The Top 10 Stories of June 16, 2011
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Quote of the day.
"Anyone who knows Gabby knows that she loves being outside. Living and working in a rehab facility for five months straight has been especially challenging for her. She will still go to TIRR each day but, from now on, when she finishes rehab, she will be with her family." - Mark Kelly, on the release of his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, from the hospital.
(Los Angeles Times)
1. Are Muslims radicalizing prisons?
"A congressional hearing on whether inmates are being radicalized in U.S. prisons erupted in bipartisan anger Wednesday, with Democrats charging Muslims were being unfairly targeted and the Republican committee chairman vowing to continue investigating what he views as threats to national security."
(Los Angeles Times)
2. Southern Baptists move to overcome racism.
"Southern Baptists meeting in Phoenix adopted a plan Tuesday to try to boost minorities in their top leadership posts and elected an African American pastor as first vice president for the first time in the denomination's history."
(RNS/USA Today)
3. Middle East Christians face extremism.
"The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that there are extreme forces at work that have turned the Arab Spring into a 'very anxious time' for Christians."
(BBC)
4. Republicans balk at food cuts.
"Already on the defensive, scores of House Republicans joined with Democrats on Wednesday to beat back repeated conservative attempts to make still deeper cuts from nutrition programs and food aid overseas."
(Politico)
5. GOP governors push Medicaid cuts.
"Faced with severe budget problems, Republican governors are escalating their fight against federal rules requiring states to maintain current levels of health-care coverage for the poor and disabled."
(Washington Post)
6. Administration defends Libya military action.
"The White House has told Congress that President Barack Obama has the legal authority to press on with US military involvement in Libya and urged sceptical lawmakers not to send 'mixed messages' about their commitment to the Nato-led air war."
(Guardian)
7. Pakistan army chief fights for job.
"Pakistan's army chief, the most powerful man in the country, is fighting to save his position in the face of seething anger from top generals and junior officers since the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden."
(New York Times)
8. Afghan war moves to borderlands.
"The Afghan war is returning to the place it began: the violent eastern borderlands with Pakistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaeda slipped out of American reach a decade ago and have organized their insurgency ever since."
(Washington Post)
9. Turkey keeps border open for fleeing Syrians.
"With the Syrian military poised to continue its crackdown, even more refugees are expected to stream across the border in coming days, sparking worry about how Turkey will absorb a large and likely permanent population of Syrian dissidents."
(McClatchy News)
10. Growing panic in southern Sudan.
"United Nations officials warned on Wednesday of 'a growing sense of panic' in the volatile Kordofan area of central Sudan, with 60,000 people displaced, aid convoys blocked, ethnic clashes erupting and dozens dead -- possibly including several United Nations workers."
(New York Times)
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.
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.
