74,6% of the delegates elected (over 90% of the delegates present) to change the name of the party to 'The Left Party' (short form: 'The Left.').

After a scuffle between Sudanese government security officers and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s entourage overshadowed Rice’s visit to the violence-torn country, human rights organizations criticized the Bush administration and the international media for failing to address the serious situation in Darfur, a southern state of the Sudan.

Judge: "Do you want to change the government by force and violence?" Fr. Jean-Juste: "No, of course not, that is what those in power did to our elected democracy and President Aristide!" Judge: "Do you know who is behind the lawlessness and violence in Haiti?" Jean-Juste: "Yes." Judge: "Would you give names?" Jean-Juste: "Do you really want them?" Judge: "Yes, we really want them." Jean-Juste: "Start with the De Facto government, the President, the Prime Minister, all of whom are violating the constitution and law of Haiti every day!" Judge: "That is enough names."

Yesterday, Rep. Barbara Lee (D–CA) introduced a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives which would require the White House and the State Department to "transmit all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq."

The amendment authorizes the U.S. government to put out radio and TV transmissions in a 30-minute slot to offer Venezuelans a "precise, objective and complete news source," and to counteract the "Americanization" of Telesur, according to the text approved yesterday.

FOIL expresses its concern over the tenor of the joint agreement signed between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush on July 18, 2005. While there are some elements in it that appear to be beneficial to the people of both countries, the broad context of the agreement will be detrimental to peace and security in the South Asian subcontinent.

It’s easy to understand why the Bush administration has remained silent about the issue of slow job growth and the staggering number of long-term unemployed. Slack labor markets and ongoing unemployment best serve the interests of the administration and the corporate community at this particular economic juncture.

In a disgusting display of what the Republican Party is really all about, two GOP Senators introduced a bill that would force undocumented immigrants to leave the country in five years, create a massive new bureaucracy at the Social Security Administration, and would increase militarization of the border by adding 11,000 agents to the Department of Homeland Security’s massive border police force.

Chatham House, the prestigious British think-tank, released a report this week entitled "Security, Terrorism and the UK." In the report, Chatham House warned that the UK "is at particular risk" for terrorist attacks because of its allegiance to the U.S. in the war on terror, including the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In response, British foreign secretary Jack Straw accused Chatham House of making "excuses for terrorism."

Paraguay and the United States recently entered into an agreement that allows U.S. military personnel to enter Paraguay to train officials in counter-terrorism and anti-narcotrafficking measures...This agreement grants U.S. soldiers complete legal immunity from some of their actions while they are in the country, affording them the same privileges as diplomats as well as leaving them free from prosecution for any damages inflicted on the public health, the environment or the country’s resources.

What could Richard Williams(father of Venus & Serena) have uttered to ...“overshadow” – as the announcers put it – Venus’ performance.. ? Five simple words: “Racism has hurt my daughters.”...Williams has consistently been a public target partly because he has been a booming voice against racism in the country club, white cotton world of pro tennis.