US-ECUADOR: Chevron Fails in Effort to Lift Trade Benefits Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 2 Jul (IPS) - In the latest in a string of setbacks that could cost the U.S. oil giant Chevron billions of dollars in damages, President Barack Obama decided this week to extend trade preferences for Ecuadorean exports for another six months under the 1991 Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA). more...   LABOUR-US: Senate Divided Over Bill to Boost Unions Henry Parr NEW YORK, 30 Jun (IPS) - Since its initial proposal in 2007, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has been a divisive bill, passing in the House but not in the Senate. Now, the bill's original author, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, is working on a compromise that he hopes will pass. more...   US-COLOMBIA: Uribe Presses FTA in First Encounter with Obama Danielle Kurtzleben and Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, 30 Jun (IPS) - Long-stalled efforts to consummate a free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Colombia may be gaining some momentum, despite persistent questions about Bogota's human rights record. more...   ECONOMY-US: Congress Pushing for Federal Reserve Audit Matthew Cardinale ATLANTA, 30 Jun (IPS) - A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives is now in support of a historic bill by Republican lawmaker Ron Paul to audit the Federal Reserve (the Fed), the privately run central bank that sets monetary policy for the United States. more...   POLITICS: Some Drug Trades Easing Up, U.N. Says Danielle Kurtzleben WASHINGTON, 24 Jun (IPS) - While worldwide production of heroin and cocaine appears to be slowing, there has been an increase in the use of synthetic drugs, especially in the Middle East, according to the latest report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released Wednesday. more...   Q&A: "Migrant Workers Bring Vibrancy to the Labour Movement" Peter Costantini interviews PABLO ALVARADO, executive director, National Day Labourer Organising Net SEATTLE, Washington, 19 Jun (IPS) - Day labourers looking for casual work are familiar fixtures on corners outside home improvement and garden stores across the United States. Less visible are the workers centres that have grown up in many locales to serve and organise these mainly immigrant and undocumented workers. more...   POLITICS: Mexican Cartels Armed by U.S. Marina Litvinsky WASHINGTON, 18 Jun (IPS) - Many of the firearms fuelling Mexican drug violence originated in the United States, says a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released Thursday. more...   RIGHTS-PERU: Activists Urge Obama to Use Trade Pact as Leverage Haider Rizvi NEW YORK, 16 Jun (IPS) - The United States government is coming under intense pressure from rights organisations and environmental groups to redefine its trade pact with Peru, a tool that they charge the government in Lima is using to justify oppression against the indigenous population. more...   Q&A: "The Global Crisis Is Really About a 140-dollar Barrel of Oil" Chris Arsenault interviews economist JEFF RUBIN VANCOUVER, 15 Jun (IPS) - Sitting in the restaurant of Vancouver's posh Fairmount Waterfront Hotel, the former chief economist for one of Canada's largest banks doesn't seem like the typical apocalyptic peak oil theorist. more...   U.S.: Crisis Must Reshape Economists' Thinking, Krugman Says Matthew Berger LONDON, 13 Jun (IPS) - It is too optimistic to say the United States is headed for a Japan-style recession, according to Nobel laureate Paul Krugman. more...