The latest news on Israel-Gaza, Deficits, Congressional Black Caucus, State Budget, Unemployment, Teen Birth Rates, "God on the Go," Ghana, and India-Pakistan. | Sojourners

The latest news on Israel-Gaza, Deficits, Congressional Black Caucus, State Budget, Unemployment, Teen Birth Rates, "God on the Go," Ghana, and India-Pakistan.

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Israel-Gaza. Israel accepts truce 'principles' "Israel says it has agreed on the principles of a truce plan, raising hopes of an end to the violent conflict in the Gaza Strip." Clashes resume in Gaza City after 3-hour humanitarian truce "Clashes between Israel Defense Forces, troops, and Palestinian gunmen resumed in Gaza City on Wednesday afternoon, after the expiration of a three-hour truce to allow in humanitarian aid." Hostilities resume in Gaza after three-hour pause "Israel today gave a guarded welcome to a French and Egyptian plan to end the fighting in Gaza, as clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas resumed after a three-hour truce to allow humanitarian aid to reach trapped civilians." Mideast Mediators Seek Anti-Tunnel Plan "The biggest hurdle to winning a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, according to diplomats and Israeli military officials, is a problem that has bedeviled Israel for years: how to stop Hamas from digging tunnels into Egypt in order to bring tons of rockets and other weaponry into Gaza." Gaza school hit; dozens dead "An Israeli mortar strike that killed about 40 Palestinians sheltering in a U.N. school Tuesday brought new urgency to diplomatic efforts to end Israel's military onslaught in the Gaza Strip, as the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the crisis." Unintended Consequences Pose Risks for Mideast Policy "President-elect Barack Obama will inherit a perilous situation in the Middle East, with Israel under increasing pressure to halt its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, key Arab leaders close to the United States greatly weakened and the Hamas militant group earning resurgent popularity in the region."

Deficits. Obama Warns of Prospect for Trillion-Dollar Deficits "President-elect Barack Obama braced Americans for the unparalleled prospect of 'trillion-dollar deficits for years to come,' a stark assessment of the budgetary outlook that he said would force his administration to impose tighter fiscal discipline on the government." Obama Predicts Years of Deficits Over $1 Trillion "Slowing tax revenues and a historic bailout of the U.S. financial system will send the budget deficit soaring toward $1 trillion this year, President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday, and the red ink stands to get substantially deeper if Obama wins approval of a massive economic stimulus plan."

Congressional Black Caucus. Congressional Black Caucus Assesses Its Role Under a Black President "... the contested appointment of Roland W. Burris to fill the Illinois Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama has added further discomfort to an already rough period for the Black Caucus." Senators Turn Burris Away at Capitol "Blocked from claiming a Senate seat, a man who once said his success in politics was the result of 'divine intervention' stood outside the Capitol yesterday and declared: 'Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the state of Illinois.'"

State budget. Budget crisis getting worse, Florida lawmakers are told "Senate President Jeff Atwater opened the two-week budget-cutting session with a list of 'sobering statistics' that show Florida with a record number of home foreclosures, food stamp recipients and job losses that are placing more demands on state services, sending the budget deeper into the red."

Unemployment. Ailing economy prompts U.S. national guardsmen to extend tours of duty "With uncertainty at home, some are doing what they once considered unthinkable: extending their tours. They say that they'd rather tackle a resurgent Taliban than a struggling economy." State unemployment claim systems overwhelmed "Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days amid an unprecedented crush of thousands of newly jobless Americans seeking benefits, and other states were adjusting their systems to avoid being next." Jobless system fried "Ohioans' post-holiday demand for jobless benefits has spiked sharply, crashing the state's unemployment-claims system and forcing people to wait hours, sometimes days, before getting help."

Teen birth rates. After long decline, U.S. teen birth rates rise again "U.S. teen birth rates rose sharply in 2006, according to figures released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ending a welcome 14-year decline."

"God on the go." A closer, faster walk with thee "The American style of worship, like everything else in people's overloaded lives, is speeding up. This hurried search for the Almighty partly explains the rise of a niche industry of books, DVDs, podcasts, text messages and e-mail blasts that distill the essentials of faith, from creation to the crucifixion"

Ghana. Ghana's new leader takes office "John Atta Mills has been sworn in as Ghana's new president following a cliff-hanger election victory."

India-Pakistan. Pakistan rejects India 'propaganda' "Pakistan has rejected as 'propaganda' comments by India's prime minister that Pakistani authorities must have know about and supported last November's deadly attacks in Mumbai." Pakistan acknowledges surviving Mumbai gunman is a Pakistani "Breaking weeks of silence on a highly sensitive subject, Pakistani authorities acknowledged for the first time today that the lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks is a Pakistani national."