The latest news on Religious Survey, Reconciliation and Redemption, Stem Cell Research, Unemployment, Global Recession, Iraq, Nuclear Weapons, Iran, Afghanistan, Darfur, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, and Select Op-eds.

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Religious survey. Almost all denominations losing ground, survey finds "When it comes to religion, the USA is now a land of freelancers. The percentage of people who call themselves some type of Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation." Trinity College Program on Public Values Survey Finds Drop in Percentage of Americans Identifying as Christian "The percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades, and those who do are increasingly identifying themselves without traditional denomination labels, according to a major study of U.S. religion being released today."

Reconciliation and redemption. Nation's first black AG, Wallace's daughter observe anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday' march "The nation's first black attorney general and Gov. George C. Wallace's daughter celebrated the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march Sunday - 44 years after state troopers from her father's administration beat marchers as they started the landmark journey."

Stem cell research. Obama Set to Reverse Bush's Stem-Cell Restrictions "President Obama will announce Monday that he is reversing Bush administration limits on federal financing for embryonic stem cell research as part of a pledge to separate science and politics." Obama To Loosen Stem Cell Funding "President Obama's decision to lift restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, scheduled to be announced Monday, is expected to provide a major boost to one of the most promising but controversial fields of biomedical research in generations." Barack Obama to reverse Bush policy on federal funding for stem cell research "Fulfilling a campaign pledge, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Monday rescinding restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem-cell research." Obama Is Leaving Some Stem Cell Issues to Congress "While lifting the Bush administration's restrictions on federally financed human embryonic stem cell research, President Obama intends to avoid the thorniest question in the debate: whether taxpayer dollars should be used to experiment on embryos themselves."

Unemployment. Job Losses Could Drown Stimulus "The U.S. unemployment rate last month leapt half a percentage point, to 8.1 percent, the highest level since 1983, according to data released yesterday. The stunning pace of job losses raises the possibility that, perhaps as early as this summer, one in 10 Americans will be out of a job even though they are actively looking for work." Unemployment hits 8.1%, adding to fears "The wave of layoffs that pushed unemployment last month to its highest level in more than a quarter of a century is giving American workers a new jolt of anxiety." Job Losses Hint at Vast Remaking of U.S. Economy "As government data revealed that 651,000 more jobs disappeared in February, a sense took hold that growing joblessness may reflect a wrenching restructuring of the American economy." For ex-offenders, older workers, uneducated, jobs even harder to find "Sizemore is part of the unemployment underclass, a group comprised of people with little or spotty work histories, workers without college degrees nearing retirement and those with criminal records who've recently found themselves crowded out by the ever-swelling ranks of overly qualified, younger applicants applying for low-paying jobs."

Global recession. U.S. Downturn Dragging World Into Recession "The world is falling into the first global recession since World War II as the crisis that started in the United States engulfs once-booming developing nations, confronting them with massive financial shortfalls that could turn back the clock on poverty reduction by years." Developing nations face finance gap "Developing countries may face a financing gap of $270bn to $700bn this year as trade income dwindles and rich nations vie for capital to deal with a global slump."

Iraq. 12,000 U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq "The U.S. military announced Sunday that 12,000 American soldiers would withdraw from Iraq by September, marking the first step in the Obama administration's plan to pull U.S. combat forces out of the country by August 2010." U.S. to pull 12,000 troops from Iraq as withdrawal begins "The U.S. will reduce its military presence in Iraq by 12,000 troops over the next six months as part of the first major drawdown since President Obama announced his plan to end combat operations in the country next year, U.S. military officials in Baghdad said Sunday."

Nuclear weapons. U.S., Russia aim to cut nukes "It's official - the U.S. and Russia want to revive arms control talks to cut their nuclear stockpiles. Disarmament goals pronounced by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the issue had not been heard from the one-time enemies in years."

Iran. Israeli military intelligence chief: Iran now capable of building nuclear weapons "Iran is now capable of producing atomic weapons, Israel's top military intelligence officer said Sunday, sounding the highest-level warning that Israel's arch-enemy has achieved independent nuclear capability." MI chief: Iran 'buying time' while building nuclear bomb "The top IDF intelligence officer said Iran 'has stockpiled hundreds of kilograms of uranium at low levels of enrichment, and is hoping to take advantage of the dialogue with the West to buy the time necessary to enable it to develop a nuclear bomb.'"

Afghanistan. Obama says U.S. is losing war in Afghanistan "President Obama conceded yesterday that America was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the way for negotiations with moderate elements of the Taliban, much as the U.S. did with Sunni tribes in Iraq." Obama Ponders Outreach to Elements of the Taliban "President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq." Obama's appeal to Taliban 'will fail' "Barack Obama's call for 'moderate' Taliban members to be brought in from the cold met with skepticism yesterday from leading Afghan opposition figures, who warned that co-opting fighters would fail as long as Hamid Karzai's government appeared weak and corrupt." Pakistan Regains Control of Remote Area, for Now "After a six-month campaign, the Pakistani military is claiming victory over the Taliban in Bajaur, a northern sliver of the tribal areas, saying the militants have suffered heavy losses and have been pushed over the border into Afghanistan."

Darfur. Sudan's president hits the road with defiance "Call it the 'Defiance Tour '09,' Sudanese-style. After three days of packed performances in the capital, Khartoum, President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir took his nose-thumbing act on the road Sunday to the scene of his alleged crimes." Sudan president threatens to expel more foreigners in 1st trip to Darfur since arrest warrant "Sudan's president threatened to kick out more aid groups and expel diplomats and peacekeepers on Sunday during his first trip to Darfur after an international court issued an arrest warrant against him for war crimes there." We will topple al-Bashir if the U.N. doesn't' "Now the rebels, backed by Chad, claim to have more than 800 land cruisers and more than 7,000 fighters operating in the desert in Darfur and threaten to bring down President al-Bashir's regime unless the international community resolve the current political and humanitarian crisis."

El Salvador. In El Salvador Vote, Big Opportunity for Leftists "After a 12-year civil war and a peace undermined by soaring crime, leftists in El Salvador are on the verge of completing a remarkable journey from armed struggle to the presidential palace."

Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai says crash was accident "Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said the car crash that killed his wife Susan was an accident." Tsvangirai to return amid fears of power grab "Morgan Tsvangirai could return to Zimbabwe as early as today to organize the funeral of his wife, Susan, who died when the car they were travelling in was hit by a U.S. aid lorry carrying British relief supplies.