Immigration. Immigration enforcement officials said Thursday that they were expanding a program for auditing companies that might have hired illegal immigrants and had notified 1,000 companies this week that they would have to undergo such a review.

Afghanistan. The United States is developing a set of benchmarks to ensure that Afghan President Hamid Karzai keeps a promise delivered at his inauguration to fight corruption and inefficiency.

Quote of the Day. “The State Duma hasn’t yet ratified the protocol banning capital punishment because many in Russia support the death penalty. The society needs more time to ban the death penalty. But the government structures support a ban on capital punishment.” Mikhail Krotov, Russian President Medvedev’s envoy to the Constitutional Court, on a decision by the Constitutional Court that effectively outlawed the death penalty by continuing a moratorium until the nation fully bans executions. (AP/Boston Globe)

Health Care. Democratic leaders in the Senate on Wednesday unveiled their proposal for overhauling the health care system, outlining legislation that they said would cover most of the uninsured while reducing the federal budget deficit.

Cuba Policy. A battle over Cuba policy is escalating in Congress, with proponents saying they have their best chance in years of repealing the ban on U.S. tourist travel to the island.

Quote of the Day. "Thanksgiving is coming, and many Americans are struggling to meet their basic food needs. Being thankful is not enough this year. Christians need to say thanks and seek justice for those at risk of hunger." Robert Parham of the Baptist Center for Ethics on this week’s USDA report that 17 million households -- 14.6 percent of all homes in the United States -- were "food insecure." (Associated Baptist Press)

Jerusalem. The Israeli construction of 900 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem is part of a "routine building programme," an aide to the prime minister has said in reaction to U.S. criticism.

Climate Change Legislation. Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would put off debate on a big climate-change bill until spring, in a sign of weakening political will to tackle a long-term environmental issue at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty.

Quote of the Day. “For us, it was very important to receive the support of the universities. We are impressed by the social conscience of the students in the United States.”   Moises Alvarado, president of the union at a closed plant in Choloma, Honduras, after a succcessful campaign by United Students Against Sweatshops persuaded Russell Athletic to agree to reopen the plant and rehire 1,200 workers. (New York Times)

El Salvador. In a sign of the remarkable changes afoot in El Salvador, the government Monday bestowed the nation's highest award on six Jesuit priests slain by the army exactly 20 years ago.

Mammogram Guidelines. A government panel's recommendation Monday that women under the age of 50 do not need regular mammograms set off a furious debate about the importance of the routine screening tool, leaving many women confused about how best to protect their health.

Quote of the Day. “There used to be a lot of racial tension here, but everybody knows that we need each other to survive this recession. People now, they seem to be starting to care for one another.”  Eugene Edwards, president of the Henry County (GA) branch of the NAACP, on blacks and whites finding each other in waiting rooms of the welfare office and at the food pantry. (New York Times)

U.N. Food Summit. World leaders at a United Nations food summit in Rome today agreed a strategy to help the world's one billion starving people by increasing aid to farmers in developing countries -- but failed to pledge the specific funds the U.N. had hoped for.

Kevin Rudd. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology for child migrant programs that forcibly brought an estimated 150,000 British youngsters to the Commonwealth.

Quote of the Day. “We have an obligation to help them. They’re our sons. It doesn’t matter if they are here or there.” Javier Avendano, a farmer in Miahuatlán, Mexico, sends money when he can to his two sons -- immigrants who wait tables in central Florida and have seen their hours cut back and their tips drop sharply. (New York Times)

Swine Flu. About 22 million Americans have become ill with pandemic H1N1 influenza in the past six months and 3,900 have died, according to new estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overdraft Penalties. The Federal Reserve will begin banning banks from charging many overdraft fees unless customers sign up for the service, an unprecedented move that comes as a wave of consumer reform sweeps Washington.

Quote of the Day. “You don’t steal from yourself.”  Ataullah, a farmer in the Jurm Valley of Afghanistan, describing the success of his region's method of using village councils and direct grants to avoid the corruption that has frustrated so many development efforts. (New York Times)

Japan. President Obama’s visit to Tokyo on Friday will come at a time when relations with Japan are strained.

Job Summit. Before leaving for Asia, the president will disclose plans for a December event to highlight efforts to turn around the economy.

Honduras. A U.S.-brokered accord that was supposed to return ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power has collapsed. And his supporters, who have been organizing street protests against his successor, are down to their final card: calling on Hondurans to boycott upcoming elections.

DC Sniper Executed. John Allen Muhammad, the sniper who kept the Washington region paralyzed by fear for three weeks as he and a young accomplice gunned down people at random, was executed Tuesday night by lethal injection.

Quote of the Day. "There's a level of responsibility that's involved, like having a little baby. It compels you to extend yourself and not think only of yourself. I have to think about him first." Eric Jenkins, a New York state prison inmate, speaking of a puppy he’s working with through the “Puppies Behind Bars” program in which inmates train dogs to work with disabled veterans.  (USA Today)

Health Care & Abortion. President Obama suggested Monday that he was not comfortable with abortion restrictions inserted into the House version of major health-care legislation, and he prodded Congress to revise them.

Afghanistan. Afghanistan's president has come out fighting against calls by the U.S. to crack down on corruption, arguing that his government is not solely to blame and saying that the West is in his country only for its own ends.

Quote of the Day. "Our stitching was perfection. So I never thought we'd lose our jobs to China. But we did. We did. Now what is everyone supposed to do?"  Geraldine Ritch, 62, in western North Carolina, where the unemployment rate is now 15% as jobs have been shipped overseas. (Washington Post)

Nuclear Treaty. After months of negotiations with Russia, Obama administration officials are hopeful about a breakthrough -- possibly this week -- that would enable the two sides to sign a successor to their most extensive nuclear weapons treaty before it expires Dec. 5.

Afghanistan Policy. Advisers to President Obama are preparing three options for escalating the war effort in Afghanistan, all of them calling for more American troops, as he moves closer to a decision on the way forward in the eight-year-old war.

Quote of the Day. "This is not just a day of celebration for Germans. This is a day of celebration for the whole of Europe; this is a day of celebration for all those people who have more freedom." German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a ceremony in Berlin marking the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (Associated Press) 

AIDS Funding. Slowed funding from international donors, including the United States, is imperiling recent dramatic gains in treating AIDS patients in the developing world, according to a new report.

Unemployment. More than one in 10 members of the American workforce were unable to get a job in October, the Labor Department said Friday, the first time in nearly three decades that the unemployment rate has soared into double digits.

Quote of the Day. “Winning and losing is part of the game. From the time you start playing, you understand that at the end of the season only one can win and it’s not always going to be you. They won. Congratulations.” Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies on the World Series won by the New York Yankees. (New York Times)

Honduras. The panel overseeing a deal to end the four month political crisis in Honduras has said that Roberto Micheletti, the country's interim president, will stand down although it has not given details as to when.

Faith Leaders & Climate Change. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged religious leaders on Tuesday to push their governments to take bolder action on climate change at a key U.N. summit next month.

Quote of the Day. "This decision sends a clear message to all governments that even in the fight against terrorism you can't forsake the basic rights of our democracies." Armando Spataro, deputy public prosecutor in Milan, Italy, after an Italian court convicted 22 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force colonel on kidnapping charges for the U.S. government's long-standing practice of covertly seizing terrorism suspects abroad without a warrant. (Washington Post)

Burma. Barack Obama's policy of engagement with Burma made modest progress today after the detained democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, made a rare exit from the home that has been her prison for much of the past 14 years to meet senior US officials.

Premature Births. High rates of premature birth are the main reason the United States has higher infant mortality than do many other rich countries, government researchers reported Tuesday in their first detailed analysis of a longstanding problem.

Quote of the Day. "Nonviolence is our most powerful weapon. If they cannot accuse us of terrorism, they cannot stop us. The world will support us." Mohammed Khatib, secretary of the Bilin, West Bank, village council, referred to as “a modern-day Gandhi in a culture that enshrines the language of the gun.” (Los Angeles Times)

Malaria Vaccine. Scientists in Africa have begun trials of a malaria vaccine which, if successful, could save millions of lives on the continent and around the world. Developed through two decades of research, the Mosquirix vaccine -- also known as RDS,S -- is being tested in Africa's biggest ever clinical trial, spanning seven nations, and involving some 16,000 children.

Global Warming. Global warming will force up to 150 million "climate refugees" to move to other countries in the next 40 years, a new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) warns.

Quote of the Day. "It was pointed out that the name of the NAACP is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. That confuses folks sometimes. As they say, colored people come in all colors. No one should be denied the right to vote in this country -- period." Benjamin Todd Jealous, national president of the NAACP, speaking to a mostly white NAACP chapter in the Maine State Prison. (Washington Post)

Civil Rights. Now Bernice King, the youngest child of Martin Luther King, has a new mission: to revitalise the civil rights organization co-founded by her father as the first woman to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Latin America Arms Sales. Whether it's called an "arms race" or a "coincidental modernization" of existing stocks, a wave of weapons purchases by Latin American nations is causing neighbors to watch each other with growing mistrust and fear.

Quote of the Day. “After all, I’m a soldier, I’m an NCO, I’m a problem solver. What’s it going to look like if I can’t get things straight in my head?” Vivienne Pacquette, retired noncommissioned officer who served two tours in Iraq, explaining why women with post-traumatic stress disorder often choose isolation over embarrassment. (New York Times)

Health Care. After six months of dealmaking, House Democratic leaders introduced a health-care reform bill Thursday that would expand coverage to almost all Americans and overhaul the insurance industry while asking the wealthiest taxpayers to pay much of the tab.

Iran. Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough over Iran's nuclear program were dwindling tonight after Tehran demanded changes to a uranium exchange deal that European diplomats described as "unacceptable."

Quote of the Day. “You get a real sense of the gravity when you see the faces of those who are there to greet their loved ones. You can see the genuine anguish on their faces. It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by what you see.” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, accompanying President Obama to Dover, Delaware, to meet with the families of war casualties. (New York Times)

Hate Crimes. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation, a milestone that activists compared to the passage of 1960s civil-rights legislation empowering blacks.

Afghanistan. The deaths of five U.N. employees in a Taliban assault on a Kabul guesthouse Wednesday is forcing the world body and humanitarian agencies to reevaluate the way they operate in Afghanistan, officials said, putting at risk programs aimed at helping millions of people and stabilizing the war-torn country.

Quote of the Day. “I could never admit to something I didn’t do. I realized that if I was going to die in prison because of saying I’m innocent, well that was what was going to happen.” Dewey Bozella, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., released from prison after 26 years, when his conviction was overturned. (New York Times)

African Union. African Union members could soon be obliged to help and protect millions of citizens uprooted by conflict and natural disasters, after the body agreed a convention on internally displaced people.

Afghanistan. October became the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan when two bombs killed eight soldiers and an interpreter in separate attacks Tuesday.

Quote of the Day. “I liken myself to the old woman who lives in a shoe. The seams are tearing, and people are just popping out all over.” Mary L. Fifield, the president of a Boston community college, on the surge in enrollments at community colleges, including a large number of recent high school graduates who can’t afford four-year colleges due to the recession. (New York Times)

Trafficking. Recent raids are the latest in a long-running effort, Operation Cross Country, aimed at child prostitution rings around the country. Almost 1,600 agents and officers took part in the raids, which led to federal and state charges against a total of 691 suspects.

Iran.  High-ranking Iranian officials appear divided over a draft proposal with the United States and other countries that would transfer the bulk of the Islamic republic's enriched uranium stockpile out of the country.

Quote of the Day. “When the starting gun sounded on the clean energy race, the United States stumbled.”  U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, encouraging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to craft an ambitious climate change bill. (New York Times)

Faith. “Pope Benedict XVI ended a three-week Vatican meeting on Africa on Sunday with a call for peace and reconciliation among all people on the continent, regardless of ethnic and religious differences.”

Iraq. Twin car bombs that devastated three government buildings and killed 132 people Sunday underlined a new strategy in Iraq's contest for power ahead of January elections: spectacular blows aimed at destroying faith in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ability to secure the country as the United States withdraws.

Quote of the Day. “I’m just tired of it all, and I don’t want to be in my house anymore. One month there is money, and the next month there is none. One day, she is taking it out on me and hitting me, and the next day she is ignoring me. It’s more stable out here.” Betty Snyder, 14, explaining why she has joined the growing number of teenage runaways caused by the recession now living on the streets. (New York Times)