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: Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial

• Five leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were convicted on all 108 criminal counts against them, including support of terrorism.  [New York Times]

• The Gates Foundation expects to slow the planned growth in its grant making in 2009 in response to the troubled economy.  [Associated Press]

• Many nonprofits will not know the full impact of the economic downturn until they count receipts in January, after the holiday season.  [Washington Post]

• Supporters of the Holy Land Foundation defendants accuse the U.S. government of fear-mongering.  [Dallas Morning News]

News Briefing: New Way To Rate Charities Sought

• Eli Broad offers $30 million to help rescue the Museum of Contemporary Art if the museum's trustees also increase their donations.  [New York Times]

• Several of the country's highest-paid university presidents announce that they will give back part of their pay or forgo their raises.  [New York Times]

• Jurors begin eighth day of deliberations in the retrial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.  [Associated Press]

• Majority of wealthy households who stop giving to nonprofits attribute the change to 'no longer feeling connected to the organization."  [Boston Globe]

• An alliance of prominent philanthropists and entrepreneurs is developing a rating system to help donors better evaluate charities.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: At Meeting, Smithsonian Practices New Openness

• The Smithsonian Institution holds its first public board meeting as part of its new commitment to openness and accountability.  [New York Times]

• The U.S. military hopes to undermine the roots of terrorism in Africa by building clinics, digging wells, inoculating cattle, and offering other services.  [Chicago Tribune]

• Leaders of six nonprofits discuss what their organizations are doing to address the tough economic times.  [CNN]

News Briefing: Ex-Official of Diabetes Foundation Is Indicted in Theft

• A former official of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation led a false invoicing scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $1 million from the organization.  [New York Times]

• The former director of a Brooklyn nonprofit is arrested on charges that he stole more than $500,000 in federal aid.  [New York Times]

• A Winchester man reaches a deal with Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley Battlesfield Foundation to sell some of his family's land.  [Washington Post]

• An U.S. aid worker is shot and killed in Pakistan.  [San Jose Mercury News]

News Briefing: US Cracks Down on Islamic Charity

• The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center plans on opening and running 25 oncology centers abroad over the next decade in partnership with GE Healthcare.  [New York Times]

• A group of civil rights attorneys file a federal lawsuit claiming racial discrimination by the Louisiana Road Home program.  [Associated Press]

• The Bush administration cracks down on the Union of Good, an Islamic charity suspected of bankrolling Hamas.  [Associated Press]

• When funding comes with strings attached, a nonprofit's ability to invest in staff training, improved IT, and other infrastructure systems is compromised.  [Financial Times]

News Briefing: Hurricanes Deplete Red Cross Relief Fund

• Recent hurricanes have plunged the American Red Cross into debt.  [Associated Press]

• Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts will step down in January 2009.  [Associated Press]

• Bill Clinton in talks to address complaints about a 9/11 scholarship fund.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Hippie Arrests Draw A.C.L.U.’s Attention

• The A.C.L.U. will investigate the actions of federal officers who arrested five members of the Rainbow Family in western Wyoming.  [Associated Press]

• Lawyers for the former leaders of a Muslim charity ask judge to dismiss the case.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Carell Hosts Charity Screening of `Get Smart'

• Steve Carell hosts a charity screening of 'Get Smart.'  [Associated Press]

• Japanese police arrested two Greenpeace activists on suspicion of stealing about fifty pounds of whale meat.  [Associated Press]

• The ACLU files a request in Dallas to have two Muslim organizations removed from a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case.  [Dallas Morning News]

News Briefing: Red Cross Disaster Fund Is Depleted

• The rising force of ethnic Chinese philanthropy is apparent in recent major gifts to U.S. universities, think tanks, and others.  [Los Angeles Times]

• Kuwait rejects the U.S. Department of Treasury's accusation that the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society charity is funding terrorist activities.  [Reuters]

• The national disaster relief fund of the American Red Cross is depleted.  [Washington Post]

• For many historic house museums, keeping the lights on has become a challenge.  [Associated Press]