Hunger and poverty have been plaguing humanity since ancient times, and people of faith have been combating it just as long. But activists in that fight believe the world faces a unique opening to actually end extreme hunger - if world leaders get on board. On July 3, in eight cities around the world, a multitude of pop and rock superstars performed in concerts aimed at raising awareness about poverty in Africa. The Live-8 concerts took place immediately before the beginning of the G8 Summit where the world's wealthiest nations discussed debt relief for Africa. The rockstars were joined by a growing number of religious organizations who call the welfare of Africa their number one concern.

Though President Bush touted his military surge as the antidote to the increasing violence in Iraq, new reports show a surge of another kind: the number of private contractors in Iraq now outnumbers the number of U.S. troops. Privatization of the war effort is rampant, raising serious questions about whether the government is more concerned with contracts than carrying out effective military campaigns. "We don't have control of all the coalition guns in Iraq. That's dangerous for our country," said William Nash, a retired Army general and reconstruction expert. The Pentagon "is hiring guns. You can rationalize it all you want, but that's obscene."

It is not often that families of murder victims petition the courts to forgive their killers. But in Uganda, almost an entire tribe whose relatives were slaughtered and children kidnapped by Lord's Resistance Army rebels are lobbying for them not to be tried before an international tribunal. The Hague-based International Criminal Court wants to charge fugitive LRA leader Joseph Kony and three deputies for the mass killing, mutilation and using child soldiers. But in northern Uganda, they are calling for forgiveness instead of justice.

The 4000+ immigrants who became U.S. citizens yesterday indicate a rising increase in applications for citizenship over the last few years. Another key factor has been the ongoing immigration debate and recent failure of the Senate immigration bill. Many legal immigrants sought the security that naturalization brings, including the voting privileges that would allow them to more fully participate in the political discourse, especially as it pertains to immigration.

While the administration of President George W. Bush has been accused of willfully ignoring climate change, the state of California has already taken unilateral action. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has charged Linda Adams, head of California's Environmental Protection Agency, with implementing what she calls "the most comprehensive law in the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions": the Global Warming Solutions Act.

In a speech to National Guard troops in West Virginia on the Fourth of July, President Bush equated the American Revolution to the war in Iraq, stating that in both wars soldiers were fighting for American freedom. Referring to the 9/11 attacks, Bush continued to emphasize that a terrorist threat was still present and linked our "enemy in Iraq" with those who participated in the 2001 attacks. And Bush reiterated his promise to fight Congressional opposition to the Iraq War that would call for bringing troops home.

Dozens of Iraqi refugees, many of whom are working for the United States government and its contractors to provide services in the Iraq War, are being denied a pathway to citizenship due to what they claim is an undue delay for background checks by the FBI. They are using the federal courts to sue the FBI in an effort to expedite their applications. Every week, the FBI completes about 62,000 name checks, but currently nationwide, about 150,000 citizenship applications have a wait time six months or longer.

Seven college students in the California public school system are taking part in a weeklong fast to promote the passage of the DREAM Act. The bill would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who entered the country before they turned 16, have lived here at least five years, have no criminal record and have graduated from high school or been admitted to college. An estimated 65,000 undocumented immigrant students graduate from high school every year and would benefit from such a bill.

China is now the earth's number one producer of greenhouse gases, and scientists fear that the world's most populous country could push the planet close to "irrevocable" global warming. Support in Congress is growing to encourage energy cooperation and put aside long-standing trade conflicts between the US and China. "If the United States and China don't get together to solve the problem of clean coal, it doesn't matter what anyone else does in world on global warming," said Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York.

Representatives from Catholic Charities' immigration programs from around the nation traveled recently to the border between the United States and Mexico to learn more about the phenomenon of migration and to gain keener insights into the current immigration reform debate.

Janet Napolitano, the governor of Arizona - one of the main gateways for immigration into the US - has signed into law legislation designed to deter undocumented immigrant workers. The law requires businesses to verify that all their employees are legally entitled to work in the US, or face the prospect of being closed down. The tougher penalties were introduced days after President Bush's immigration reform bill failed in the Senate.

Iraq's cabinet approved changes to a draft hydrocarbon law and sent it to parliament for immediate debate, taking a big step towards meeting a key political target set by the US: curbing sectarian violence and healing deep divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. The law is intended to ensure a fair distribution of the world's third largest oil reserves, which are located mainly in the Shi'ite south and the Kurdish north.

Rapid economic growth has lifted millions in Asia out of extreme poverty, but at the same time, the continent has experienced a dramatic rise in income inequality, the UN said in a report. The U.N. report marks the midway point of a 15-year global development plan - dubbed Millennium Development Goals - that targets improvements in various social and economic indicators.

Last summer, the San Francisco's elected leaders unanimously approved a measure to provide universal health care to all its citizens. The city has 82,000 uninsured and hopes to have all registered by the end of the year. Mayor Gavin Newsom said, "What this entitles you to is the ability to go to the emergency room without risk of financial ruin," he said. "The psychological impact of that is so important. It's profound."

Government repairs may put New Orleans' French Quarter in greater danger than it was prior to Hurricane Katrina, a weakness planners said couldn't be helped, at least for now. Experts say the stronger levees and flood walls could funnel storm water into the cul-de-sac of the Industrial Canal, only 2 miles from Bourbon Street, and overwhelm the waterway's 12-foot-tall concrete flood walls that shield some of the city's most-cherished neighborhoods.