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Quote of the Day. "There's a million people living out of tents, and, my God, if you saw it and I was to tell you how many NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are in Haiti, you'd be saying, 'How come nobody got them out of those tents?'" Musician Wyclef Jean, whose Yéle Haiti organization has spent $1,327,764 on earthquake relief. (USA Today)
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
New force for broad immigration reform: conservative evangelicals "But a growing chorus of conservative evangelical leaders has broken with their traditional political allies on the right. They're calling the Arizona law misguided and are attempting to use its passage to push for federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants."
Today's job seekers add 'social' to networking "On stage in front of a crowded room of job seekers at the McLean Bible Church, Bob Korzeniewski asks for volunteers to step up and recite the 30-second pitch they'll use on prospective employers."
UK Baptists take aim at nuclear weapons "The British Baptist Assembly -- the annual meeting of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) and its international-missions arm, BMS World Mission -- passed a resolution calling on the U.K. government to strengthen its non-proliferation regime."
From Clergy Shortage to Clergy Glut "After a decade-long clergy shortage in America's pulpits, Christian denominations are now experiencing a clergy glut -- with some denominations reporting two ministers for every vacant pulpit."
Imam's Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad "Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric, has become a central figure in the luring of Western Muslims to violent extremism, harnessing the Internet for Al Qaeda's goals."
NEWS AT HOME
Kagan Named as Supreme Court Nominee. Obama Picks Kagan as Justice Nominee "President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the nation's 112th justice, choosing his own chief advocate before the Supreme Court to join it in ruling on cases critical to his view of the country's future." Obama picks Kagan for Supreme Court "Kagan, 50, the former dean of Harvard Law School, would become the fourth woman to serve on the high court; if she is confirmed, the nine-member court would have three female justices for the first time." A Climb Marked by Confidence and Canniness "Elena Kagan has been all of these things, charting a careful and, some might say, calculated path -- never revealing too much of herself, never going too far out on a political limb -- that has led her to the spot she occupies today."
Finance Reform. Reid seeks to fast-track financial overhaul bill "Republicans have warned against pushing ahead too quickly with the far-reaching legislation, arguing that such haste could lead to unintended consequences that harm the very people that lawmakers are trying to help." GOP chips away at Wall St. bill "Senate Republicans have been on the defensive over Wall Street reform since the start but, this week, will try to force Democrats to contend with their argument that the Senate bill simply goes too far."
Oil Spill. BP looks for new plan to stop leak "After failing in their attempt to funnel the oil leaking under the Gulf of Mexico with a 100-ton box, BP officials on Sunday were considering deploying a smaller container that might be less prone to clogging." Engineers stymied on how to stop surging Gulf of Mexico oil spill "Nineteen days after oil started spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, experts appeared Sunday to have no certain plan for sealing anytime soon a runaway well 5,000 feet below the gulf's surface."
Military Spending. Gates vows to shrink Pentagon bureaucracy "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates vowed Saturday to lead an effort to cut as much as $15 billion in overhead costs from the Pentagon's $550 billion budget and warned that without the savings, the military will not be able to afford its current force."
Land Mine Treaty. Senate pushes White House to sign treaty on land mines "More than two-thirds of the Senate is urging the Obama administration to consider signing an international treaty that bans land mines, reviving a dormant campaign from the 1990s that left the United States divided from its closest allies."
Tea Party Win in Utah. Utah Sen. Robert Bennett loses reelection bid "Utah Sen. Robert F. Bennett was defeated Saturday in his bid for reelection, making the three-term Republican lawmaker the first congressional incumbent to fall in this angry election season." Tea Party ousts veteran Republican senator "America's right-wing Tea Party movement claimed its biggest victim as Bob Bennett, a veteran Republican senator for Utah, was deselected by his own party for being too moderate." 'Tea party' clout: What was learned from Sen. Robert Bennett loss "The 'tea party' can claim a major victory with the ouster of Utah's three-term incumbent Sen. Robert Bennett."
Passing. Lena Horne, Singer and Actress, Dies at 92 "Lena Horne, who was the first black performer to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York."
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
British Election. Clegg in Brown and Cameron talks "Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has held private meetings with Gordon Brown and David Cameron as talks continue over forming the next UK government". Britain on hold: power vacuum 'could last days' "Tory sources suggested that a deal -- short of full coalition but with agreement on a range of legislation -- was within reach today. Liberal Democrats, however, described this as 'optimistic.'"
Australia. Australia turns its back on Prime Minister "Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, has seen his support plummet to record lows as the country reacts angrily to a series of government U-turns."
Afghanistan. Taliban threatens Afghan offensive "The Taliban in Afghanistan has threatened to launch a fresh offensive across the country this coming week, as Hamid Karzai, the president, prepares for a visit to the US." Taliban gears up for Western offensive in Kandahar "With tens of thousands of U.S. and other coalition troops either arriving or already deployed in Kandahar province to take part in the coming operation, it looms as one of the most crucial confrontations of Afghanistan's long war." Kandahar braces itself for a bloody summer "The Taliban's more brutal treatment of civilians and Nato's response have raised the temperature
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