Daily News Digest

The latest news on Dem presidential race, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Faith & politics, Global warming, Health insurance, AIDS, Food costs & global poverty, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Australia & Iraq war, Passing, Editorial, and Op-Eds.

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Dem presidential race. Barack Obama appears headed for Democratic finish line "With an expected late wave of support from congressional Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama appeared poised to secure enough delegates to earn his party's presidential nomination," Obama Pushes Effort to Claim Victory After Tuesday's Voting "Senator Barack Obama's campaign began a concerted effort on Monday to rally undecided superdelegates around him so he can claim the Democratic presidential nomination after the primaries end on Tuesday night."

Sen. Ted Kennedy. Kennedy has 'successful' surgery "US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, moving with extraordinary quickness to pursue the most aggressive form of treatment for his malignant brain tumor, flew by private jet to North Carolina and underwent brain surgery that his hand-picked neurosurgeon declared a success."

Faith & politics. Mix of politics, religion appears a recipe for disaster "The 2008 primary election campaign began with candidates scrambling to embrace religious leaders, and it's ending with candidates rushing to repudiate them. An election cycle that was supposed to usher in the marriage of religion and politics may be hastening its divorce."

Global warming. Senate Opens Debate on Politically Risky Bill Addressing Global Warming "The Senate opened a raucous debate over climate change legislation even though it will put supporters of the bill, including all three presidential candidates, on the spot - essentially forcing them to come out in favor of high energy costs at a time when American consumers are paying record fuel prices."

Health insurance. California legislators revive plans to expand healthcare insurance "The California Legislature is moving to curb some of the health insurance industry's most profitable and contested practices as lawmakers resurrect portions of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's unsuccessful proposal to expand medical coverage." Study Finds State Gains in Insurance "Massachusetts reduced its proportion of uninsured adults by nearly half in the first year of mandatory health coverage and made gains in the share of people receiving routine preventive care, according to the first major study of the 2006 law."

AIDS. Progress Has Been Made in Fight Against AIDS, but Not Enough, U.N. Report Says "The good news on AIDS: Nearly a million people began life-prolonging drug treatment in developing countries last year. The bad news: 2.5 million people were newly infected with H.I.V." World AIDS treatment program meets goal -- two years late "Nearly 3 million people in developing countries are now receiving antiretroviral drugs to treat AIDS, a treatment goal that health authorities had hoped to meet two years ago,"

Food costs & global poverty. Food costs threaten gains against poverty "If long-term prices stay high - as food analysts predict - the financial burden could drive families back below the poverty line and undermine progress toward the goal of halving the world's poverty and hunger by 2015," Rudd slates predecessor over Iraq"Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has rounded on his predecessor John Howard, accusing him of misleading the public and abusing intelligence information to justify the invasion of Iraq."

Passing. Bo Diddley, Who Gave Rock His Beat, Dies at 79" Bo Diddley, a singer and guitarist who invented his own name, his own guitars, his own beat and, with a handful of other musical pioneers, rock 'n' roll itself, died Monday at his home in Archer, Fla. He was 79." Music Pioneer Helped Build Rock-and-Roll's Blues Base "Diddley, a dazzling rhythm guitar player, was one of the most influential musicians of the 1950s and 1960s and crossed barriers between blues and rock in a way few others managed, before or since."

Editorial. The Great Immigration Panic (New York Times)"Someday, the country will recognize the true cost of its war on illegal immigration. We don't mean dollars, though those are being squandered by the billions. The true cost is to the national identity: the sense of who we are and what we value. It will hit us once the enforcement fever breaks, when we look at what has been done and no longer recognize the country that did it."

Op-Eds.

For an 'Obamacon,' Communion Denied (E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post) "Word spread like wildfire in Catholic circles: Douglas Kmiec, a staunch Republican, firm foe of abortion and veteran of the Reagan Justice Department, had been denied Communion. His sin? Kmiec, a Catholic who can cite papal pronouncements with the facility of a theological scholar, shocked old friends and adversaries alike earlier this year by endorsing Barack Obama for president."

A Campaign to Hate (Richard Cohen, Washington Post) "this messy nominating process has eroded the standing of both candidates. It has highlighted the reality that racism still runs deep and that misogyny, although more imagined than real, is not yet a wholly spent force. This is an ugly porridge that has been placed before us, turned rancid since the cold, pristine days of Iowa only five months ago. We were, with apologies to Bob Dylan, so much younger then."