Daily News Digest

The latest news on Midwest floods, War funding, Economy, Education, Climate change, Israel-Gaza Torture, Oil companies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, Burma, Aid for Africa, and Commentary.

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Midwest floods. Missouri towns defenseless against crumbling levees "On the Missouri side of the Mississippi, the fate of towns in harm's way is heavily influenced by levees. At least seven levees broke Wednesday between St. Louis and the border with Iowa, creating havoc in small towns and shutting down roads up and down the river." More levees face flood peril -- this time in northern Missouri, western Illinois "As floodwaters slowly receded from much of Iowa, authorities focused their attention on a swollen Mississippi River that punched through at least two levees in western Illinois and increasingly threatened hamlets in Missouri."

War funding. House, Bush Reach Deal on War Funds "The White House and leading House Democrats agreed on a massive emergency spending bill that would provide more than $162 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and create an education benefit for veterans of those battlefields." House Leaders Agree on War Funding"House leaders struck a bipartisan deal on a major spending measure that would provide money for the war in Iraq through the end of the Bush administration, establish a significant new education benefit for veterans, and meet Democratic demands for added unemployment benefits."

Economy. D.C. Region's Foreclosure Rate Soars "The Washington region now has one of the fastest-growing foreclosure rates in the nation, as 15,613 homes went into foreclosure during the one-year period ending in February," Central Ohio has most need of food aid "The number of people receiving food stamps and public assistance is up 9.4 percent in the central Ohio area from a year ago."

Education. 2 School Entrepreneurs Lead the Way on Change "Ms. Kopp describes Teach for America as a social movement to improve education for the poor. "We have the potential to end educational inequity," she said in an interview at her headquarters in the garment district of Manhattan. "I truly believe that."

Climate change. Arctic sea ice melt 'even faster' "Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than last year, despite a cold winter. ... Scientists on the project say that much of the ice is so thin that it melts easily, and the Arctic may be ice-free in summer within five to 10 years."

Israel-Gaza. Gaza truce begins amid cautious optimism "A temporary cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement went into effect early Thursday under a deal brokered by Egypt, with both sides expressing hope that unlike previous truce agreements, this calm would hold."

Aid for Africa. Brown presses EU countries to fulfil pledge of aid for Africa"Gordon Brown will urge Britain's EU partners to fulfil their aid pledges to Africa following a new report showing that the G8 has delivered only a seventh of the financial assistance promised at the Gleneagles summit three years ago." How a Kenyan village tripled its corn harvest "Sauri is one of 80 Millennium Villages in 10 countries in Africa, where proven technologies, funded by donors, governments, and the community itself, are deployed to lift villagers in "hunger hot spots" out of poverty."

Commentary.

Foreign Policy's Best Hope (David S. Broder, Washington Post) "I spent two hours in separate but parallel interviews with the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joseph Biden of Delaware, and the ranking Republican on that panel, Richard Lugar of Indiana. Despite all the static in the political atmosphere, Biden and Lugar left me believing that there is hope of overcoming the divisive legacy of the past six years -- in large part because of the work these two have done together to prepare the way."