Daily News Digest

The latest news on Immigration, Food, Foreclosures, Presidential campaigns, Adoption, Tax exemptions, Iran-nuclear report, Israel-nuclear weapons, Burma, Food-global, Iraq, China, South Africa, Somalia, Canada, and Op-Ed.

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Immigration. Safety under the steeple "A new movement seeks to involve American churches as "sanctuaries" for illegal immigrants. In the original "sanctuary movement" of the 1980s, Central American refugees camped out in churches across the country." Jail growth explodes as Feds crack down on illegal migrants "For years, thousands of people caught trying to sneak into the U.S. from Mexico were released for lack of jail space and given a notice to appear in court. Most simply vanished. Now, virtually everybody who's caught is sent to federal court. The result has been an insatiable demand for jail space."

Food. Rising Prices Hit Home For Food Stamp Recipients "At a time when food prices are soaring, a growing number of Americans are struggling financially and local social service agencies are seeing record numbers of applicants, advocates are concerned that the purchasing power of food stamps has shrunk since 1996, when Congress recalculated benefit levels." Food banks face high costs but feeding more people "A survey it conducted of 180 food banks in late April and early May found that 99 percent have seen an increase in the number of clients served within the last year. The increase is estimated at 15 percent to 20 percent, though many food banks reported increases as high as 40 percent."

Foreclosures. Contractors Are Kept Busy Maintaining Abandoned Homes "These contractors and thousands like them see first hand the detritus of the subprime era: peeling paint, gutted interiors, family dogs left behind to starve, overgrown lawns infested with snakes." Shuttered Homes, Thriving Wildlife "In neighborhoods across the region, a potent recipe is brewing on the front lawns and in the back yards of thousands of homes emptied by foreclosures. The combination of a rainy spring and a flood of the unkempt houses has local governments increasingly concerned about public health and struggling to keep nature at bay."

Presidential campaigns. McCain And Obama Campaign in New Mexico "The two leading candidates for president made Memorial Day pilgrimages on Monday to this critical swing state, where a closely divided electorate may help determine the outcome of the 2008 battle for the White House." Puerto Rico Gets Its Moment in the Sun (the Political One) as Primary Nears "Puerto Rico traditionally complains of being ignored by the rest of the United States, but that has just changed, if only for the moment. With a Democratic presidential primary to be held here on June 1, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton began their Memorial Day weekend campaigning in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean."

Adoption. Study of '94 Adoption Law Finds Little Benefit to Blacks "A 1994 federal law that paved the way for more white adults to adopt black children has left many parents ill-equipped for the situation and has not achieved the goals of giving black children an equal chance of being adopted and recruiting more black adoptive parents, a study concludes." De-emphasis on Race in Adoption Is Criticized "The report, based on an examination of the law's impact over a decade, said that minority children adopted into white households face special challenges and that white parents need preparation and training for what might lie ahead."

Tax exemptions. Exemptions for Charities Face New Challenges "Authorities from the local tax assessor to members of Congress are increasingly challenging the tax-exempt status of nonprofit institutions - ranging from small group homes to wealthy universities - questioning whether they deserve special treatment."

Iran-nuclear report. IAEA says Iran not revealing nuclear aims "In a sternly-phrased report, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that Iran had failed to provide the documentation and other evidence required to examine apparent anomalies in its nuclear activities that raise questions about a possible covert military programme." Iran 'defying UN' on nuclear work "Contrary to the decisions of the (UN) Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrote in its latest report on Tehran's nuclear programme." IAEA still seeking answers from Iran on nuclear plans "The International Atomic Energy Agency says in a report that Iran still is withholding information on studies it allegedly conducted as part of a secret nuclear warhead development project." U.N. finds no proof Iran continued nuclear arms program "A report released Monday by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog organization presents the clearest indication yet that Iran was working on a nuclear weapon through 2003. But there is no evidence that the weapons program continued after 2004, it says, echoing a U.S. intelligence assessment in December."

China. Race against China quake flooding "Chinese troops began digging channels today to try to drain a huge lake formed by the Sichuan earthquake which threatens more than 1 million survivors." Amid Tremors, a City Trembles With Dread "The powerful aftershock that struck northern Sichuan Province on Sunday sent thousands of residents here running into the street. There was little damage in Chengdu, but the aftershock, with an estimated magnitude of 6.0, killed at least eight people, injured more than 400 and toppled 70,000 buildings in the mountains to the north, according to the government."

South Africa. Amid Broken Dreams, Poverty Breeds Hatred "This was the kind of place that was not supposed to exist in the new South Africa. All black. All poor. Dense, squalid, dirty, angry -- with charred patches of earth where men once stood." Mbeki Calls Harm to Migrants a Disgrace "After two weeks of only faint and infrequent condemnations of the anti-immigrant violence that has troubled South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki described the wave of xenophobic attacks as an "absolute disgrace" that has blemished the country's reputation."

Somalia. Somalia on the verge of collapse, aid officials and residents say "In addition to a growing insurgency, clan warfare and the lack of a functioning government since 1991, Somalia's fragile economy is now disintegrating amid hyperinflation and the local effects of a global food crisis that sparked riots this month."

Canada. Ottawa plans huge claim to resource-rich Arctic seabed "Canada is preparing to claim an area of the Arctic Ocean seabed equivalent in size to the Prairie provinces as part of Ottawa's aggressive effort to defend Canadian interests in the North, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said yesterday."

Op-Ed.

A Sensible Path on Iran (Zbigniew Brzezinski and William Odom, Washington Post) "Current U.S. policy toward the regime in Tehran will almost certainly result in an Iran with nuclear weapons. The seemingly clever combination of the use of "sticks" and "carrots," including the frequent official hints of an American military option "remaining on the table," simply intensifies Iran's desire to have its own nuclear arsenal."