The latest news on Gov. Paterson, Presidential campaign, Faith-based initiative Christians in Iraq, Religious Right, Israel-Gaza, Tibet, Colombia, Darfur, Iraq, West Africa, Kenya, Feature on global poverty, Editorial, and Opinion.

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Gov. Paterson. Spitzer's Successor Has Few Enemies "Replacing Eliot L. Spitzer, who rose to the governorship of New York after browbeating Wall Street titans, is David A. Paterson, a man so affable that the colleague he supplanted in an Albany coup now speaks of him in glowing terms." After Spitzer: Paterson brings political acumen to New York politics "The man in line to be New York's next governor is, in many ways, the accidental governor. And as David Paterson has done all his life, the legally blind African-American is counting on people to underestimate him."

Presidential campaign. For Clinton and Obama, next six weeks are critical "The next six weeks of the election calendar are a desert. With no contests until Pennsylvania's on April 22 … the Democratic presidential candidates will have no victories to crow about or losses to massage. But this pause, experts say, may shape up as one of the most important stretches of the race." Race asserts itself in Democratic contest "Despite the celebration of Barack Obama's electoral successes as evidence that the nation has moved beyond racial divisions, signs are emerging of a small but unmistakable race-based resistance to his historic White House bid."

Faith-based initiative. Bush's faith-based initiative defies criticism, director says "President Bush's director of faith-based initiatives said yesterday that the time for second-guessing the program has passed and that critics who say it blurs the separation of church and state are "alarmist,"

Christians in Iraq. Archbishop in Iraq 'found dead' "Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq who was kidnapped last month, has been found dead near the northern city of Mosul." Pope to seek U.S. help for Iraqi Christians "Pope Benedict XVI, during his upcoming visit to Washington, plans to seek President Bush's help in stopping the flight of Christians from Iraq,"

Religious Right. Dobson: Christian Right Needs Leadership "With a generation of Christian right leaders dead or aging, the founder of the conservative evangelical group Focus on the Family says he's concerned about the movement's future leadership."

Israel-Gaza. Israel jets strike northern Gaza "Israeli aircraft have attacked the northern Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel. The violence follows several days of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." IDF strike kills 5 militants; South on alert for Qassams "The defense establishment expects that the indirect understanding with Hamas over a cease-fire in Gaza is likely to collapse today, as Islamic Jihad is preparing to fire Qassam rockets at the Negev in response to the killings of four of its members on the West Bank yesterday." Israeli Raid in West Bank Imperils Talk of Truce "Israeli undercover troops killed four Palestiniani militants in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday, shattering a five-day lull in violence and threatening Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire."

Tibet. Tibetan monks protest Chinese rule "The largest pro-independence demonstrations in the Tibetan capital in nearly two decades have rattled the Chinese government as it struggles to contain growing criticism of its human rights record in the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics." China admits Tibet monk protests "Chinese officials have acknowledged that Buddhist monks were protesting in the Tbetan city of Lhasa this week."

Colombia. Bush pushes Colombia trade pact "President Bush delivered a lengthy, impassioned appeal for congressional approval of a free-trade pact with Colombia, linking it to economic progress for the South American nation and to U.S. security from terrorism." Bush plans to make Congress vote on Colombia trade pact "The Bush administration said it will force Congress to vote on a Colombia free trade agreement this year, in effect launching a do-or-die effort to help the closest U.S. ally in Latin America and setting up a contentious debate smack in the middle of a presidential race."

Darfur. Darfur's return to hell "The conflict in Darfur has entered a violent and deadly new phase. Another "scorched earth" policy is being unleashed, reminiscent of the worst waves of government-backed violence that brought the Sudanese region to world attention five years ago and led the US to declare that what was happening there constituted genocide."

Iraq. Pentagon cancels release of controversial Iraq report "The Pentagon canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network."

West Africa. Democracy Ascendant In States of West Africa "Reborn as well, over the past decade, has been democracy itself here in Ghana and among its neighbors along West Africa's Atlantic coast. From Sierra Leone east to Nigeria, stability and at least a tentative version of multiparty politics have begun taking hold after many years of coups, military dictatorships and civil war."

Kenya. In Aptly Named Rift Valley, Kenyan Deal Rings Hollow "A week after Kenya's warring political leaders signed a power-sharing agreement, Marian Wambui arrived at a camp for displaced people here, her house having been burned to the ground just two days earlier."

Feature on global poverty (Mark Lange, Christian Science Monitor)

Part 4 - The risks of fighting poverty too well "It's not difficult to imagine a world without extreme poverty. It would seem natural in an age with more broad-gauged wealth than has ever been seen in human history. But as the recent history of China shows, the prospect raises some tough questions."

Editorial Fired for speaking the truth (Boston Globe) "Even if Gates was right to say, as he did Tuesday, that it would be "ridiculous" to take Fallon's departure as an augury of war with Iran, the fate of the outspoken admiral suggests that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have learned nothing about the value of letting uniformed military chiefs speak their minds, particularly when they disagree with questionable administration doctrines."

Opinion.

The new face of hunger (Ban Ki-moon, Washington Post) "The price of food is soaring. The threat of hunger and malnutrition is growing. Millions of the world's most vulnerable people are at risk. An effective and urgent response is needed."

A Centcom Chief Who Spoke His Mind (By David Ignatius, The Washington Post) "I understand the White House's desire for an orderly chain of command and the need for military officers to trust each other's discretion. But in the case of Fallon, I see a lot of good that came from having a headstrong blowtorch of a man speaking truth to power."