Daily News Digest

Colombia. 15 Hostages Rescued in Colombia "Colombia's military yesterday rescued the most prominent of several hundred hostages held by Marxist rebels, a group of 15 that included the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American Defense Department contractors who had been imprisoned in remote jungle camps since 2003." Colombia Plucks Hostages From Rebels' Grasp "On Colombian television, Ms. Betancourt wept and smiled as she recounted a chain of events that seemed scripted for film, complete with Colombian agents infiltrating guerrilla camps and borrowing Israeli tracking technology to zero in on their target." 15 hostages freed as FARC is fooled in cunning operation "Colombian forces apparently infiltrated the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and duped them into grouping Betancourt and the other hostages in a remote jungle location about 200 miles southeast of Bogota and putting them aboard a helicopter, supposedly for a meeting with new FARC commander Alfonso Cano." Betancourt reunited with family "French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt holds an emotional reunion with her children after six years as a hostage."

Race. Proposed FBI plan would authorize racial profiling "The policy would allow the agency to open terrorism investigations even if evidence of wrongdoing is lacking." New drive to ban race preferences "Initiatives in three states would prohibit affirmative action in public realms."

Immigration. Lawsuit Leads to Release of Immigrant "A South Korean immigrant who was repeatedly denied timely medical care while in the immigration detention system was released from an Arizona jail yesterday." Homeland Security report faults care of detained immigrants "An internal investigation looked into detainees' deaths, but only two."

Israel and Palestine. Call to sever Jerusalem Arab area "Israel's vice premier has said the home district of the Palestinian who carried out Wednesday's bulldozer attack should be cut off from the rest of Jerusalem." Olmert: Raze terrorist's home, revoke family's social benefits "Ramon: Parts of East Jerusalem should be severed from capital, residents' citzenship taken away." Hezbollah swap to take place next week "Negotiator Dekel in Europe meeting with German mediator over terms for implementing prisoner exchange."

Katrina trailers. Toxicity in FEMA Trailers Blamed on Cheap Materials, Low Construction Standards "High levels of formaldehyde found in trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina evacuees on the Gulf Coast probably resulted from cheap wood and poor ventilation in designs used by manufacturers under permissive government standards, federal scientists reported yesterday."

Detainees. Guantánamo Detainees: shorter wait? "Last month's Supreme Court ruling sets new rules for judges examining habeas corpus challenges from detainees."

Zimbabwe. Mugabe Rival Sets Conditions For Talks "Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Wednesday that he would not consider joining a unity government as a junior partner to President Robert Mugabe, whom he has accused of beating, torturing and killing his way to reelection last week." Opposition Rejects Call to Start Talks With Mugabe " Mr. Tsvangirai's stance, taken a day after the 53-nation union called for talks to form a unity government, marked the start of a new diplomatic phase in Zimbabwe's years-long political crisis - one almost certain to drag on for months with a highly uncertain outcome." Zimbabweans seek embassy refuge "More than 200 people have gathered outside the US embassy in Zimbabwe seeking refuge or assistance."

South Africa. Mbeki says sorry for May violence "South African leader says South Africans heads are 'bowed in shame' after xenophobic attacks."

Global Warming. Bush Makes Final Push for Global Climate Deal "In his final months in office, President Bush is mounting a last-ditch effort to forge a new global deal to limit greenhouse-gas emissions but finds himself once again at odds with much of the rest of the world on how to address climate change."

Iraqi oil. Committee Questions State Dept. Role in Iraq Oil Deal "Bush administration officials knew that an oil company with close ties to President Bush planned to sign an oil deal with the Kurdistan government, counter to American policy."

Mongolia. Mongolia Enforces Martial Law in Capital Amid Political Unrest " Armed soldiers enforced martial law on the streets of Mongolia's capital on Wednesday, a day after five people were killed as hundreds angered by election results rioted, Mongolian state news media reported."

Abortion. Catholic Aid for Abortion Creates Stir in Virginia " The Roman Catholic bishop of Richmond, Va., apologized this week after workers from a Catholic organization helped a teenager in its care have an abortion."

Same-sex marriage. McCain and Obama Differ on Same-Sex Marriage Initiative "Senators Barack Obama and John McCain are at odds over a California ballot initiative that would amend the state's Constitution to ban same-sex marriage."

Iran. Risk to U.S. troops seen if Israel strikes Iran "Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen says a new conflict could entangle and strain soldiers already in the region."