For the first third of the 20th century the Jews of Germany were a comfortable, prosperous people, proud to be citizens of a powerful and modern European state. Even more than their German forebears, American Jews have made a secure and integrated place for themselves in this country, and have... » read this article

The son of the late conservative thinker William F. Buckley is endorsing Barack Obama, though he still considers himself a conservative. In an article entitled, "Sorry Dad, I'm Voting for Obama," on The Daily Beast, Christopher Buckley writes that Republican John McCain has betrayed his principals. McCain has changed positions... » read this article

Republicans are sending around the Internet a photo of a cute little  boy whose T-shirt reads: “The mess in my pants is nothing compared to  the mess Democrats will make of this country if they win Nov. 2nd.” One can only wonder at the insouciance of this message. Are  Republicans... » read this article

Some of the nation’s biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions, even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the nation’s top universities. Citibank has been among the most aggressive in paring the list of... » read this article

The oil giant ExxonMobil has admitted that its support for lobby groups that question the science of climate change may have hindered action to tackle global warming. In its corporate citizenship report, released last week, ExxonMobil says it intends to cut funds to several groups that "divert attention" from the... » read this article

San Francisco —Less than two weeks after the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage in the state—drawing charges of judicial activism from some quarters—the first polls indicating the preferences of California voters are beginning to trickle out. A Field Poll released today finds a small majority of... » read this article

The crisis confronting the US airlines industry worsened on Wednesday as American Airlines said rising fuel costs would force it to eliminate flights, cut thousands of jobs and charge most passengers $15 (£7.60) to check a single piece of luggage. It declared the extraordinary measures as the spot price for... » read this article

In better times, the money Martimiano Pineda wired back to Purechucho from roofing jobs in Florida coated his dirt floor with cement and paid for a home computer. Now, as the subprime mortgage crisis slows housing construction in the U.S., Pineda, 40, struggles to find work and can barely send... » read this article

Berkeley, Calif.—Dozens of protesters, some donning black hoods and orange prisoner jumpsuits, demanded that the University of California, Berkeley's law school fire a professor whose they said devised the legal basis for the Bush administration's use of torture in overseas military prisons. The professor, John Yoo, worked for the U.S.... » read this article

It’s another record in the real estate market, and it’s not a good one. RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure sale site, which has also been tracking foreclosure activity since the beginning of 2005, reports the single largest one-month volume of foreclosure activity it’s ever seen. Again, they’ve only been doing this... » read this article

Venezuela has offered allies $US100 million ($A106.24 million) to fight rising food costs for Latin America's poor. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the money would help finance a grain bank and other programs drafted at a meeting of Latin American leaders this week in Managua. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega... » read this article

Washington — Mildred Jeter Loving was a shy, unassuming black woman who never expected to make history when her landmark 1967 Supreme Court case ended the ban on interracial marriages in the United States. Loving, 68, died Friday of pneumonia at her home in the town of Milford, Virginia, US... » read this article

Caracas – Venezuela will not recognize the results of an autonomy referendum, marred by fraud, abstention, and violence in Bolivia’s richest state, Santa Cruz on Sunday, Venezuelan representative to the Organisation of American States (OAS), Jorge Valero assured Sunday night. Speaking to Caracas-based Latin American television station Telesur, Valero said... » read this article

San Francisco —A two-week trial that scrutinized the quality of health care for veterans concluded Wednesday with the judge questioning how much authority he had to order changes in the Department of Veterans Affairs, even if he found deficiencies. "One of the problems I have in this case is this... » read this article

Mexico City - Thousands of people, some dressed in oil worker jumpsuits, protested a Mexican energy reform proposal on Sunday that leftists say is a veiled attempt to privatize the cherished state industry. Decrying government plans to allow more private investment in state-run oil monopoly Pemex protesters carried signs saying... » read this article

Quito - Ecuador wants villagers living near mines to be shareholders in large projects as part of a new mining law that is key for the development of the country's nascent sector, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday. A government-controlled assembly last week froze metal exploration until a new mining... » read this article

Democratic leaders, who had vowed to deny Bush any more ‘blank checks’ for the war, now concede that a new supplemental war appropriation bill will pass without any constraints. Despite posing some tougher-than-usual questions at hearings on George W. Bush’s open-ended Iraq War strategy, congressional Democrats have signaled they will... » read this article

Bogotá, Colombia — His nation’s trade deal with Washington is stalling. His cousin is fighting arrest on possible links to paramilitary death squads. Killings of union members continue. But when asked about his country’s challenges, President Álvaro Uribe points to progress in strengthening democratic institutions and in giving economic growth... » read this article

San Francisco--The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial this week charges. The lawsuit, filed in July by two nonprofit groups representing military veterans, accuses... » read this article

Miami — The second trial of six men accused of plotting attacks on Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI offices ended with a second hung jury Wednesday, an embarrassing blow to a case the Bush administration had cited as an example of nipping a devastating terrorist attack in the bud. U.S.... » read this article