Daily News Digest

Farm bill, GI Bill, Ted Kennedy, Immigration, New Orleans, California-same sex mariage ruling, Lebanon, Israel-Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Africa, China, Burma, and Child soldiers.

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Farm bill. House Overrides Veto of Farm Bill "The House easily overrode President Bush's veto of a $307 billion farm bill in what appeared to be the most significant legislative rebuff of Bush's presidency. But a legislative glitch is likely to force embarrassed Democratic leaders to pass the bill all over again today." Bush veto of farm bill overridden President George W. Bush vetoed the long-embattled 2007 farm bill, saying it provides subsidies for farmers at a time of record crop prices, increases farm spending by $20 billion and uses "budget gimmicks to hide much of that increase." House overrides farm bill veto; Senate next "The House quickly overrode President Bush's veto of a five-year, $289 billion farm bill, with Republicans joining Democrats to embrace the bill Bush calls bloated. Voting 316-108, the House rolled right over Bush only a few hours after the president quietly vetoed the bill."

GI Bill. Senate proposal seeks $165B for war "President Bush's GOP allies in the Senate face election-season votes on both his long-pending war funding request and tens of billions of dollars backed by Democrats for veterans education and an assortment of domestic programs." Fear of Troop Exodus Fuels Debate on G.I. Bill "With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan far from over, President Bush is threatening to veto a bill that would pay tuition and other expenses at a four-year public university for anyone who has served in the military for at least three years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A main reason is the fear that it would hasten an exodus from the ranks." VA opposes much of bill to improve care for women veterans "Department of Veterans Affairs officials said that they oppose much of a Senate bill to improve care for female veterans even as the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years."

Ted Kennedy. Despite absence, his efforts bear fruit "In a city where Democrats and Republicans alike speak in awe of the astonishing list of legislative accomplishments Senator Edward M. Kennedy has been able to rack up in the face of political and personal adversity, it seemed only fitting that the Massachusetts Democrat yesterday would score an enormous policy coup even as he battled a malignant brain tumor." Growing arsenal may serve Kennedy "as Senator Edward M. Kennedy and his doctors plot his course of care for a malignant glioma, they confront a richer palette of possibilities - due in no small part to Kennedy's championing of the war on cancer since 1971." Kennedy: A Little Like Everyone, a Lot Like No One Else "Presidents come and go, Senate leaders pass through, majority power ebbs and flows, but Mr. Kennedy has for more than four decades commanded the nation's attention from the Senate floor."

Immigration. Senate drops farm guest-worker legislation"An ambitious agricultural guest-worker plan died with a whimper and not a bang this week, as senators quietly dropped the proposal from an Iraq war spending bill." DHS Will Face Questions on Care of Detained Immigrants "Top lawmakers in Congress criticized the Department of Homeland Security yesterday for failing to provide adequate medical care to detained immigrants, and said they plan to demand explanations today from Secretary Michael Chertoff ."

New Orleans. Leaking levee in New Orleans alarms experts "Despite more than $22 million in repairs, a levee that broke with catastrophic effect during Hurricane Katrina is leaking again because of the mushy ground on which New Orleans was built, raising serious questions about the reliability of the city's flood defenses."

California-same sex mariage ruling. Lifelong Republican finds himself unlikely hero of gay rights activists "But as a crowd gathered outside the state Supreme Court's headquarters last Thursday morning, anxiously awaiting a ruling on the fate of same-sex marriage, [California Chief Justice Ronald] George had already decided that the time was ripe for his court to make the hard decision and rewrite California's civil rights landscape." California chief justice says same-sex marriage ruling was one of his toughest "as he read the legal arguments, the 68-year-old moderate Republican was drawn by memory to a long ago trip he made with his European immigrant parents through the American South. There, the signs warning "No Negro" or "No colored" left "quite an indelible impression on me," he recalled in a wide-ranging interview."

Lebanon. Lebanon Accord Offers a Respite "The agreement to end an 18-month crisis that brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war has redrawn the map of this fractious country, delivering the Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah a decisive say in the country's government and serving as another setback for U.S. allies in the Middle East." Life returns to Beirut's streets "Restaurant owners in Lebanese capital have reopened for business after the opposition ended an 18-month protest that had turned the area into a virtual ghost town." Hezbollah solidifies power in Lebanon "The Iran-backed Hezbollah movement secured all its key demands in a major political deal announced Wednesday by Lebanon's feuding factions, heralding an end to the long political crisis that had pushed Lebanon dangerously close to civil war."

Israel-Syria. Israel Holds Peace Talks With Syria "Israeland Syria announced that they were engaged in negotiations for a comprehensive peace treaty through Turkish mediators, a sign that Israel is hoping to halt the growing influence of Iran, Syria's most important ally," Olmert labels Syria talks 'historic breakthrough' "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Haaretz that "there had been a development in Syrian positions and the contacts with Syria are a historic breakthrough." Olmert added that "these exchanges have been ongoing for a long time and they have now matured." Israel-Syria peace deal could threaten Iran, Hezbollah "But a breakthrough could bring fundamental change to the Mideast by returning the Golan Heights to Syria, cutting off support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and diminishing Iran's influence." Advice Given, but Not Always Followed, by White House "The announcement that Israel has entered into comprehensive peace talks with Syria is at odds with the course counseled by the Bush administration, which initially opposed such talks in private conversations with Israelis,"

Afghanistan. Taliban Make Afghan Stability a Distant Goal "The American military often describes the insurgency as being like a balloon that when squeezed in one place, pops up in another. With the arrival of spring and a new fighting season, some local officials say NATO must move faster to strike the Taliban while the insurgents are weak,"

Iraq . Iraqi Troops Welcomed In Sadr City "Iraqi soldiers moved unhindered through Baghdad's vast Sadr City district as Shiite militiamen who have long controlled the area faded from view and schools and businesses began to reopen after weeks of strife."

South Africa. South African army called in on anti-foreigner violence "The army was deployed Thursday to help quell anti-foreigner violence that has killed at least 42 people and shredded South Africa's reputation for economic and political stability." Exodus after South Africa attacks "Several thousand foreigners have fled South Africa after days of violent attacks by angry mobs. Mozambique is laying on special buses, which have taken some 9,000 people home this week,"

China . China quake deaths exceed 51,000 "The death toll from the earthquake in China's Sichuan province has increased to more than 51,000, with another 30,000 people missing." China acts to stem impatience among quake survivors "China moved to contain some of the political fallout of last week's devastating earthquake with the launch of a major spending program Wednesday amid growing survivor impatience and a tightening of media control."

Burma . Myanmar urged to focus on lives, not politics "UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrived in Myanmar for the diplomatic challenge of a lifetime - persuading the ruling generals to let in a torrent of foreign assistance for cyclone victims." UN chief in Burma to push for cyclone aid "The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, arrived in Burma hoping to persuade the country's military government to accept a dramatic scaling up of the international relief effort in the wake of Cyclone Nargis."

Child soldiers. Fewer Conflicts Involve Child Soldiers, Report Finds "The number of conflicts in which children are used as soldiers has dropped sharply in the past four years, to 17 from 27, according to a research report released this week by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers."