Daily News Digest

The latest news on Dem primaries, Obama leaves church, Immigration, Climate change legislation, Young evangelicals, Blair faith foundation, Food crisis, Malaria, Bush foreign policy, Burma, US military & Africa, Iraq-military, Iraq-US agreement, and Op-Ed.

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Dem primaries. Clinton Wins Easily in Puerto Rico "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) won the Puerto Rico primary comfortably, claiming perhaps her last triumph in the race for a Democratic presidential nomination that increasingly appears to be out of her reach." Democrats near primary finish line "Hillary Clinton won an overwhelming victory in the Puerto Rico primary even as rival Barack Obama closed in on the ultimate prize of the Democratic Party's lengthy primary struggle." Fla., Mich. Delegates Each Get Half a Vote "After hours of emotional testimony and sometimes contentious debate, Democratic Party officials agreed on a pair of compromises to seat Florida's and Michigan's delegations to their national convention." Democrats Approve Deal on Michigan and Florida "To jeers and boos that showcased deep party divisions, Democratic Party officials agreed Saturday to seat delegates from the disputed Florida and Michigan primaries at the party's convention in August but give them only half a vote each, dealing a setback to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Obama leaves church. Obama Quits Longtime Church Over Inflammatory Comments "Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife, Michelle, announced that they have left their longtime Chicago church, Trinity United Church of Christ, after racially charged comments by a visiting pastor last week dragged them into yet another controversy over religion and race," Obama severs church ties "Severing two decades of ties to his spiritual home on the city's South Side, Obama said he made the decision for his own political needs and in an effort to allow the church a return to some normalcy." Will Obama's decision to leave his church silence critics? "The controversies surrounding his membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ created a distraction, Obama said, that was fair to neither his presidential campaign nor the church's other members." A Battered Feeling at Obama's Former Church "For weeks, the members of Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of the city felt battered by the national spotlight that had accompanied the growing fame of their longtime member, Senator Barack Obama."

Immigration. More Latin American immigrants going home "No hard figures exist, but various surveys and anecdotes from immigrants, their advocates and consular officers in Miami suggest that more Latin Americans are voluntarily heading back home, the apparent result of the U.S. economic downturn and anxiety generated by a federal crackdown on illegal immigration." Immigration raid spurs calls for action vs. owners "After the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history, hundreds of workers have been sentenced but not one company official as yet faces any charges - something critics say is typical of a federal government that is tough on employees but easy on owners."

Climate change legislation. Climate Bill Underlines Obstacles to Capping Greenhouse Gases "When the Senate takes up landmark climate legislation this week, its backers can be sure of just one thing: The obstacles they face show how hard it will be to enact a meaningful cap on greenhouse gases -- probably under the next administration."

Young evangelicals. Young Evangelicals Seek Broader Political Agenda "The Journey, a megachurch of mostly younger evangelicals, is representative of a new generation that refuses to put politics at the center of its faith and rejects identification with the religious right."

Blair faith foundation. Blair Charity to Enlist Religion as a Positive Force "Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Britain, formally unveiled plans in New York City for an ambitious new charity that he hopes will enlist religion as a force for economic development and conflict resolution, rather than violence and strife."

Food crisis. U.N. Chief to Prod Nations On Food Crisis "U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will issue an urgent plea to world leaders at a food summit in Rome to immediately suspend trade restrictions, agricultural taxes and other price controls that have helped fuel the highest food prices in 30 years,"

Malaria. A $10 Mosquito Net Is Making Charity Cool "Donating $10 to buy a mosquito net to save an African child from malaria has become a hip way to show you care, especially for teenagers. The movement is like a modern version of the March of Dimes,"

Bush foreign policy. Intelligence Official Sees Little Progress Before Bush Exits "Previewing the world for the next U.S. president, a top U.S. intelligence official predicted that the Bush administration would make little progress before leaving office on top national security priorities including an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, political reconciliation in Iraq and keeping Iran from being able to produce a nuclear weapon."

Burma. Gates Accuses Myanmar of 'Criminal Neglect' "In the strongest remarks yet by a high-ranking American official, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that Myanmar was guilty of "criminal neglect" for blocking large-scale international aid to cyclone victims, and that more Burmese civilians would perish unless the military regime reversed its policy.Australia ends combat operations in Iraq "The country's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, will personally greet the returning soldiers at a ceremony on June 28, when the streets of Brisbane are expected to be lined with well-wishers. The pullout, announced yesterday, fulfils an election promise made by the Labor government to end the Australian military's combat role in Iraq."

Iraq-US agreement. Growing Opposition to Iraq Security Pact "Some senior Iraqi political leaders said they had serious concerns over the central issues under negotiation, including what sort of military operations and arrests of Iraqis the American troops could carry out without Iraq's permission, legal immunities sought for American troops and security contractors and what the Iraqi officials characterized as demands for a long-term American military presence." Iraq cites problems with US security pact "Iraq's chief spokesman acknowledged differences with the United States over a proposed long-term security agreement and pledged on Sunday that the government will protect Iraqi sovereignty in ongoing talks with the Americans."

Op-Ed.

The Price Of Forgetting A Presidency (Joseph A. Califano Jr., Washington Post) "Lyndon Johnson is the invisible president of the 20th century. The tragedy of Vietnam created a cloud that still obscures Johnson's achievements. Our nation -- particularly Democrats -- pays a high price for indulging in this amnesia."

The evangelicals you don't know (Tom Krattenmaker, USA Today) "If a larger pattern can be drawn from my recent perception-changing journey to one of the great bastions of conservative evangelicalism, the walls of division are not as formidable as culture warriors might like us to believe. They might even be shrinking."