The Kaiser Family Foundation is starting an independent news service to report on the nation’s health-care system.

The news service will report on new developments in the health-care system and on health-care policy debates in Washington and in state capitals.

The news service, which will be located in Washington, is meant to supplement traditional news organizations, many of which no longer have the money to do in-depth reporting on the health-care system, the foundation said.

To read more about how foundations are taking steps to invigorate journalism in the wake of its financial struggles, read this article from The Chronicle’s archive.

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The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has returned a painting stolen by Nazis during World War II to the family of its rightful owner, reports The Seattle Times.

It was discovered that the painting, “Smoke Over Rooftops,” by Fernand Leger, had been seized from the estate of Alphonse Kann, a Jewish art collector who had lived in Paris but fled to London when the Nazis invaded France.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled this week that a museum in Jerusalem can be built on a site that was once a Muslim cemetery, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The museum will be built by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in Los Angeles, and will be designed by Frank Gehry.

The project had been delayed since 2006, when construction workers unearthed bones. The court ruled that since a parking lot had previously been built on top of part of the cemetery with no objection, it would not block construction of the museum.

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The international poverty relief organization Oxfam has denounced a diamond mogul who was involved in the creation of a photo book featuring celebrities, which was designed to raise money for the charity, reports The Jewish Daily Forward.

The actresses Mary-Kate Olson, Susan Sarandon, Kate Hudson, and others agreed to be photographed for a coffee table book, the proceeds of which would benefit Oxfam.

But in the photos, the celebrities are wearing diamonds provided by Lev Leviev, a controversial billionaire who has been involved in housing construction for Jewish settlers on the West Bank. Mr. Leviev’s relationship with the Angolan government, where his diamond mines are located, has also been criticized.

Oxfam has put a statement on its Web site critical of Mr. Leviev, reports the newspaper.

Can charities learn from Barack Obama’s fund-raising success, asks a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s summary of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Join The Chronicle for a live online discussion on Tuesday, November 4, to ask questions of Paul Brest, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Mr. Brest is co-author of a new book Money Well Spent, which examines how grant makers and wealthy donors can achieve the best results from their philanthropy.

He will take your questions on what foundations, donors, and grant seekers should do in this tough economy, as well as anything else you want to talk about.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

More details will be posted soon at http://philanthropy.com/live.

Local churches and their national organizations across the country have not been spared from the current economic crisis, as more are finding it difficult to maintain giving levels to support their operations, reports the Associated Press.

Many congregations are cutting expenses, delaying building projects, and taking other measures to respond to a decline in dollars in their collection plates. Those feeling less of a pinch are churches where tithing — the practice of giving 10 percent of one’s income to the church — is the norm, the news agency reports.

Meanwhile, national church organizations, from the Episcopalians to the Methodists, are facing major losses in their investments, which in some cases are critical to their operational budgets.

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As college endowments shrink due to losses in the stock market, many institutions are considering increasing tuition to levels higher than planned, reports Reuters.

Some colleges have seen their endowments decline by 15 percent or more. Tuition, however, has increased much faster than inflation in recent years — jumping 175 percent since 1992, the news agency reports.

The Capital Area Food Bank, which is the main distribution center for 700 Washington-area food agencies, broke ground this week on a new warehouse that, when completed in 2010, will double the nonprofit organization’s capacity, reports The Washington Post.

The organization has raised nearly $30-million of the $36-million project cost, the newspaper reports.

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Nonprofit organizations on which Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama served as a board member in the 1990s gave money to support organizations and causes that could be considered controversial, reports Fox News.

The groups — the Annenberg Challenge and the Woods Fund of Chicago — made donations or grants to organizations that included Acorn, the voter-registration group that has come under scrutiny recently for problems with its records; Trinity United Church of Christ, whose outspoken pastor is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright; and an institute at Northwestern University run by the wife of William Ayers, the Chicago professor who was once a member of a radical group, the news organization reports. Fox examined the tax returns of these and other organizations to develop its report.

An Obama spokesman responded by saying: “This is another pathetic attempt by Fox News to...