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Quote of the Day. "Please make these people understand that it’s cruel to make people wait like this for a health bill that may never come about. I signed for my final check, it was direct-deposited on Tuesday, all that money is going to my rent, and I don’t even have money to buy food." Ann McGilly, a New Jersey resident, received her last unemployment check last week and said she no longer has money to pay for her 17-year-old son’s medication, wondering why the Senate is putting action on health care ahead of extending unemployment benefits. (Washington Times)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

Pope welcomes new US ambassador, prods on right to life issues “Welcoming the new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI outlined wide areas of potential cooperation with the administration of President Barack Obama, but drew a sharp line on the issues of abortion and the rights of conscience.”

And the wall comes tumbling down (Oliver Thomas, USA Today) “In a series of 5-4 decisions, the Supreme Court appears determined to turn Jefferson’s wall of separation between church and state into a picket fence.”

Churches Challenged to Break Silence on Domestic Violence “This month cities, schools and faith-based groups across the country are drawing attention to domestic violence, which some are calling a pandemic.” 

NEWS AT HOME

Health Care. Health Overhaul Is Drawing Close to Floor Debate“With the Senate Finance Committee set to approve its health care bill this week, Democrats are tantalizingly close to bringing legislation that would make sweeping changes in the nation’s health care system to the floor of both houses of Congress.” Obama quietly tries to shore up Senate support for public option “The nation’s governors are emerging as a formidable lobbying force as health-care reform moves through Congress and states overburdened by the recession brace for the daunting prospect of providing coverage to millions of low-income residents.”

Supreme Court. Supreme Court’s new session has court-watchers curious “The U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term today with one new member and with a cavalcade of court-watchers looking for clues to where this group is headed.” New Court Term Hints at Views on Regulating Business “The new Supreme Court term that begins Monday will be dominated by cases concerning corporations, compensation and the financial markets that could signal the justices’ attitude toward regulatory constraints at a time of extraordinary government intervention in the economy.”

Climate Change. Hurdles Remain on Climate Change Goals “That political backlash is one of several reasons why any deal struck two months from now in Copenhagen will at best signal the start of a new global approach to tackling climate change, rather than its successful conclusion.” China accuses rich over climate treaty “The US and other developed countries are attempting to ‘fundamentally sabotage’ the Kyoto protocol and all-important international negotiations over its next phase, according to coordinated statements by China and 130 developing countries at UN climate talks in Bangkok today.”

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Infant Mortality. Early Births Take a Toll, Group Says “Nearly one in 10 of the world’s babies is born premature, and about one million infants die each year as a result, according to a report that is the first attempt to measure a toll that is hidden in much of the world.” $40bn ‘can cut child mortality’ “A British charity has said that just $40 billion – less than half the amount spent of bottled water every year – would be needed to stop millions of children dying needlessly.”

Afghanistan. 8 U.S. Troops Killed in Siege of Afghan Outpost “U.S. commanders had been planning since late last year to abandon the small combat outpost in mountainous eastern Afghanistan where eight U.S. soldiers died Saturday in a fierce insurgent assault.” Attacks on Remote Posts Highlight Afghan Risks  “Insurgents attacked a pair of remote American military bases in Afghanistan over the weekend in a deadly battle that underscored the vulnerability of the kind of isolated bases that the top American commander there wants to scale back.” McChrystal Faulted On Troop Statements “National security adviser James L. Jones suggested Sunday that the public campaign being conducted by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan on behalf of his war strategy is complicating the internal White House review underway, saying that ‘it is better for military advice to come up through the chain of command.’” New Taliban chief meets reporters  “The new head of Pakistan’s Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has met reporters in the country’s north-west, quashing persistent rumours he was dead.”

Pakistan. Blast hits UN office in Pakistan “Five United Nations staff have been killed in a suicide attack on the UN’s World Food Programme offices in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital." Bomb kills five at UN base in Islamabad “A suicide bomber penetrated a highly fortified United Nations office in Islamabad this morning, killing five staff in an explosion that triggered a citywide security alert.”

Iran. Iran ‘co-operation’ draws praise “The US and the UN give upbeat assessments of the possibility of resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.” Iran Agrees to Allow Inspectors on Oct. 25 “The chief of the world’s nuclear inspection agency said during a visit to Tehran on Sunday that the Iranian government had agreed to allow access to a newly disclosed nuclear enrichment facility on Oct. 25.” With Oct. 25 nuclear plant inspection, Iran backs away from confrontation, official says “Saying Iran appeared to be moving away from confrontation with the West, the head of the United Nations nuclear enforcement agency announced Sunday that Tehran had agreed to a date this month for international inspectors to visit what until recently had been a covert underground uranium-enrichment plant.” Black Market Shows Iran Can Adapt to Sanctions “But as the focus on sanctions intensifies, a review of the United States’ experiences in enforcing its own longstanding restrictions on trade with Iran suggests it would be difficult to truly quarantine the Iranian economy.”

Iraq. Iraqis, Americans seeking a new relationship “Advise and assist brigades are at the vanguard of a paradigm shift in the U.S. military’s approach to Iraq, from a combat-focused mission to a tenuous partnership with Iraqi forces – many of whom with ties to factions that have attacked Americans. They are billed as the American future in Iraq.” 

India — Nuclear Weapons. Key Indian Figures Call for New Nuclear Tests Despite Deal With U.S. “A little more than a year after India and the United States signed a historic civilian agreement lifting a 30-year ban on nuclear trade, some former top nuclear scientists here are arguing that India needs to conduct another weapons test.”

Cuba. U.S.-Cuba travel flourishing “Legal travel to and from Cuba is booming, even though the Obama administration has not officially changed any rules regarding nonfamily travel to the island.”

Passing. Award-Winning Singer Mercedes Sosa Dies “Mercedes Sosa, an Argentine singer who emerged as an electrifying voice of conscience throughout Latin America for songs that championed social justice in the face of government repression, died Oct. 4 at a medical clinic in Buenos Aires.” Mercedes Sosa “Mercedes Sosa, the celebrated Argentinian folk singer and political activist, has died of kidney failure, aged 74. Sosa possessed a deep, alto voice, a strong sense of conviction and had a warm, engaging persona. Combined, these qualities helped to make her one of the few Latin American musicians who could, across five decades, command a wide international audience.”

OPINION

Obama Right to Weigh Afghanistan Options (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post) “At a White House dinner with a group of historians at the beginning of the summer, Robert Dallek, a shrewd student of both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, offered a chilling comment to President Obama. ‘In my judgment,’ he recalls saying, ‘war kills off great reform movements.’"

Iran’s nukes in exchange for peace (Akiva Eldar, Haaretz) “One of the best-known sayings bandied about in this region is that "Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East." This has been the official position of successive Israeli governments. What is less known is that after a comprehensive, regional peace agreement is reached, Israel will support a regional decommissioning of nuclear weapons.”

Sojourners’ Daily Digest is a compilation of the top news related to our commitments of life and peace, economic and racial justice, and care of creation, with a special focus on news of the engagement of faith in public life.