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." Israel and Hamas begin truce "Israel has promised to halt air strikes and other attacks in return for an end to the regular volleys of rockets and mortars fired into southern Israel by Hamas and several other militant groups." ANALYSIS / For truce architect, Israel chose lesser of two evils "Israel will remove, within days, a significant portion of its economic blockade of the Gaza Strip. Hamas, in return, has promised to renew contacts on the release of Gilad Shalit." Israel Proposes Peace Talks With Lebanon "Israel on Wednesday publicly pushed to open peace negotiations with Lebanon, seeking to add another initiative to an already burgeoning diplomatic roster that includes talks with some of the Jewish state's foremost adversaries."

Torture. General who probed Abu Ghraib says Bush officials committed war crimes "The Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison accused the Bush administration Wednesday of committing "war crimes" and called for those responsible to be held to account." An Unlikely Antagonist in the Detainees' Corner"When he speaks publicly, Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, a military lawyer for a Guantánamo detainee, is careful to say his remarks do not reflect the views of the Pentagon. ... The Bush administration's war crimes system "is designed to get criminal convictions" with "no real evidence," Commander Kuebler says. Or he lets fly that military prosecutors "launder evidence derived from torture."

Oil companies in Iraq. Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back"Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power."

Afghanistan. 4 Afghanistan villages wrested from Taliban "Explosions echoed through vineyards and pomegranate groves Wednesday as Afghan and NATO forces backed by helicopter gunships recaptured at least four villages in southern Afghanistan that had been seized by the Taliban, Afghan authorities said." Afghanistan Battles Taliban in South "Hundreds of Afghan and Canadian troops launched a major attack Wednesday against Taliban fighters who have moved into several villages in southern Afghanistan in recent days, according to military officials."

Colombia. Coca Cultivation Rises In Colombia, U.N. Says "The amount of land devoted to production of coca, the leaf used to make cocaine, has grown at a dramatic pace in Colombia despite a huge American-funded counter-drug program of aerial fumigation and aggressive interdiction,"

Burma. Burma militia attacks Suu Kyi supporters"Pro-government militias in Burma today beat and detained protesters calling for the release of the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on her 63rd birthday."

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."