News Briefing: Pakistan Receives More Flood Aid, but Need Grows

• The international community announces more aid for Pakistan.  [New York Times]

• A grand jury indicts three operators of a Queens bingo hall, accusing them of stealing $830,000 in bingo proceeds meant for charities.  [New York Times]

• California's state Assembly approves a bill that will provide greater financial accountability in organizations embedded within California's public universities.  [Associated Press]

• Target has been the subject of protests in the gay community for contributing money to MN Forward, a group supporting GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, an opponent of gay marriage.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Charities Eye Not-So-Generous Giving Season in Sour Economy

• The nation's 400 largest charities expect giving to decline by a median of 9% this year, according to a new survey.  [USA Today]

• Feed The Children founder Larry Jones authorized putting hidden microphones in the offices of three top executives.  [The Oklahoman]

News Briefing: A.C.L.U. Report Says Antiterror Fight Undercuts Liberty of Muslim Donors

• An A.C.L.U. report states that the fight against terrorism has dealt a harsh blow to Muslim charities.  [New York Times]

• Lawyers for the poor face layoffs across the country as local governments slash spending in these hard economic times.  [Associated Press]

• A vast majority of the world's countries lack adequate laws to address the growing problem of traffic deaths and injuries, according to a new W.H.O. report.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Red Cross Fires Its President, Citing Relationship

• Hackers obtained access to e-mail addresses and passwords of thousands of donors last month.   [New York Times]

• Red Cross ousts its president and chief executive after learning he had an affair with a female subordinate.  [New York Times]

• The son of philanthropist Brooke Astor pleads not guilty to charges of stealing millions from his mother's estate.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Nonprofit Investigative Journalism

• A group of philanthropists will start ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization that will conduct investigative reporting and provide articles free to other news outlets. [Chronicle of Philanthropy]
• Newspaper, state investigate a Massachusetts nonprofit with history of giving jobs and contracts to family members and friends. [Patriot Ledger]
• Nonprofit assistance for Hurrican Katrina victims in the Gulf states is running dry. [The Advocate]

News Briefing: Tax Exempts Owe $1 Billion in Taxes

• Tax-exempt groups owed close to $1 billion in unpaid taxes as of last year, according to a new congressional study.  [Associated Press]

• Trial begins for the Holy Land Foundation, a charity the US government believes funded Hamas.  [Los Angeles Times]

• A confidential report claims that the Smithsonian's retail division is in "substantial turmoil."  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Bono to Guest Edit Africa Issue of Vanity Fair

• Bono to guest edit Vanity Fair's July issue. [New York Times]

• Bruce Gordon resigns as head of NAACP; cites differences with Board.  [Los Angeles Times]

• National Law Enforcement Museum kicks off $80 million campaign.  [Washington Post] 

Senate Report: Five Nonprofit Groups Sold Clout to Abramoff

Washington Post: Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued today. The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff routed money from his clients to the groups. In exchange the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or press releases that favored the clients' positions.

California: Getty Trust Has Suffered Enough

Where Most Needed: Improprieties are found, but no crimes, and no further penalties or reimbursements are proposed either for the trust or for ex-CEO Barry Munitz. The California Attorney General's office has issued a report in its investigation of the J. Paul Getty Trust after the resignation of its CEO Barry Munitz earlier this year, who had agreed to forego $2 million on his employment contract and reimburse the museum $250,000 following a series of reports in the LA Times about questionable spending. 

Judge: Patriot Act Challenge Can Proceed

Associated Press:  Nearly three years after hearing arguments in the case, a federal judge has ruled that an American Civil Liberties Union challenge to the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act may proceed.