Daily Online

Hello and Happy Fourth of July, everybody. This weekend is a time to get together with family and friends, kick back, and enjoy a little time off. And I hope that’s exactly what all of you do. But I also want to take a moment today to reflect on what I believe is the meaning of this distinctly American holiday.

MALANG CITY, East Java, Indonesia (ILO Online) — The global economic and social crisis has shuttered the dreams of a better life and income of many migrant workers. But ...

This week, July 4, 2009, on the road to economic recovery.

The official unemployment rate now exceeds 9.5%--the worst in at least 25 years. The unofficial -- including discouraged, underemployed, and otherwise discarded workers -- rises above 15%. African-American and Latino men are taking the hardest hit. Urban unemployment among young men now nears 50%. Some call unemployment a "lagging indicator" -- but unchecked, it will become the leading, and controlling, indicator.

Cuba and the United States are poised to resume talks on migration issues any time now, although the five Cuban agents imprisoned in the U.S. remain "a formidable obstacle" to normalising bilateral relations, according to Cuban parliament president Ricardo Alarcón.

The NAACP has initiated an “I am Troy Campaign” as part of worldwide effort to prevent the execution of Troy Davis, a 40-year-old man on death row in Georgia. Davis, who is African American, was convicted 20 years ago for the death of a white off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail.

Davis, a former coach, is viewed to be innocent by a broad coalition of including former President Jimmy Carter, the Vatican, Amnesty International, former FBI head William Sessions and conservative Bob Barr. Seven of nine witnesses in the case have recanted their testimony.

The coup d’etat carried out against the legally elected president of Honduras last Sunday is meeting with worldwide resistance that is as strong as it is broad.

Has anybody else noticed that most news stories about politicians' affairs aren't really about women?

There are women in them, of course. There's the Wronged Wife, who is often portrayed as a victim in stories that frame her in a domestic light, focusing on how she is "coping" and whether "she'll stand by her man," the Cheating Husband.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq yesterday for meetings with Iraqi leaders and U.S. commanders. His visit comes just after most U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq’s cities and towns June 30, step one in a U.S.-Iraq pact that will have all American troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

Tegucigalpa, Jul 3 (Prensa Latina) The Popular Resistance Front of Honduras continues demonstrating for the sixth consecutive day against the military coup and for the return of President Manuel Zelaya.

Amnesty has accused the Israeli military of "reckless conduct, disregard for civilian lives and a consistent failure to distinguish between military targets and civilians."