The latest news on Defense Bill, Health Care, Afghanistan-Civilian "Surge," State Budgets, Drone Attacks, Iran, and Nuclear Weapons Agreement.

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Quote of the Day. "The Big Fat Kashmiri Wedding is going green. If wazas go green, it's the perfect way to demonstrate the substitution of cleaner energy not just for weddings but for heating households, too." Usmaan Ahmad, who oversees program development for Mercy Corps in Srinagar, Kashmir, on finding alternative fuel for wedding cooks who cut down an estimated 15,000 trees a day for their feasts. (Washington Post)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

Two-Thirds of Global Population Live in Religiously Restrictive Countries "Two out of three people in the world live in countries with high levels of restrictions on religion, a new Pew Research Center report found."

Faith, folly and Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill (Michael Gerson, Washington Post) "It is not cultural imperialism to criticize an oppressive law in Uganda, any more than in Iran or Saudi Arabia. It is consistency. And it is not colonialism for nations that donate to the fight against AIDS in Uganda to be disturbed about policies that make this effort more difficult. Uganda is on a path of self-isolation that will hurt its people."

NEWS AT HOME

Defense Bill. Defense Bill Clears Senate Hurdle "The Senate voted early Friday morning to force final action on a Pentagon spending measure as Democrats broke a Republican attempt to use the military money to stall action on the health care overhaul." GOP senators to block defense bill in bid to delay health-care vote "Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort to delay President Obama's health-care legislation."

Health Care. A Race to Win One More Vote for Health Bill "The White House and Senate Democratic leaders seem willing to give Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, just about anything he wants to win his support of major health care legislation. Anything, that is, but the item at the top of Mr. Nelson's wish-list: air-tight restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions." Healthcare bill's advocates fight off liberal opposition "The White House and several advocacy groups banded together Thursday in an attempt to pacify liberals who are furious over compromises made to the Senate healthcare legislation." Senate healthcare bill now relies on regulation "When Senate Democratic leaders agreed this week to remove a public insurance plan from their massive healthcare bill, they did more than quash a liberal dream of expanding the government safety net. They effectively pinned their hopes of guaranteeing coverage to all Americans on a far more conventional prescription: government regulation."

Afghanistan-Civilian "Surge." Training for the Civilian Surge "Dozens of U.S. agriculturists, legal experts and development-aid administrators pass through elaborate mock-ups of foreign courtrooms and bazaars here each week -- part of training for nation-building work in some of Afghanistan's most unruly provinces."

State Budgets. States Scramble to Close New Budget Gaps "The patches used by states on their ailing budgets just months ago are now failing."

Death Penalty. Number of death sentences falls to a historic low "The number of executions in the United States increased this year, but the number of new death sentences handed down fell to the lowest total since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, according to a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center." Death Sentences Dropped, but Executions Rose in '09 "Death sentences handed down by judges and juries in 2009 continued a trend of decline for seven years in a row, with 106 projected for the year. That level is down two-thirds from a peak of 328 in 1994,"

Trafficking.Battle against human trafficking gets boost from new funding "America's war on human trafficking got its biggest-ever one-year boost in federal funding following President Barack Obama's signing of an appropriations bill, one of several significant anti-trafficking developments this week."

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Climate Change. Leaders must strike climate deal - Obama "US President Barack Obama has called on world leaders to come together at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen as time runs out to strike a deal." Leaders try to rescue Copenhagen climate talks as Obama rebukes China "World leaders have ditched their advisers at Copenhagen and are attempting to thrash out a compromise on their own as Britain warned that the climate change summit is on the brink of failure." Obama Has Goal to Wrest a Deal in Climate Talks "President Obama arrives here on Friday morning bent on applying a combination of muscle and personal charm to secure a climate change agreement involving nearly 200 countries."

Drone Attacks. U.S. drone strikes kill 16 in Pakistani region thought to be al-Qaeda home base "An unusually large barrage of missiles fired by remotely piloted U.S. aircraft killed 16 people in the tribal area of North Waziristan on Thursday, a possible indication that the United States plans to escalate such attacks after Pakistan declined to step up its operations there." Islamic insurgents hack into CIA drones "Predator drones used by the CIA against Islamic militants have been hacked into by insurgents using nothing more sophisticated than a $25.95 (£16) off-the-shelf software, it was revealed last night."

Iran. Iran government 'will not last full term' "Iran's government is being kept in power by force and will not last its four-year term, one of the opposition candidates predicts."

Nuclear Weapons Agreement. Nearing New Arms Pact, U.S. and Russia Look Beyond It "After the U.S. and Russia finalize a new arms pact, they plan to send negotiators back to the table to pursue an agreement tackling whole categories of nuclear weapons never before subject to limits."

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.