{"id":86,"date":"2006-10-09T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-09T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godspolitics\/2006\/10\/duane-shank-daily-news-digest-114.html"},"modified":"2006-10-09T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-10-09T12:00:00","slug":"duane-shank-daily-news-digest-114","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/10\/duane-shank-daily-news-digest-114.html","title":{"rendered":"Duane Shank: Daily News Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The latest news on the North Korean nuclear test, Darfur, religion and law, congressional scandal, evangelicals and Rep. Foley, women in politics, Iraq, faith-based foreign aid, and more.<\/p>\n

Sign up to receive our daily news summary via e-mail \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n

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Full news summary:<\/b><\/p>\n

North Korea nuclear test. <\/b>N. Korea Reports 1st Nuclear Arms Test<\/a> \u2013 \u201cNorth Korea said Sunday night that it had set off its first nuclear test, becoming the eighth country in history, and arguably the most unstable and most dangerous, to proclaim that it has joined the club of nuclear weapons states.\u201d N Korea claims nuclear test<\/a> – \u201cThe controlled explosion, carried out at Hwaderi, near the north-eastern city of Kilju, sent shockwaves across the world and escalated tensions in north-east Asia.\u201d Nuclear trial a test for UN<\/a> \u2013 \u201cThe United Nations security council will almost certainly go into emergency session to discuss a resolution imposing severe sanctions against North Korea,\u201d Outcry at N Korea ‘nuclear test’ <\/a> – \u201cJapan and South Korea also condemned the test and even Pyongyang’s closest ally China expressed its “resolute opposition”, calling the move “brazen”. N Korea test a blow to diplomacy <\/a>\u2013 \u201cNorth Korea’s nuclear test has thrown efforts to restrain it into further confusion, presenting particular problems for not just the United States but China as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darfur. <\/b>Arab League offers soldiers for Darfur<\/a> \u2013 \u201cArab countries have launched a new effort to push Sudan toward a compromise over UN peacekeepers for Darfur, offering to dispatch a force of Arab and Muslim troops to the troubled region,\u201d Darfur campaign cuts Sudan money<\/a> – \u201cA campaign in the United States to put pressure on Sudan over its policies in Darfur received a boost this week when California passed laws limiting business links with Sudan’s government.\u201d Sudan Divestment Effort Gains Momentum at State Level<\/a> \u2013 \u201cHouse members are scattering to their home states this week with inconclusive results on the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan, but momentum is growing at the state level for governments to divest public funds from companies, mostly foreign-based, doing business with Khartoum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Religion and law. <\/b>Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights<\/a> \u2013 \u201cLegislators and regulators are not the only people in government who have drafted special rules for religious organizations. Judges, too, have carved out or preserved safe havens that shield religious employers of all faiths from most employee lawsuits, from laws protecting pensions and providing unemployment benefits, and from laws that give employees the right to form unions to negotiate with their employers.\u201d Secular Laws Cede to Religious Exemptions<\/a> \u2013 \u201cIn recent years, many politicians and commentators have cited what they consider a nationwide \u201cwar on religion\u201d that exposes religious organizations to hostility and discrimination. But such organizations \u2014 from mainline Presbyterian and Methodist churches to mosques to synagogues to Hindu temples \u2014 enjoy an abundance of exemptions from regulations and taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politics – Congressional scandal. <\/b><\/strong>In House Races, More G.O.P. Seats Are Seen at Risk<\/a> – \u201cAt least five more Republican Congressional seats are now in serious contention, analysts said Friday, an unwelcome development for Republicans as they begin to confront a political environment further darkened for them by the Congressional page scandal.\u201d GOP Struggles to Shift Focus From Scandal<\/a> \u2013 \u201cMore than a week after Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned from the House over his messages to teenage boys who had served as congressional pages, other Republicans are struggling to get off the defensive and back onto the campaign themes they hoped would help preserve their House and Senate majorities after the midterm elections Nov. 7.\u201d <\/p>\n

Politics. <\/b>A Balancing Act in the Upper South<\/a> – \u201cAcross the upper South, from the Ozark hills to the Virginia Beach suburbs, Democratic candidates in House and Senate races are betting that they can overcome the unpopularity of their party affiliation by shrewdly combining biography, personal style and artful positioning on divisive social issues.\u201d A Political Opportunity for Women<\/a> \u2013 \u201cthis year may prove to be a major breakthrough for women in Congress \u2026 Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a Web page that provides analysis of House and Senate races around the country, is predicting that 2006 could be the best year for women in 14 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Faith and politics. <\/b><\/strong>Evangelicals Blame Foley, Not Republican Party<\/a> – \u201cMost of the evangelical Christians interviewed said that so far they saw Mr. Foley\u2019s behavior as a matter of personal morality, not institutional dysfunction. All said the question of broader responsibility had quickly devolved into a storm of partisan charges and countercharges. And all insisted the episode would have little impact on their intentions to vote.\u201dEnough was enough<\/a> \u2013 \u201cConservative Christians, the vast majority of whom are Republicans, offer multiple reasons for how they coale
\nsced into a political powerhouse in Ohio and nationally during recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iraq. <\/b>U.S. Casualties in Iraq Rise Sharply<\/a> \u2013 \u201cThe number of U.S troops wounded in Iraq has surged to its highest monthly level in nearly two years as American GIs fight block-by-block in Baghdad to try to check a spiral of sectarian violence \u2026 Last month, 776 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq,\u201d<\/p>\n

Exporting faith-<\/b>Boston Globe begins a series on faith-based groups and foreign aid. Part 1. <\/b>Bush brings faith to foreign aid<\/a> \u2013 \u201c President Bush has almost doubled the percentage of US foreign-aid dollars going to faith-based groups such as Food for the Hungry, according to a Globe survey of government data. And in seeking to help such groups obtain more contracts, Bush has systematically eliminated or weakened rules designed to enforce the separation of church and state.\u201d Part 2. Religious right wields clout<\/a> \u2013 \u201cThe pattern of outcry by religious conservatives, followed by accommodation by the administration, has been replicated on numerous occasions at USAID, from personnel decisions to choices of who runs humanitarian programs overseas. In the process, secular groups have seen an overall drop in funding.\u201d CHART: <\/b>USAID contracts with faith-based organizations<\/a> \u2013 \u201cA yearlong Globe survey identified 159 faith-based organizations that received more than $1.7 billion in USAID prime contracts, grants and agreements from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n

Op-Ed. <\/b>‘Family Values’ for All of Us<\/a> – (By E. J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post) – “Family values” is more than a political slogan to be pulled off the shelf at election time. Republicans and conservatives do not have a monopoly on the commitments behind the phrase. For too long liberals have reacted against the idea of family values because they wrongly accepted it as a conservatives-only slogan. And many liberals who lead thoroughly old-fashioned, child-centered, family-oriented lives have not been willing to integrate that fact into the way they talk about policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obituary. <\/b>Buck O\u2019Neil, Negro Leagues Pioneer, Is Dead at 94<\/a><\/u> \u2013 \u201cBuck O\u2019Neil, a star first baseman and manager in the Negro leagues and a pioneering scout and coach in the major leagues who devoted the final decade of his life to chronicling the lost world of black baseball, died Friday night in Kansas City, Mo. He was 94.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest news on the North Korean nuclear test, Darfur, religion and law, congressional scandal, evangelicals and Rep. Foley, women in politics, Iraq, faith-based foreign aid, and more. Sign up to receive our daily news summary via e-mail \u00bb Full news summary: North Korea nuclear test. N. Korea Reports 1st Nuclear Arms Test \u2013 \u201cNorth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDuane Shank: Daily News Digest - God's Politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godspolitics\/2006\/10\/duane-shank-daily-news-digest-114.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Duane Shank: Daily News Digest - God's Politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The latest news on the North Korean nuclear test, Darfur, religion and law, congressional scandal, evangelicals and Rep. 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