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February 23, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) --ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views.
Top International news: Over 1,000 are reported dead as Libya cracks down on protesters; President Obama calls for an international response. More uprisings occur across the Middle East. A major quake rocks New Zealand. Somali pirates kill four Americans, one with San Diego ties.
Top U.S. news: House Republicans move forward with their agenda, voting to defund public TV and radio, eliminate all funds for Planned Parenthood including birth control, and threaten a government shut-down to block spending, a move that could halt Social Security checks and more. Over 75,000 protest in Wisconsin after the Governor seeks to break public employee unions to close a budget gap; Democrats leave the state to block a vote as labor protests spread to other states.
Top headlines, include these stories and more (scroll down for links and summaries):
WORLD NEWS
• Obama condemns Libyan violence, calls for international response (CNN)
• Libya: More than 1,000 dead (London Telegraph)
• Emergency responders overwhelmed by New Zealand quake (Voice of America)
• 4 Americans, including Southern California couple, killed by Somali pirates (Los Angeles Times)
• Mideast protests spread to Morocco (NPR)
• Kabul seeks control of women’s shelters (NPR)
• Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (CNN)
• Unemployment, youth populace create explosive mix (NPR)
• As Mideast seethes, 3 dead in Bahrain bloodshed (Reuters)
• Digging into Egypt’s culture of harassment (NPR)
US NEWS
• It’s crunch time for organized labor (Wall Street Journal)
• Rahm Emmanuel elected Chicago Mayor (CBS News)
• Workers protests swell in Midwest as budget battles continue (CNN)
• Veteran Republicans fear Tea Party, liberals will unite to cut defense (The Hill)
• Cell phone activity alters brain activity, study shows (NBC News)
• Government shutdown looming: what does it mean to you? (ABC News)
• Government shut-down looms over budget fight (Reuters)
• Republican funding threats threaten rural TV and radio stations (Democracy Now)
• Planned Parenthood defunding: Family planning’s not a GOP family value? (AOL/Politics Today)
WORLD NEWS
OBAMA CONDEMNS LIBYAN VIOLENCE, CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
February 23, 2011 (CNN--President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States strongly condemns the use of violence on protesters in Libya and said a unified international response was forming.
"The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable," Obama said in his strongest and most direct statements to date on the unrest in Libya. "So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/02/23/obama.libya/index.html?hpt=T1
LIBYA: ‘MORE THAN 1,000 DEAD’
February 23, 2011 (London Telegraph)--More, than 1,000 people are thought to have died in violence in Libya as government forces continue to crackdown on protesters demanding an end to Col Gaddafi's regime.
…The updated death toll came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for Europe to suspend all economic ties with Libya following the suppression of opposition protests there and to adopt sanctions against the country.
The UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on Friday to discuss the crisis in Libya.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/834...
EMERGENCY RESPONDERS OVERWHELMED BY NEW ZEALAND QUAKE
February 22, 2011 (Voice of America)--A massive earthquake has devastated the New Zealand city of Christchurch, toppling tall office buildings at the height of the workday and killing at least 65 people.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/New-Zealand-Earthquake-Kills-65.html
4 AMERICANS, INCLUDING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COUPLE, ARE KILLED BY SOMALI PIRATES, U.S. OFFICIALS SAY
February 22, 2011 (Los Angeles Times)-- Jean and Scott Adam were on a voyage with two friends from Seattle when pirates boarded their yacht on Friday. Naval officials negotiated without success for their release.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0223-somali-pirates-20110223,0,2606523,full.story
MIDEAST PROTESTS SPREAD TO MOROCCO
February 20, 2011 (NPR) -- The Arab revolt spread to Morocco on Sunday and demonstrators gathered in the capital, Rabat, demanding political and economic reforms.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/20/133920697/Mideast-Protests-Spread-To-Morocco
KABUL SEEKS CONTROL OF WOMEN’S SHELTERS
February 20, 2011 (NPR) -- When she was 13 years old, Khatira's stepmother gave her the bad news: It was too expensive to keep her, so she would have to marry a cousin living in Kabul.
"They treated me well for the first month, but then they started beating me all the time," she says of her new in-laws.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/21/133865996/kabul-seeks-control-of-womens-shelters?ft=1&f=3
UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
February 19, 2011 (CNN) -- Two months ago, a Tunisian fruit vendor struck a match that started a fire that has spread throughout the much of North Africa and the Middle East. Muhammad Bouazizi's self-immolation prompted anti-government protests that toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. Here are the latest developments, including the roots of the unrest, as well as a look at previous events in affected countries.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/18/mideast.africa.unrest/index.html
UNEMPLOYMENT, YOUTH POPULACE CREATE EXPLOSIVE MIX
February 18, 2011 (NPR) -- In nearly all the countries in the Middle East and North Africa, about 30 percent of the population is between the ages of 15 and 29. Compare that to the U.S., where just 20 percent fall into that age group. Add the population numbers in Arab countries to the high unemployment among young people, and you have a combustible mix.
Ragui Assaad, a professor at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, studies that "youth bulge." He speaks to host Michele Norris.
AS MIDEAST SEETHES, 3 DEAD IN BAHRAIN BLOODSHED
February 17, 2011 (Reuters) -- Police in Bahrain attack demonstrators camped out in the capital, killing three, in a move to stifle pro-democracy protests inspired by similar movements across the Middle East.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/17/us-protests-idUSTRE71F41K20110217
DIGGING INTO EGYPT’S CULTURE OF HARASSMENT
February 17, 2011 (NPR)-- The violent sexual assault on CBS correspondent Lara Logan in Cairo last week has highlighted a huge problem in Egypt.
According to one recent report by a women's rights group, some 80 percent of Egyptian women and 90 percent of foreign women visiting the country have been sexually harassed. And the former government did little to stem the problem.
But Egyptian women hope the revolution will change all that.
U.S. NEWS
IT’S CRUNCH TIME FOR ORGANIZED LABOR
February 23, 2011 (Wall Street Journal) -- Labor unions are facing the most direct challenge to their political and financial clout since Ronald Reagan broke the air-traffic controllers union 30 years ago.
Across the industrial Midwest, a union stronghold long vital to Democrats and key to President Barack Obama's re-election prospects, Republicans are trying to roll back the powers of not just public-employee unions but also the bargaining and dues-collecting power of groups that represent auto workers and carpenters.
RAHM EMANUEL ELECTED CHICAGO MAYOR
February 23, 2011 (CBS News)--Former White House Chief of Staff wins Chicago's mayoral election, easily overwhelming five rivals.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/22/national/main20035109.shtml?ta...
WORKERS PROTESTS SWELL IN MIDWEST AS BUDGET BATTLES CONTINUE
February 22, 2011 (CNN) -- Republican lawmakers in the nation's heartland might be feeling a case of heartburn after their budget bills spawned demonstrations in at least three states over what protesters view as an attack on workers' rights.
Crowds in Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana gathered Tuesday in a series of budgetary showdowns that challenge long-standing rights and benefits afforded to unionized labor while raising questions about the fiscal health of state and local governments.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/22/state.budgets/index.html
VETERAN REPUBLICANS FEAR TEA PARTY, LIBERALS WILL UNITE TO CUT DEFENSE
February 22, 2011 (The Hill) -- Some House Republicans fear that a new coalition is forming between Tea Party-backed GOP freshmen and liberal Democrats to slash funding for the Pentagon.
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/145611-engine-defeat-alarms-gop
CELL PHONE RADIATION ALTERS BRAIN ACTIVITY, STUDY SHOWS
But it's not clear whether that causes any harm, scientists say
February 22, 2011 (NBC News)--Spending 50 minutes with a cell phone plastered to your ear is enough to change brain cell activity in the part of the brain closest to the antenna.
But whether that causes any harm is not clear, scientists at the National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday, adding that the study will likely not settle recurring concerns of a link between cell phones and brain cancer.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41723965/ns/health-health_care/
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LOOMING: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
February 21, 2011 (ABC NEWS) -- With Democrats and Republicans at a stalemate over how to fund the government, just two weeks shy of the deadline, there's a real threat that the federal government could shut down for the first time in 15 years, affecting thousands of Americans.
GOVERNMENT SHUT-DOWN THREAT LOOMS OVER BUDGET FIGHT
February 20, 2011 (Reuters) - Senior Senate Democrats slammed Republicans on Sunday for a "reckless" threat to shut down the government amid deepening political posturing on both sides over federal spending and the budget deficit.
The House of Representatives voted on Saturday to cut federal spending by $61 billion through September. But the Republican measure will likely die because Democrats who control the Senate oppose it and President Barack Obama vowed to veto it.
Obama has outlined his own plan for less-severe spending cuts in 2012, and has warned that tightening the belt too much too soon could harm the slow economic recovery.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/20/us-usa-budget-idUSTRE71G6CQ201...
REPUBLICAN FUNDING CUTS THREATEN RURAL TV AND RADIO STATIONS
February 22, 2011 (DemocracyNow)--In media news, small television and radio stations serving rural areas are expected to be hardest hit if Republicans succeed in eliminating federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. On Saturday, the House of Representatives approved budget legislation that would slash about $430 million in funding for the CPB. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, CPB funding makes up as much as 45 percent of the budget of some rural public radio and TV stations in California. For some stations broadcasting on Native American reservations or broadcasting in Spanish to farm workers, their federal subsidy is often at least half of their budget
PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUNDING: FAMILY PLANNING’S NOT A GOP FAMILY VALUE?
February 19, 2011 (AOL/Politics Daily) -- When it comes to family planning, apparently the ability to decide whether or when to have a child isn't part of Republican family values.
That's the message the GOP-controlled House sent by voting to cut not only all of Planned Parenthood's $75 million in federal funding for family planning but also the entire $317 million Title X budget. Title X money helps pay for birth control, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, breast and cervical cancer testing, prenatal care, sex education and vasectomies for men. About 4.7 million Americans get health care from clinics funded by Title X money, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
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