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Quote of the day. "This is something that can unite us. We have 11 different official languages but only one word for the wonderful institution of braai (barbecue): in Xhosa, English, Afrikaans, whatever." Desmond Tutu, September 2007. Archbishop Tutu ended his public career today at 79 years old. (BBC)
"There's nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible. If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible." September 2008 (Christian Post)
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
Archbishop Desmond Tutu end public career at 79 "Archbishop Desmond Tutu is stepping down from public life, as he celebrates his 79th birthday. The man described as the "conscience" of South Africa was a prominent voice during the country's struggle against white minority rule."
UK archbishop fears Sudan conflict "The Archbishop of Canterbury has added his voice to those warning that Sudan is sliding back towards civil war."
How America sees God "In the USA, God -- or the idea of a God -- permeates daily life. Our views of God have been fundamental to the nation's past, help explain many of the conflicts in our society and worldwide, and could offer a hint of what the future holds."
NEWS AT HOME
Free speech vs. privacy. Court weighs free speech vs. privacy at funerals "The Supreme Court seemed to have trouble putting aside the ugliness of the message to focus on the rights of the messenger Wednesday, as justices tried to balance free speech against the privacy owed a grieving family burying a son." Court struggles with free speech question "Supreme Court justices expressed empathy Wednesday for a father whose Marine Corps son was killed in Iraq and whose funeral was protested by fundamentalist pastor Fred Phelps and his anti-gay followers." Supreme Court appears inclined to rule against funeral protesters "Despite free-speech concerns, Supreme Court justices sounded sympathetic Wednesday to a lawsuit filed by the father of a Marine killed in Iraq whose funeral was picketed by protesters with signs like, "Thank God for IEDs."
Guantanamo witness. Judge Bars Major Witness From Terrorism Trial "A federal judge barred prosecutors on Wednesday from using a crucial witness in the first trial of a former Guantánamo detainee, adding to the fierce debate over whether the government can successfully prosecute terrorist detainees in civilian court." Witness barred in key US terror case "The judge ruled the witness could not testify as he had been named by Mr Ghailani while he was "under duress".
Deportations. U.S. deportations reach record high "The Obama administration announced Wednesday that in the past year it has deported a record number of unauthorized immigrants - more than 392,000, about half of whom were convicted criminals." U.S. deported record number of illegal immigrants "The total was about 3,000 more deportations than the record set in the previous year."
City budgets. Fiscal Woes Deepening for Cities, Report Says "The nation's cities are in their worst fiscal shape in at least a quarter of a century and have probably not yet hit the bottom of their slide, according to a report released on Wednesday."
Suburban poverty. Rising poverty levels hitting American suburbs the hardest "America's suburbs are bearing the brunt of the highest level of poverty in almost a half century among those of working age, creating strains on dwindling safety-net programs that focus mostly on the urban poor."
Food stamps and sodas. New York Asks to Bar Use of Food Stamps to Buy Sodas "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg sought federal permission on Wednesday to bar New York City's 1.7 million recipients of food stamps from using them to buy soda or other sugared drinks."
Green jobs. Green job numbers in California are growing, study finds "Despite the decline in manufacturing employment in California, one key industrial sector is seeing robust job growth: the green economy."
Foreclosure chaos. Loan chaos may pose wider peril "Millions of U.S. mortgages have been shuttled around the global financial system - sold and resold by firms - without the documents that traditionally prove who legally owns the loans."
Dialogue. Tea Party rattles Washington "Ignore this movement at your own peril, say Cal and Bob. It's real, it's substantial, and if it upends politics as usual, bravo! Cal Thomas is a conservative columnist. Bob Beckel is a liberal Democratic strategist. But as longtime friends, they can often find common ground on issues that lawmakers in Washington cannot."
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
Global hunger. 22 nations said to be in hunger crisis "UN food agencies said yesterday that 166 million people in 22 countries suffer chronic hunger or difficulty finding enough to eat as a result of what they called protracted food crises."
Haiti. UN's Haiti quake camps condemned "Camps for Haitians displaced by January's earthquake are descending into squalor and near-anarchy, a report says - and the UN must take much of the blame."
Afghanistan. US and Afghans make contact with insurgents "Both the Afghan and US governments have recently made contact with the most fearsome insurgent group in Afghanistan, the Haqqani network, the Guardian has learned." Experts: Afghan peace talks not likely advancing "Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban aren't likely to advance until the United States and NATO forces gain an advantage on the battlefield, several experts on the region say." US faces pivotal juncture as Afghan war begins 10th year "With extra American troops now in place, this is the critical juncture to determine if President Obama's revised war strategy will work and reverse Taliban momentum."
Apology to Pakistan. U.S. apologizes to Pakistan for troop deaths in airstrike "The U.S. apologized Wednesday for the deaths of two Pakistani paramilitary troops and the wounding of four others in a cross-border airstrike by U.S. helicopters that prompted Islamabad to close two vital supply routes used by the U.S.-led force in Afghanistan." U.S. apologizes for fatal strike in Pakistan "Nearly a week after a U.S. missile strike killed or wounded six Pakistani soldiers, the United States apologized Wednesday, acknowledging that two of its Afghanistan-based assault helicopters had entered Pakistani airspace "several times" and mistakenly fired at a military post." U.S. Apologizes as Attacks in Pakistan Continue "Dozens of tanker trucks carrying fuel to Afghanistan for NATO troops were torched near Quetta in western Pakistan on Wednesday, the third major attack on supplies since Pakistan closed a border crossing to Afghanistan a week ago and the first at the only checkpoint that remained open."
Pakistan conflict. Pakistan criticises 'unjustified' US drone strikes "Pakistan has said that US drone strikes in the north-west have "neither justification nor understanding".Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said that such attacks were counter-productive and a violation of his country's sovereignty." US accuses Pakistan of avoiding militant conflict "The United States has criticised Pakistan for avoiding direct conflict with militants in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan."
North Korea nuclear program. N Korea nuclear threat 'alarming' "North Korea's nuclear programme has reached an "alarming level" and poses a serious threat to the South, a senior government official in Seoul has said."
Iraq. U.S. officials urge American firms to invest in Iraq "As the first American trade delegation to Iraq in three decades prepared to wrap up its visit Thursday, the senior official who led the group warned potential U.S. investors that they should not delay getting into the Iraqi market, despite the many hazards of doing business here." US trade official: American businesses should invest in Iraq
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