NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 14, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Palin's Church Is Badly Damaged by Fire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to ''undeserved negative attention'' from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/13/us/AP-Palin-Church-Fire.html?hp

-Fears of New Ethnic Conflict in Bosnia
Even as Sarajevo is reborn, the prospect of another war is creeping into conversations across the ethnic divide in Bosnia.
By DAN BILEFSKY
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Thirteen years after the United States brokered the Dayton peace agreement to end the ferocious ethnic war in the former Yugoslavia, fears are mounting that Bosnia, poor and divided, is again teetering toward crisis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/world/europe/14bosnia.html?hp


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Pakistan Cites Airspace Breach
Minister Says 'Our Forces Are Alert' After Indian Incursions
By Candace Rondeaux
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 14 -- Pakistan said Indian fighter jets crossed into its airspace Saturday, prompting Pakistan to place its air force on high alert two weeks after India vowed to take strong action against its nuclear-armed rival in the wake of deadly attacks in Mumbai.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/13/AR2008121301311.html?hpid=artslot

-Stimulus Package To First Pay for Routine Repairs
By Alec MacGillis and Michael D. Shear
President-elect Barack Obama calls it "the largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s." New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg compares it to the New Deal -- when workers built hundreds of bridges, dams and parkways -- while saying it could help close the gap with China, where he recently traveled on a Shanghai train at 267 mph.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/13/AR2008121301819.html?hpid=topnews

-TOO YOUNG FOR THIS
They're Having Babies. Are We Helping?
By Patrick Welsh
The girls gather in small groups outside Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School most mornings, standing with their babies on their hips, talking and giggling like sorority sisters. Sometimes their mothers drop the kids (and their kids) off with a carefree smile and a wave. As I watch the girls carry their children into the Tiny Titans day-care center in our new $100 million building, I can't help wondering what Sister Mary Avelina, my 11th-grade English teacher, would have thought.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/12/AR2008121203507.html


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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/us
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Thinking Like a Bull in a Bear Market
Investors face a dilemma: How to proceed when the risk is high for big drops in share prices, but many stocks are at appealing prices for long-term investing.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122920629666104419.html


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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-Cyberbullying or free speech? Now it's a federal case
Michael Mayo | News Columnist
Katie Evans had a tough time concentrating last week. She finished her first round of final exams as a freshman at the University of Florida. And she sued her former high school principal, getting international attention a year after she was suspended for posting an online rant against a teacher at Pembroke Pines Charter High. "The ACLU said this was going to be big," Evans, 18, said Friday. "I thought Sun Sentinel big, not CNN big."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-flbmayocol1214sbdec14,0,3657653.column


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Illinois Is Trying. It Really Is. But the Most Corrupt State Is Actually . . .
By BILL MARSH
Where is officialdom most crooked? Last week, many guessed it must be Illinois, after news that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taped making brazen personal demands in exchange for his selection of a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/weekinreview/14marsh.html?em=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1229270496-zNTGeIYdRxsicjQx7uYo7A

-Emanuel Had Contact With Governor's Office on Senate Seat
By HELENE COOPER and JACKIE CALMES
President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, communicated with the office of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois about potential candidates for Mr. Obama's Senate seat and provided a list of names, according to two Obama associates briefed on the matter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/us/politics/14emanuel.html?partner=MOREOVERNEWS&ei=5040

-Uncertainty on Obama Education Plans
By SAM DILLON
As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to announce his choice for education secretary, there is mystery not only about the person he will choose, but also about the approach to overhauling the nation's schools that his selection will reflect.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/us/politics/14educ.html?_r=1&ref=education


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