Daily News Digest

The latest news on the U.S. Population, Medicine & Religion, Running Mates, Non-profits, Back to School, Faith & Politics, Pakistan, Russia-Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Global Poverty & Development.

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US population. Hispanic fertility drives U.S. population growth "If it weren't for Hispanic births, the U.S. could be confronting long-term population declines similar to those in Germany, Japan and other industrialized countries." More Women Than Ever Are Childless, Census Finds "Women are waiting longer to have children, and more women than ever are choosing not to have children at all, according to a new Census Bureau report."

Medicine & religion. California doctors can't refuse treatment to gays on religious grounds, court rules "The state Supreme Court decides that an antidiscrimination law takes precedence over doctors' right to religious freedom." Religion out of medicine, a new message for Ontario doctors "Ontario physicians could be stripped of their right to exercise religious or moral conscience if a new set of guidelines is accepted by their regulating body next month."

Vice-president? Who's No. 2? Obama Keeps Everybody Guessing. "This is Veep Week. That, in reality, is about all that anyone outside Sen. Barack Obama's inner, inner circle knows -- that sometime before next week the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee will announce his running mate." Obama Ready to Announce Running Mate This Week "Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning."

Non-profits. Powerful Harlem Church Is Also a Powerful Harlem Developer "For about the past decade, the [Abyssian Baptist] church's most potent resource has been not its Neo-Gothic home on 138th Street, but one of its offshoots, the Abyssinian Development Corporation, situated in modest offices on 125th Street." Some Nonprofits Push for Increased Federal Involvement "In the world of philanthropy, where independence from government has long been sacred, a revolution is underway. Social entrepreneurs are clamoring for a realignment of the way the federal government and nonprofit groups work together to maximize the impact of American generosity."

Back to school. Filling backpack a burden for more "Demand for free school supplies is up across the USA, reflecting deepening hardships caused by the weak economy, social service groups say."

Faith & politics. Leah Daughtry is on a mission to narrow the 'God gap' in politics "Daughtry, who keeps an altar at home and devotes a predawn hour a day to prayer and Bible study, is on a mission to narrow the 'God gap' between Democrats and Republicans by winning over religious voters who have flocked to the GOP over the last 20 years."

Pakistan. Musharraf's resignation won't solve Pakistan's problems "Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf bowed to domestic and international pressure and quit Monday, but his departure could trigger further instability for the nuclear-armed U.S. ally if the country's fractious coalition government can't hold together without its common enemy."Pakistan government faces big challenges after Pervez Musharraf "The resignation of President Pervez Musharraf will force Pakistan's untested new civilian government to confront a dizzying array of problems, chief among them an intensifying battle against Islamic insurgents in the nation's long-lawless tribal areas." In Musharraf's Wake, U.S. Faces Political Disarray "The decision removes from Pakistan's political stage the leader who for nearly nine years served as one of the United States' most important - and ultimately unreliable - allies." As Musharraf Faltered, U.S. Stayed at a Distance "But as Musharraf's political standing crumbled over the past several months, the White House refused to throw him a llifeline."

Russia-Georgia. Nato cools relations with Russia "Nato says there will be "no business as usual" with Russia, demanding Moscow withdraw troops from Georgia immediately." No sign of military withdrawal as Russian armour stays put "Russia last night continued to occupy large swaths of Georgia in defiance of an EU-brokered ceasefire deal, with no sign of significant troop withdrawals." Top Russian general names Israel as Georgian arms supplier "Russian Deputy Chief of General Staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn accused Israel in a Moscow press conference of arming the Georgian military with mines, explosive charges, special explosives for clearing minefields and eight kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)." NATO Set to Blast Georgia Invasion as 'Disproportionate' "NATO is gathering in Brussels today to come up with a unified response to Moscow's heavy-handed treatment of Georgia last week."

Iraq. Kurdish Control of Kirkuk Creates a Powder Keg in Iraq "Of all the political problems facing Iraq today, perhaps none is so intractable as the fate of Kirkuk, a city of 900,000 that Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens all claim as their own." Record number of US contractors in Iraq "The scale of the use of contractors in Iraq is unprecedented in US history, according to a new congressional report that may be the most thorough official account yet of the practice. As of early 2008, at least 190,000 private personnel were working on US-funded projects in the Iraq theater."

Israel. Shin Bet: Release of Palestinian prisoners puts pressure on Hamas "Israel's release of 199 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of goodwill to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "creates pressure on Hamas and is likely to accelerate the negotiations over Gilad Shalit."

Afghanistan. Aid groups review security after Taliban threat "Aid groups say they remain committed to helping the Afghan people but are reviewing security in the wake of the latest threat from the Taliban." For Terrorists, a War on Aid Groups (Samantha Power, New York Times) "Last year, Al Qaeda specifically denounced the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations as "direct enemies aiming to change the fabric of Muslim society."

Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Looks Past Mbeki to End Logjam "Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is again turning to regional leaders to help break the deadlock in power-sharing talks, after the failure to clinch a deal at the weekend summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) raised fresh doubts over the progress of the negotiations."

Global poverty & development. Big Finance Muscles In on Microlending "Microloans were invented to help the poorest of the poor help themselves. Now major banks and pension funds are getting into the business, as they discover that the interest paid by the poor can produce high returns. Is it aid or exploitation?" 'Ticking time bomb' "Once, the farmers walked for hours to bring their sorghum and maize here to market. These days they trod the same paths, parched grass crunching underfoot, to carry their starving children to a feeding clinic." Millions eating food grown with polluted water, says UN report "At least 200 million people around the world risk their health daily by eating food grown using untreated waste water, some of which may be contaminated with heavy metals and raw sewage, according to major study of 53 world cities."