Daily News Digest

Quote of the day.
"A lot of times families become afraid of interacting with their children because they are so sick and so frail, and music provides them something that they can still do." Elizabeth Klinger, music therapist in a newborn intensive care unit, on research suggesting that music may help those born way too soon adapt to life outside the womb.
(Associated Press)

1. Obama fires IRS chief.
Moving to quell a growing scandal, President Barack Obama on Wednesday fired the acting chief of the Internal Revenue Service and vowed to work closely with Congress in determining who ordered lower-level employees to target tea party groups and other conservative organizations.
(McClatchy News) 

2. House Republicans threaten to quit immigration group.
That the House’s eight-person bipartisan group appears to be breaking down is a major development in the immigration debate. If the House does not come out with its own plan, it will make immigration reform a lot more difficult.
(Politico)

3. White House pushes media shield law.
Under fire over the Justice Department’s use of a broad subpoena to obtain calling records of Associated Press reporters in connection with a leak investigation, the Obama administration sought on Wednesday to revive legislation that would provide greater protections to reporters in keeping their sources and communications confidential.
(New York Times)

4. House panel approves farm bill.
Moving in tandem with the Senate, the House Agriculture Committee approved its own new farm bill late Wednesday, promising billions in savings but also embracing a greater government role in farm policy than many free-market Republicans are likely to accept.
(Politico)

5. Some in Congress want changes in military law as a result of sex scandals.
Members of Congress said they are so angry about the crescendo of sex-crime scandalsin the armed forces that they are considering fundamental changes to military law and other measures that the Pentagon has resisted for years.
(Washington Post)

6. Early e-mails on Benghazi show internal divisions.
E-mails released by the White House on Wednesday revealed a fierce internal jostling over the government’s official talking points in the aftermath of last September’s attack in Benghazi, Libya, not only between the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, but at the highest levels of the C.I.A.
(New York Times)

7. Most U.S. clothing chains did not sign pact on Bangladesh factory reforms.
Nearly all U.S. clothing chains, citing the fear of litigation, declined to sign an international pact ahead of a Wednesday deadline, potentially weakening what had been hailed as the best hope for bringing about major reforms in low-wage factories in Bangladesh. 
(Washington Post)

8. U.N. faults Assad forces but rebel unease grows.
The U.N. General Assembly condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and praised the opposition, but a decline in support for the resolution suggested growing unease about extremism among Syria's fractious rebels.  
(Reuters)

9. Pakistan's incoming prime minister turns pragmatic.
Nawaz Sharif's team has denounced claims by critics who call him soft on militants and emphasized that the tension between Pakistan and the United States tied to American drone strikes and other issues cannot be resolved through threats and condemnation.
(Chicago Tribune)

10. Mali offered more than $4.1 billion in aid — with strings attached.
An EU-led donor conference agreed on Wednesday to provide $4.1 billion to fund a sweeping development plan for Mali, but European donors made clear that the interim government must live up to its promises to implement democratic and social reforms in exchange for the international lifeline.
(Guardian)

Quote of the day.

"Our research predicts that climate change will greatly reduce the diversity of even very common species found in most parts of the world. This loss of global-scale biodiversity would significantly impoverish the biosphere and the ecosystem services it provides." Dr. Rachel Warren, University of East Anglia's (UK) school of environmental science, on a study she led showing that common land animals could see dramatic losses this century because of climate change.
(Guardian)

Quote of the day.
“The growth of this entire thing has been quite organic. People are upset that their wages are low and their working conditions are bad. The divide between rich and poor has gotten greater and people have decided that there has to be more equality.” Rev. Charles Williams Jr., a leader in the group organizing protests by fast-food workers in Detroit over low wages.
(Washington Post)

1. Evangelicals on immigration reform.
The evangelical "Pray for Reform: 92 Days of Prayer and Action to Pass Immigration Reform" campaign called on Congress in a press call on Wednesday to pass meaningful legislation in the next 92 days, throwing further support behind the current momentum in Congress to finally pass an immigration reform bill.
(Christian Post)

2. GOP senators’ assault shows tough path for immigration measure.
The difficult road ahead for comprehensive immigration reform became more evident Thursday as Republican critics mounted a sustained assault on the legislation, demanding that it include considerably greater border security measures before legalizing any undocumented immigrants.
(Washington Post)

3. Gina McCarthy's nomination in doubt, angering Democrats.
President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency is in jeopardy after Republicans formed a united front Thursday to deny her a vote in committee. Democrats erupted in frustration at the GOP “obstructionism” and vowed to find a way to push Gina McCarthy’s nomination through the Environment and Public Works Committee, despite the last-minute Republican boycott of the vote.
(Politico)

4. Census: Blacks voted at higher rates than whites in 2012.
The report provided fresh evidence of how higher turnout rates among African Americans and a rapidly growing Hispanic population continue to reshape the electorate in presidential elections, with broad implications for the competition between the Republican and Democratic parties.
(Washington Post)

5. Prosecutor to seek murder charges against accused Ohio kidnapper.
An Ohio prosecutor vowed on Thursday to seek murder charges that could carry the death penalty against a former Cleveland school bus driver accused of kidnapping and raping three young women who endured a decade as captives in his house.
(McClatchy News)

6. Bangladesh workers find survivor in factory rubble.
A seamstress buried in the wreckage of a collapsed garment factory building for 17 days was rescued Friday, a miraculous moment set against a scene of unimaginable horror, where the death toll shot past 1,000.
(Associated Press)

7. Cancer vaccines get a price cut in poor nations.
The two companies that make vaccines against cervical cancer announced Thursday that they would cut their prices to the world’s poorest countries below $5 per dose, eventually making it possible for millions of girls to be protected against a major deadly cancer.
(New York Times)

8. Turkey 'will support' Syria no-fly zone.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, the Turkish prime minister said that President Bashar al-Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons against his opponents meant that the Syrian regime had already crossed U.S. President Barack Obama's so-called red line "a long time ago".
(Al Jazeera)

9. Prospect of Iran’s election stirs little hope this time around.
Iran’s 2009 presidential election was an exuberant and exciting spectacle that aroused a powerful surge of optimism in the populace but that ended with the trauma of a violent crackdown. This year’s vote, taking place under starkly different circumstances, promises to be far more subdued.
(New York Times)

10. Secret deals plundering Africa.
Africa loses twice as much money through tax avoidance, secret mining deals, and financial transfers as it gets from donors, Kofi Annan warns.
(BBC)

Quote of the day.
"This is the first hopeful news concerning that unhappy country in a very long time. The statements made in Moscow constitute a very significant first step forward. It is nevertheless only a first step." Lakhdar Brahimi, U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, on a U.S.-Russian agreement to convene an international conference to find a political solution in that country.
(BBC)

1. Senate immigration bill brings flood of amendments.
Lawmakers filed a blizzard of potential amendments to a bipartisan Senate immigration bill Tuesday, setting the stage for weeks of intensive debate over how to reshape the nation’s ­border-control laws. About two-thirds of the 301 proposals came from Senate Republicans
(Washington Post)

2. As red ink recedes, pressure fades for budget deal.
After four years of trillion-dollar deficits, the red ink is receding rapidly in Washington, easing pressure on policymakers but shattering hopes for a summertime budget deal. Federal tax revenue is up and spending is down thanks to an improving economy, tax increases that took effect in January and the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester.
(Washington Post)

3. Obama urges prosecution for sexual assaults in military.
President Barack Obama delivered a blistering rebuke of sexual assaults in the military Tuesday, saying perpetrators are “betraying the uniform that they’re wearing” and that he’s told Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel the administration needs to "exponentially step up our game" to curb the abuse.
(McClatchy News)

4. U.S. weighs wider wiretap laws to cover online activity.
The Obama administration, resolving years of internal debate, is on the verge of backing a Federal Bureau of Investigation plan for a sweeping overhaul of surveillance laws that would make it easier to wiretap people who communicate using the Internet rather than by traditional phone services,
(New York Times)

5. Miss. court blocks execution.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has indefinitely delayed Tuesday''s scheduled execution of Willie Jerome Manning amid questions involving evidence in the case, intervening hours before he was set to die for the slayings of two college students.
(Associated Press)

6. Western officials fear retaliation for airstrikes attributed to Israel.
The weekend airstrikes near the Syrian capital reportedly carried out by Israel have heightened concerns about terrorist attacks on Israeli tourists and other civilian targets in the coming weeks, U.S. officials and experts say, as Damascus and its allies vow to respond to what Syria has called an “act of war.”
(Washington Post)

7. Obama backs policy of South Korea’s president on North.
President Obama offered an endorsement Tuesday of South Korea’s new president, Park Geun-hye, and her blueprint for defusing tensions with North Korea, but warned that the first move was up to the erratic, often belligerent young leader in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un.
(New York Times)

8. As Pakistan votes, the military watches sternly from its barracks.
When a rock-band song mocking Pakistan's army was mysteriously blocked on Internet sites recently, no one was surprised. But, as political parties jousted their way to this Saturday's elections, it was a small reminder of where power really lies.
(Reuters)

9. Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu curbs settlement construction.
Israel's prime minister has issued an unofficial order to stop the approval of new plans or tenders for Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank, a leading pressure group says. Peace Now said it appeared Benjamin Netanyahu was responding to U.S. efforts to restart Middle East peace talks.
(BBC)

10. Save the Children mothers' index: 10 worst countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The worst place in the world to give birth is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a woman has a one in 30 chance of dying as a result — while the best is Finland, where the risk of death is one in 12,200, according to a new analysis.
(Guardian)