The latest news on Israel-Gaza, Economic Stimulus, Senate, Politics of Race, Churches in the News, Panetta to be CIA Director, Environment, Darfur, Kenya, Venezuela, and Select Op-eds. | Sojourners

The latest news on Israel-Gaza, Economic Stimulus, Senate, Politics of Race, Churches in the News, Panetta to be CIA Director, Environment, Darfur, Kenya, Venezuela, and Select Op-eds.

Sign up to receive our daily news summary via e-mail »

Israel-Gaza. Israel widens Gaza ground offensive "The Israeli military appears to be broadening its assault on the Gaza Strip as heavy artillery fire is reported from the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis." Israel Deepens Gaza Incursion as Toll Mounts "Israeli troops commandeered high-rise buildings in three eastern districts of Gaza City, expelling residents and shooting militants in the streets in their furious effort to break Hamas's fighting ability." Airstrike kills 3 at Gaza school U.N. using as refugee center "U.N. officials said an Israeli strike directly hit the elementary school compound where more than 400 Palestinians had come to escape fighting in northern Gaza, and which was clearly marked as a U.N. installation." Gaza clashes spark 'major crisis' "The Gaza Strip faces a 'full-blown humanitarian crisis,' the Red Cross says, after 10 days of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants." Sarkozy leads pressure on Israel "Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, today led intensifying international efforts to force a ceasefire in Gaza, despite Israel insisting it was not yet ready to call a halt to its eight-day offensive." Israel Is On Its Way To Reoccupying All Of The Gaza Strip "The way events played out yesterday did not stir the political leadership into thinking of stopping the ground offensive and moving toward a cease-fire. On the contrary, Israel is moving toward a decision to occupy the whole Gaza Strip."

Economic stimulus. Obama Pitches Stimulus Plan "President-elect Barack Obama arrived on Capitol Hill yesterday and immediately set to work reassuring skeptical Republicans about his massive economic stimulus package." Obama Seeks Wide Support in Congress for Stimulus "Two weeks before assuming power, President-elect Barack Obama took his economic recovery package to Capitol Hill on Monday and worked to build a bipartisan coalition to endorse his plan of tax cuts and new spending with an urgent appeal 'to break the momentum of this recession.'" Obama aims for quick economic stimulus, bipartisan support "In pursuit of his twin goals of reviving the economy and transforming the political climate in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama not only wants quick congressional action on his mammoth stimulus package but also wants significant numbers of Republicans to join in voting for it."

Senate. Senate showdown, subpoena "Roland Burris and Democratic Party leaders headed toward a symbolic showdown at the door of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday as the former Illinois attorney general presses his claim to a disputed seat." Early Hurdle in Senate Confronts Illinois Pick "Senate officials rejected credentials offered on behalf of Roland W. Burris, who nonetheless planned to arrive at the Capitol on Tuesday to be sworn in as the new junior senator from Illinois." Democrat Is Winner in Recount of Minnesota Senate Race "Al Franken, the comedian who became a Democratic pundit and then a politician, won November's election for the United States Senate by 225 votes out of 2.9 million cast, according to the finally completed recount results certified on Monday by the state's independent canvassing board."

Politics of race. Obama's election is changing the politics of race "But the Burris episode has unexpectedly become the first example of how racial politics have changed with the election of Barack Obama to the White House."

Churches in the news. Activist D.C. Church Embraces Transition in Name of Its Mission "The Church of the Saviour was never a conventional church. It has no pews, no Sunday school, not even a Christmas service. Instead, for 60 years this small, unusual group based in Northwest Washington has quietly fueled a revolution in faith-based activism." Barack Obama's former church sees better days ahead in wake of election storms "At the peak of controversy swirling around Trinity United Church of Christ last year, Rev. Otis Moss III faced criticism and death threats, questioned God's plan and even weighed whether he should leave."

Panetta to be CIA Director. Panetta Chosen as CIA Chief in Surprise Step "Leon E. Panetta, a former congressman and White House chief of staff, has been selected by President-elect Barack Obama to head the Central Intelligence Agency." Panetta a surprise pick to run the CIA "In choosing Leon E. Panetta to be the next CIA director, President-elect Barack Obama appears to have concluded that a spy chief who understands politics may be better equipped to carry out the incoming administration's national security agenda than one who understands espionage."

Environment. Bush to create three marine monuments "President Bush will create three national monuments in the Pacific Ocean today, protecting waters near U.S.-controlled islands that contain some of the world's richest diversity of corals, fish and other sea life as well as unusual geological formations in the deepest undersea trench." Bush moves to protect deepest reaches of Pacific Ocean "President George W. Bush on Tuesday will create three new marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean to protect the deepest place on Earth, some of the last pristine corals and sanctuaries for vanishing marine species."

Darfur. U.S. Sending Emergency Aid to Darfur "With just 15 days left in office, President Bush announced that he had ordered an immediate airlift to deliver vehicles and equipment to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan to bolster a struggling international peacekeeping effort there." White House Defends Efforts in Darfur, Plans to Airlift Equipment Into Region "The Bush administration yesterday strongly defended U.S. efforts to stop the killing in Darfur, announcing new plans to airlift equipment to the strife-torn region of Sudan and arguing that President Bush has been a leader in attempting to end the violence there."

Kenya. Kenya's prime minister looks back on 2008 violence, and with hope at 2009 "In an interview last week with The Times in the coastal resort of Diani Beach, Odinga spoke about the legacy of last year's violence, why reforms haven't moved faster, the difficulties in sharing power with his former rival and how the election of President-elect Barack Obama will affect U.S.-Kenyan relations."

Venezuela. Citizens Energy giveaway imperiled as Venezuela halts its oil donations "Joseph P. Kennedy II, the president of Citizens Energy Corp., said yesterday the Venezuelan oil company Citgo Petroleum Corp. has suspended contributions to the Boston nonprofit's program that provides free heating oil to 200,000 low-income residents and Native American tribes in 23 states, including Massachusetts." Venezuela Suspends Heating Aid to the U.S. "Venezuela's national oil company is suspending a program that provides discounted heating oil to poor communities in the United States, as officials here struggle to find ways of preserving hard currency reserves amid a plunge in oil revenues." Venezuela's Chavez shuts off free oil program for U.S. "Monday's announcement was among the first of many measures that are expected in the coming months as Chavez's oil-dependent government tries to eliminate programs that don't benefit Venezuela's poor, following a global price drop from $147 a barrel in July to $48 now."

Opinion. The Afghan Quagmire (Bob Herbert, New York Times) "What Mr. Obama doesn't need, and what the U.S. cannot under any circumstances afford, is any more unnecessary warfare. And yet, while we haven't even figured out how to extricate ourselves from the disaster in Iraq, Mr. Obama is planning to commit thousands of additional American troops to the war in Afghanistan, which is already more than seven years old and which long ago turned into a quagmire."