the latest news on SCHIP, Tax policy, Kerry on faith and politics, Iraq, Iran, Crack sentencing, Turkey, Darfur, UN-global poverty, UN-nuclear weapons, and selected Op-Eds.

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SCHIP. Congress Passes Kids Health Bill _ Again "A defiant Democratic-controlled Congress voted to provide health insurance to an additional 4 million lower-income children, and President Bush vowed swiftly to cast his second straight veto on the issue." Senate OKs new SCHIP bill; Bush veto likely "The action will leave Capitol Hill lawmakers little time this year to work out a new long-term deal to expand the $5 billion annual budget for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)." Expecting Presidential Veto, Senate Passes Child Health Measure"Talks seeking a bipartisan compromise on health insurance for low-income children were cut short, and the Senate then swiftly passed a bill to provide coverage for 10 million youngsters,"

Tax policy. House Panel Backs Tax Measure Offering Breaks for Middle Class "The House Ways and Means Committee approved a $76 billion measure to stave off the growth of the alternative minimum tax and provide new tax breaks to middle-income homeowners and poor parents, proposing to pay for it with hefty tax increases on business executives and Wall Street financiers." Democrats calculate risk on tax hikes "More than two decades after presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale called for tax increases -- and lost the White House in a landslide -- the Democratic Party is on the verge of a major political gamble: Some of its leading members are proposing an array of tax hikes on wealthier Americans."

Kerry on faith and politics. Senator Kerry says religion has place in politics "Senator John F. Kerry defended the place of religious discussion in American political life yesterday, even as the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee decried the "unitary assertion of rectitude by certain Christian figures" and the "exploitation of religion" he said played a role in his loss to President Bush," Kerry: Diversity of faith 'the No. 1 thing' "Mr. Kerry said that diversity and pluralism are the most important values for Americans today and that religions can help them see that."

Iraq . In Iraq, a Lull or Hopeful Trend? "From store clerks selling cigarettes by generator power, to military commanders poring over aerial maps, Iraqis and Americans are striving to understand the sharp decrease in violence over the past several months and what it might herald for the future of Iraq." U.S. Sees Decline In Bombs In Iraq "Iran may be curtailing the flow into Iraq of lethal armor-piercing projectiles that have become a major killer of U.S. troops, although more time is needed to confirm the trend, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and senior military officials said yesterday."

Iran . New Iran sanctions to be debated "Officials from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are due to meet in London to discuss a third set of sanctions against Iran." Iran sanctions "Six world powers meet on Friday to discuss imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to stop enriching uranium, which they suspect could be used to build nuclear weapons." Obama Envisions New Iran Approach"Senator Barack Obama says he would "engage in aggressive personal diplomacy" with Iran if elected president and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek "regime change" if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues."

Crack sentencing. Rules Lower Prison Terms in Sentences for Crack"Crack cocaine offenders will receive shorter prison sentences under more lenient federal sentencing guidelines that went into effect yesterday." More equity in cocaine sentencing "And because most people convicted of crack offenses are black and most convicted of powder cocaine offenses are white, critics have long argued that the disparity represents an egregious racial inequity in America's criminal-justice system."

Turkey . Will U.S. join assault on rebels or let Turkey go it alone? "With public pressure building for a military intervention against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, the United States and Turkey are to begin four days of crisis talks Friday that will help to define America's relationship with Turkey and possibly the future of Iraq as well." Iraqi Kurds braced for sanctions "Iraq's Kurds are bracing themselves for potentially devastating economic sanctions against their self-rule region, after reports that Ankara had closed its airspace to and from Iraq and was planning further measures to pressure the Kurdish authorities to take action against PKK rebels in Iraq." As Kurds' Status Improves, Support for Militants Erodes in Turkey "militant proponents of that Kurdish identity - a rebel group based in part in northern Iraq - threaten to complicate further progress on the very rights for which they claim to fight, many here say." Former envoy: U.S. driving Turkey, Iran together "The retired general who served as President Bush's special envoy to deal with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said the United States has failed to keep its promises to Turkey to confront the Kurdish terrorist group, and Turkey may feel that it has no choice but to attack the PKK's sanctuary in northern Iraq."

Darfur. Darfur peace talks postponed "Negotiations between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels have been postponed until December, the spokesman for the government delegation to the stalled peace talks said Thursday."

UN-global poverty. UN, Google, Cisco Team to Track Poverty "The United Nations teamed with technology giants Google Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. to launch a new Web site that will provide data and a bird's eye view of global efforts to fight poverty and meet U.N. development goals by 2015."

UN-nuclear weapons. UN Panel OKs Resolution on Nuclear Alert "The U.N. General Assembly's disarmament committee approved a resolution calling for all nuclear weapons to be taken off high alert, despite objections from the United States, Britain and France."

Op-Eds.

A Second Home for Religious Voters? (Michael Gerson, Washington Post) "America is moving toward the development of one secular party and one religious party. And that is a danger to democracy. This trend turns nearly every political disagreement into a culture-war conflict. When the sides view each other as infidels or ayatollahs, it adds jet fuel to the normal combustion of American politics."

The Issue the Democrats Dread (E J Dionne, Washington Post) "More significant than Hillary Clinton 's supposed gaffe at the end of Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate is the subject around which she tiptoed so delicately: immigration. Democrats fear the issue because it could leave them with a set of no-win political choices."