The latest news on Bank of America, Acorn, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Obama -- New Orleans, Jobs, Puerto Rico, Democrats and Health Care, Libya, Congo.

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Quote of the Day. “Where are these people going to work? They did not think this through.” -- Maria Diaz, a 13-year employee at the Highways and Transportation Department in Puerto Rico, in response to Gov. Luis Fortuno's plan to decrease the territory's $3.2 billion deficit by eliminating more than 20,000 public sector jobs. (New York Times)

Bank of America. Bank of America Posts a Loss and Misses Forecast "The third-quarter loss came as growing numbers of consumer loans soured and the bank paid millions of dollars to wean itself off government life support." Rising Loan Losses Pull Bank of America To Q3 Loss "Rising losses from consumer and commercial loans dragged Bank of America Corp. (BAC) to a third quarter loss of $1 billion despite impressive trading and investment banking revenues, which were helped in part by the Charlotte bank's purchase last year of Merrill Lynch & Co."

Acorn. Acorn’s Woes Strain Its Ties to Democrats "The group’s relationship with the Democratic Party has always been productive and uneasy." Judy Biggert goes after ACORN "'It's abundantly clear that ACORN and its affiliates cannot be trusted as a federally-certified entity,' said Biggert, a senior member of the House."

Swine Flu. Swine Flu Shots Revive a Debate About Vaccines "People who do not believe in vaccinating children have found fuel for their arguments in the swine flu vaccine."

Afghan Elections. Runoff Expected In Afghan Election "An investigation of allegedly fraudulent ballots in Afghanistan's troubled election has reduced President Hamid Karzai's portion of the vote to about 47 percent, an outcome that will trigger a runoff between him and his closest competitor, according to officials familiar with results."

Immigrations Enforcement. DHS Reshapes Its Immigration Enforcement Program "A controversial federal program that deputizes state and local law enforcement agents to catch illegal immigrants is expanding under the Obama administration, despite changes announced this summer intended to curb alleged racial profiling and other police abuses."

Pakistan. Pakistan Attacks Show Tightening of Militant Links "A wave of recent attacks shows that the Taliban, Al Qaeda and militant groups are tightening their alliance." New Attack in Pakistan Targets Police Station "The bombing in Peshawar, which killed at least 11, was the latest in a string of attacks that have left at least 150 people dead this month." Double bombing kills 13 at Pakistan police station "Three suicide attackers, including a woman, attacked a police station in northwestern Pakistan, killing 13 people Friday while army airstrikes killed a dozen suspected militants in a Taliban stronghold ahead of an expected ground offensive."

Afghanistan. 4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan "The soldiers were killed after their patrol vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, officials said on Friday." Four US service members killed in Afghanistan blast "Four American service members were killed Thursday by a bomb that exploded in southern Afghanistan, according to officials with NATO's International Security Assistance Force." Publishing Images of U.S. Casualties in Afghanistan Limited "The U.S. military command in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday imposed a new ban on publication of photographs taken by embedded journalists that identify American war casualties."

Zimbabwe. Prime Minister in Zimbabwe Boycotts Unity Government "Zimbabwe’s prime minister and opposition leader said he was not officially pulling out of the government but said the action was to protest the 'persecution' of a top aide." Zimbabwe court orders MDC's Bennett release on bail "Zimbabwe's High Court on Friday ordered the release on bail of detained senior opposition MDC official Roy Bennett."

Obama -- New Orleans. Obama Meets Critics in New Orleans "Deflecting criticism that he has not made the area enough of a priority, President Obama acknowledged that more work must be done and vowed that he will ‘not forget about New Orleans.’" Obama Makes His First Presidential Trip to New Orleans "In his first visit here since taking office, President Obama sought Thursday to reassure frustrated residents that his administration is working aggressively to repair the hurricane-damaged city and return people to their jobs and homes."

Jobs. Job Program Found to Miss Many States That Need It Most "The Obama administration released data on businesses that got stimulus contracts directly from the federal government." 30,000 Stimulus Jobs, Many in D.C. Area, Reported "Businesses that received federal contracts from stimulus spending reported creating or saving about 30,000 jobs, according to figures released Thursday. The reports also suggest that the program has been particularly beneficial for the Washington region."

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Unions Protest Job Cuts "Union members in San Juan spoke out Thursday against a plan to lay off more than 20,000 government workers."

Democrats and Health Care. Democrats Address Their Own Rifts on Health Care "Behind closed doors, lawmakers hotly debated a public option and a Medicare bill."

Libya. World Digest: Libyan Government Released 88 Repentant Islamist Militants "The Libyan government released 88 repentant Islamist militants, some of them belonging to a group suspected to have links to al-Qaeda, a government-funded human rights group announced Thursday."

Congo. U.N. Rights Official Denounces Drive Against Rebels in Congo "A top U.N. human rights investigator on Thursday blasted a U.N.-backed Congolese military operation targeting rebels in eastern Congo, calling its results ‘catastrophic.’"

Sojourners' Daily Digest is a compilation of the top news related to our commitments of life and peace, economic and racial justice, and care of creation, with a special focus on news of the engagement of faith in public life.