The latest news on Jobs Bill, Financial Reform, Health Care, Campaign Spending, Single Mother Spared Court Martial, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel-Palestine, and Select Op-Eds.

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Quote of the Day. "We are extremely grateful for the U.S. government response to Haiti, but that doesn't mean the needs in other crisis-affected regions are going to go away." Lisa Kuennen-Asfaw, spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, expressing concern that U.S. government funding for earthquake relief in Haiti will mean cuts for programs in other parts of the world. (Washington Post)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

Haiti judge says missionaries should be freed "The judge presiding over the case of 10 American missionaries accused of kidnapping Haitian children has requested that they be freed."

Canada's Housing Agency Approves Islamic Mortgages "A report for Canada's national housing agency says Shariah-compliant mortgages would pose no legal problems. Neither would other Islamic financial products, states the 88-page study, done for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp."

NEWS AT HOME

Jobs Bill. Reid plans to push pared-down bill designed to create jobs "Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday that his chamber would move quickly to pass four popular provisions aimed at creating jobs, potentially with the bipartisan backing that has proven elusive in recent months." Deal on Jobs Shows Limits of Push for Bipartisanship "Key Democrats and Republicans in the Senate reached a rare bipartisan agreement on Thursday on steps to spur job creation. But Democratic leaders said they would move ahead on only some elements as the two parties maneuvered to address both the struggling economy and voter unrest over gridlock in Washington." Reid's about-face stuns Dems, W.H. "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led colleagues and the White House to believe he supported a bipartisan jobs bill -- only to scuttle the plan as soon as it was released Thursday over concerns it could be used to batter Democratic incumbents, according to Senate sources."

Women and Unemployment. Education Gains Shield Women From Worst of Job Woes "Steady increases among women with college degrees over the past two decades apparently have paid off during the recession, with government statistics showing they fared better than men over the past year, and for the first time surpassed the number of men holding payroll jobs."

Financial Reform. Dodd, Corker to work together on financial reform "The marbled hallways of the Russell Senate Office Building were silent and empty Wednesday afternoon when a veteran Democrat and a freshman Republican met to plan their unlikely partnership." Republican Breaks Ranks on Finance Bill "Republican Sen. Bob Corker bucked his party Thursday and began negotiations with Democrats on overhauling financial regulation." Senate Renews Bipartisan Talks on Overhaul of Financial Rules "The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said Thursday that talks over a bipartisan bill to overhaul the nation's financial regulations had resumed, but the outcome of a major point of contention -- whether to create an independent consumer agency to regulate financial products like credit cards and mortgages -- remained unclear."

Health Care. Lawmakers gear up for healthcare summit meeting "President Obama and members of Congress are scheduled to meet Feb. 25 to work toward a bipartisan agreement on healthcare. But Republicans say prior legislative work should be scrapped, and meanwhile this year's elections are fast approaching." Health summit puts spotlight on GOP "The nationally televised event gives the GOP a venue to accomplish something it hasn't been able to do since President Barack Obama took the oath of office: Sell voters on Republican solutions to big problems."

Campaign Spending. Democrats Try to Rebuild Campaign-Spending Barriers "Congressional Democrats outlined legislation Thursday aimed at undoing a recent Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and interest groups to spend freely on political advertising." Congress pushes back against Supreme Court ruling on corporate spending "Democrats on Capitol Hill unveiled a legislative counterattack Thursday against a sweeping Supreme Court ruling that they say will lead to uncontrolled spending by corporations seeking to influence elections."

Immigration. New Guest-Worker Rules Seek to Increase Wages "Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced new rules on Thursday for the temporary immigrant farm workers program, saying they would raise wages and strengthen labor protections for foreign and American workers."

Single Mother Spared Court Martial. Single Mother Is Spared Court-Martial "Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a 21-year-old Army cook and single parent, was days from deploying to Afghanistan last fall when her mother backed out of an agreement to take care of her 10-month-old son for the duration of her one-year tour."

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Haiti. Haiti's Grand-Rue struggles to recover after quake "As long as anyone can remember, the Grand-Rue was the commercial heart of Haiti, a string of stores in the center of Port-au-Prince beating to the rhythm of a people for whom scraping by was the main national industry." One month on, Haiti pauses to mourn the dead "One month after the earthquake that killed an estimated 230,000 people, Haiti honoured its dead with a national day of mourning today."

Afghanistan. Afghans Try to Reassure Tribal Elders on Offensive "With a military operation looming, Afghan leaders met Thursday with tribal elders from the southern city of Marja to tell them that, indeed, government and NATO forces would soon rid the area of Taliban fighters and that Afghan police officers and soldiers would stay behind after the fighting was over."

Iran. Iranian regime muzzles opposition "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a defiant note today as Iran's Islamic regime celebrated the anniversary of the 1979 revolution with a major security clampdown and huge official rallies that dealt a grave blow to supporters of the opposition Green movement." Iranian regime ships in support for celebrations "The Iranian regime thwarted Opposition plans to hijack the 31st anniversary celebrations of the Islamic revolution yesterday by shipping in tens of thousands of supporters and violently suppressing anti-government protests."

Iraq. Iraq election campaign under way "Campaigning for the election in Iraq is getting under way amid a continuing row over the ban on scores of candidates."

Israel-Palestine. Israel begins rerouting West Bank barrier "The Israeli military has begun rerouting a hotly disputed section of the West Bank security barrier, marking a victory for Palestinians who fought for five years to win back access to their land."

OPINION

How Not to Write a Jobs Bill (Editorial, New York Times) "The jobs bill emerging in the Senate is pathetic, both as a response to joblessness and as an example of legislation deemed capable of winning bipartisan support."

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.