The latest news on Torture Investigation, Supreme Court & Race, Poverty & Race, Military Spending, Climate Change Legislation, Riverside Pastor, World Bank & Developing Nations, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel-Gaza, South Africa, and

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Torture investigation. Congress Debates Fresh Investigation Of Interrogations "The legacy of George W. Bush continued to dog President Obama and his administration yesterday, as Congress divided over creating a panel to investigate the harsh interrogation techniques employed under Bush's authorization and the White House tried to contain the controversy over the president's decision to release Justice Department memos justifying and outlining those procedures." Prosecuting 'torture memo' authors called 'a real stretch' "Despite the growing demands to bring criminal charges against the authors of the so-called torture memos, even critics of the Bush administration see problems with seeking to prosecute lawyers such as John C. Yoo, Jay S. Bybee or Steven G. Bradbury."

Supreme Court & race. Supreme Court Considers Anti-Discrimination Moves' Impact on Whites "The Supreme Court searched yesterday for the line where possible discrimination against one race turns into actual discrimination against another." Supreme Court weighs race in hiring and promotions "With Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. leading the way, the Supreme Court debated Wednesday whether to put stricter limits on the use of race as a factor in deciding who gets hired or promoted."

Poverty & race. Poverty hits African Americans hard "One of the largely untold stories of America's economic decline is the disproportionate effect it appears to be having on African Americans."

Military spending. Pentagon spending: Robert Gates wins early battles to sell his defense plan "Defense Secretary Robert Gates is gaining unusual momentum in his attempt to remake the U.S. military budget and appears poised to push through what many consider a historic shift within the federal government's biggest bureaucracy."

Climate change legislation. House Panel Begins Debate on Climate Bill "The House Energy and Commerce Committee started work yesterday on the nation's first-ever limit on greenhouse gas emissions, sparking an intense round of lobbying in Washington as interests on both sides of the debate sought to sway undecided lawmakers." Administration Stops Short of Endorsing Climate Bill "Obama administration officials said Wednesday that an ambitious energy and climate-change proposal sponsored by House Democrats could help create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they stopped short of endorsing it."

Riverside pastor. New Riverside Pastor's Compensation Splits Congregation "Longstanding tensions among parishioners at the renowned Riverside Church erupted again this week as a group of congregants went to court to stop the installation of a new senior pastor whose compensation package, they say, exceeds $600,000 a year."

World Bank & developing nations. World Bank to Launch Stimulus for Developing Nations "Moving to combat the spiraling economic downturn in developing countries, the World Bank will unveil a major initiative today to almost double financing for road, bridge and other infrastructure projects from Latin America to Eastern Europe."

Pakistan. Taliban Seize Vital Pakistan Area Closer to the Capital "Pushing deeper into Pakistan, Taliban militants have established effective control of a strategically important district just 70 miles from the capital, Islamabad." Hillary Clinton warns of 'existential threat' in Pakistan "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned in unusually bleak terms Wednesday that Pakistan's fragile government is facing an 'existential threat' from Islamic militants who are now operating within a few hours of the capital." Clinton says Pakistan turmoil is 'mortal threat' to the world "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday called the advance of Islamic militants an 'existential threat' to Pakistan and a 'mortal threat' to the world and called on Pakistanis to resist their government's policy of ceding territory to extremists." Pakistan 'abdicating to Taliban' "Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, has accused Pakistan's government of 'abdicating to the Taliban' by agreeing to the enforcement of Islamic law in part of the country."

Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Says Rebels Continue to Fight "Sri Lanka said Thursday that its soldiers were running into 'dwindling but constant resistance' from Tamil Tiger rebels, one day after the United States accused the government of causing 'untold suffering' among civilians in its final push to win a 25-year-old conflict with Tamil separatists." Sri Lanka appeals for aid as U.N. urges Tamil Tigers to lay down arms "Sri Lanka acknowledged today that it was facing an 'emergency humanitarian situation' and pleaded for international help to care for the 100,000 civilians who have fled the country's war zone."

Iraq. Al-Qaeda's Iraq leader arrested in central Baghdad "The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, was arrested by Iraqi troops in south-eastern Baghdad this morning in a raid being hailed as the most serious blow to the insurgency for three years." U.N. submits plan for disputed Kirkuk "The United Nations has given Iraq's government a report which focuses on ways to bring an end to decades of dispute over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk."

Afghanistan. U.S. May Fill Afghan Civilian Posts With Military Personnel "The Obama administration is finding that it must turn to military personnel to fill hundreds of posts in Afghanistan that had been intended for civilian experts."

Iran. U.S. - Iran faces 'crippling' sanctions if talks fail "Hillary Clinton today vigorously defended President Obama's recent overtures to Iran, insisting that the U.S. would be in a better position to organize 'crippling' international sanctions should diplomacy fail." 'China has large role in stopping Iran' "China has a 'central role' in preventing Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons, President Shimon Peres said Thursday in a meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi."

Israel-Gaza. Israel Says Actions in Gaza Not War Crimes "The Israeli military on Wednesday presented the conclusions of several internal investigations into its conduct during the war in Gaza and stated that it had operated in accordance with international law." Israeli military blames civilian deaths on 'errors' "After an internal investigation, the Israeli military said Wednesday that its soldiers had unintentionally killed dozens of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but said there were no widespread abuses and declared that its soldiers never violated international law." Five IDF probes find 'operational errors,' but no intentional attacks on civilians in Gaza op "There were no intentional attacks on civilians during Operation Cast Lead, the Israel Defense Forces found in five separate investigations into alleged international law violations."

South Africa. Early lead for ANC in S Africa vote "South Africa's ruling ANC party has taken the early lead in the country's general election that is expected to make its leader, Jacob Zuma, president." South Africa's ruling party heads for easy victory "But the count of the first 6 million votes suggested that disillusionment cut the ANC's majority to about 64%, leaving it short of the two-thirds it was hoping for. It garnered nearly 70% in the last general election in 2004."

Opinion. Islam, Virgins and Grapes (Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times) "Muslim fundamentalists damage Islam far more than any number of Danish cartoonists ever could, for it's inevitably the extremists who capture the world's attention. But there is the beginning of an intellectual reform movement in the Islamic world, and one window into this awakening was an international conference this week at the University of Notre Dame on the latest scholarship about the Koran."