The latest news on Mid Atlantic Blizzard-Round 2, Health Care, Immigration, Haiti, Afghanistan, Japan-US Nuclear Weapons, and Select Op-Eds.

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Quote of the Day. "Public sentiment is negative. It is my duty to adopt a cautious, precautionary, principle-based approach ... [to establish] the safety of the product from the point of view of its long-term impact on human health and [the] environment." Jairam Ramesh, Environment Minister of India on a decision to defer the commercial cultivation of what would have been its first genetically modified (GM) vegetable crop. (BBC)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

Legal team in Haiti kidnap case says accused acted with 'heart' "Newly appointed lawyers for the U.S. missionaries accused of child trafficking emerged from a court hearing Monday and said their clients violated no laws when they tried to rescue 33 Haitian children."

Ecumenical Leader Lauds G7 for Canceling Haiti's Debt "In a letter Monday to the finance minister of Canada, the Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said he shared the same deep concern for the people affected by the devastating quake in Haiti and thus welcomes G7's decision."

Church of England withdraws from India mining project "The Church of England has said that it will withdraw investment from a firm involved in a controversial mining project in the Indian state of Orissa. In a statement released on Friday, the church said that it was not satisfied that the company, Vedanta, has shown enough respect for human rights."

String of Texas church arsons worries congregations "Eight Texas churches barely 150 miles apart have caught fire since New Year's Day, putting pastors and congregations on edge and on guard wondering whether theirs is next."

NEWS AT HOME

Mid Atlantic Blizzard-Round 2. Region rushes to prepare for another shot of winter weather "Snowplow crews were ordered to continue working round-the-clock to open thousands of untouched neighborhood streets before turning to meet an ominous new winter storm on Tuesday." East Coast Braces for Another Big Storm "The second major snowstorm in less than a week was churning towards Washington and New York on Tuesday, set to dump a foot or more of snow onto parts of the Mid-Atlantic where residents and work crews are still digging out from an epic snowstorm over the weekend."

Health Care. Republicans may opt out of Obama's health-care summit "Leading House Republicans raised the prospect Monday night that they may decline to participate in President Obama's proposed health-care summit if the White House chooses not to scrap the existing reform bills and start over." Obama health summit sets up a showdown "President Obama's call for a televised bipartisan meeting to discuss stalled healthcare legislation comes as his party unfolds a strategy to force Republicans to put policy ideas on the table that Democrats believe they can exploit in the fall elections." On Health Bill, G.O.P.'s Road Is a New Map "When Republicans take President Obama up on his invitation to hash out their differences over health care this month, they will carry with them a fairly well-developed set of ideas intended to make health insurance more widely available and affordable, by emphasizing tax incentives and state innovations, 'with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net.'"

Immigration. Despite dim prospects, advocates push for immigration bill "As President Obama vows to refocus Democrats' attention on jobs and the economy, advocates for overhauling the nation's immigration laws say they are still gearing up for a battle in the Senate in coming weeks, despite fading hopes for victory." Latinos say their votes could tip 40 congressional races "Failing to overhaul the nation's immigration system, currently a backburner issue for Congress and President Barack Obama, could play a pivotal role in key mid-term election races in November, according to a new study on Latino voting patterns."

Passing-Rep. John Murtha. Representative John P. Murtha Dies at 77; Ex-Marine Was Iraq War Critic "Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, a gruff ex-Marine who used his immense power in military spending to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to his hard-luck district and who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, died on Monday." John Murtha dies at 77; Pennsylvania Democrat forcefully opposed Iraq war in Congress "John Murtha, the Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania and decorated former Marine whose fierce opposition to the Iraq war helped catalyze public sentiment against the conflict, died Monday."

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Haiti. Haiti earthquake relief efforts are still falling short "Nearly one month after a powerful earthquake brought this country to a halt, Haiti is tumbling headlong through a crisis that has not begun to abate, with evidence everywhere that current relief efforts are falling short." Paperwork Hinders Airlifts of Ill Haitian Children "Private medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian children to the United States for treatment have largely stopped because aid workers, doctors and government officials are worried about being accused of kidnapping if they transport the children without first getting paperwork that is slow to arrive or is unavailable."

Afghanistan. Afghan drug capital is U.S. target in coming offensive "The U.S.-led offensive that's expected to start soon in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province will be a battle not only against the Taliban but also against an insurgent-backed narcotics trade that provides a livelihood for thousands of residents." Marines focus on civilian safety in Afghanistan "Heading into battle to seize a Taliban stronghold, U.S. Marines are keenly aware of one factor that could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: Afghan civilian casualties." Refugees flee as Nato Afghan offensive looms "As British troops count the hours until the start of the largest Nato offensive since the US-led invasion of 2001, Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, is witnessing the arrival of a grim procession of frightened refugees desperate to escape the battle." Gates quietly draws more allied troops for Afghanistan effort "Rather than twisting arms for more forces, Gates' mission has become more subtle, aimed at fine-tuning the mix of allied troops and emphasizing the need for trainers to upgrade Afghanistan's security forces."

Iran. Iran 'begins advanced enrichment' "Iran has begun enriching uranium to a purity level of 20 percent to produce a higher grade of nuclear fuel." Iran 'enriching higher grade uranium' "The US and France led calls for what would be a fourth, broader set of punitive UN security council sanctions. A senior politician in Russia, which in the past has urged talks rather than punishment, also said economic measures should be considered." Iran plans to build 10 more nuclear plants "As Iran moved to enrich uranium to a higher level of purity and build new nuclear-fuel plants, U.S. and French defense officials suggested Monday that sanctions were needed to force Tehran to curb its nuclear program." Analysis: Iranian plan will put nation a step closer to having material for bomb "Iran's formal notification Monday to a United Nations nuclear watchdog that it will begin producing higher-grade enriched uranium marks a new and potentially dangerous turn in Tehran's confrontation with the West over its nuclear ambitions."

Costa Rica Election. Costa Rica election win for Chinchilla shows women's rise in Latin America "Laura Chinchilla won the Costa Rica election Sunday. She'll be the country's first woman president, echoing a trend across Latin America where women are being voted into high-level political office in record numbers."

Japan-US Nuclear Weapons. Japanese Split on Exposing Secret Pacts With U.S. "They were Tokyo's worst-kept diplomatic secrets: clandestine cold war era agreements with Washington that obligated Japan to shoulder the costs of United States bases and allow nuclear-armed American ships to sail into Japanese ports."

OPINION

The Worst of the Pain (Bob Herbert, New York Times) "While there is now, finally, a great deal of talk among the politicians and in the news media about unemployment, there is still almost a willful refusal to focus on just who is suffering the most from joblessness and underemployment.

No good news for blacks in latest jobless numbers (DeWayne Wickham, USA Today) "While the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined in January for whites and Hispanics, it went up three-tenths of a percentage point for blacks. Even more worrisome, the jobless rate for black men 20 and older rose a full percentage point to 17.6%."

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.