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May 25, 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 global and national news stories include:
U.S.
• Congress leaves without any ok on Libya action (NPR)
• GOP on the defensive as voters resist Medicare plan (New York Times)
• Democrats grab “safe” GOP seat (CNN)
• Palin movie coming to theaters this summer (CNN)
• Missouri tornado deadliest in decades (CNN)
• Storms kill 13 as they tear through Midwest (CNN)
• EPA criticized for scaling back monitoring fallout from Japan disaster (American Independent)
WORLD
• Mubarak to be tried for murder of protesters (Reuters)
• TEPCO confirms meltdown at 2 more Fukushima reactors
• Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images (BBC)
• Thousands face volcanic ash cloud flight cancellations (BBC)
• Group gathers at Jordanian embassy with petition to make country official Palestinian homeland (Jerusalem Post)
• Bomb attack hits 15 NATO fuel trucks in Pakistan
CONGRESS LEAVES WITHOUT ANY OK ON LIBYA ACTION
May 20, 2011 (NPR) -- It's been 60 days since President Obama notified Congress that he was ordering up U.S. military operations against Libyan forces. According to the War Powers Act of 1973, Congress should have acted during those 60 days, either to authorize continued military action, or to oppose it — because only Congress has the constitutional power to declare war. Instead, Congress has yet to take any action on Libya.
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136507004/despite-war-powers-deadline-cong...
GOP ON THE DEFENSIVE AS VOTERS RESIST MEDICARE PLAN
May 25, 2011 (New York Times) -- When they proposed just last month to overhaul Medicare, House Republicans were confident that the wind of budget politics was at their backs and that the country’s looming fiscal problems provided justification to begin reshaping the increasingly costly social welfare system.
But the last six weeks have left Republicans pointed into a stiff headwind. With polls and angry town hall meetings suggesting that many voters were wary if not opposed to the Medicare overhaul, party unity and optimism gave way to a slow-motion backtracking in the House and, in the Senate and on the presidential campaign trail, a bit of a Republican-on-Republican rumpus.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/politics/26medicare.html?_r=1&hp
DEMOCRATS GRAB “SAFE” GOP SEAT
Democrat Kathy Hochul wins House seat in New York special election
May 25, 2011 (CNN) - Democrat Kathy Hochul swept to victory Tuesday night in a closely watched Congressional election in New York state, which turned into a proxy battle on a House Republican proposal on Medicare.
The race in New York's 26th Congressional district was to fill the seat of former Republican Congressman Chris Lee, who resigned over pictures and e-mails of him trying to find a date on Craigslist. The seat had been considered safe for Republicans, who had held the district for more than four decades.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/24/breaking-cnn-projects-ho...
PALIN MOVIE COMING TO THEATERS THIS SUMMER
May 25, 2011 (CNN) – A secretly-produced, $1 million feature film about Sarah Palin will debut next month in Iowa, a reminder that the former Alaska governor remains a very real factor in the Republican presidential nominating contest despite dismissals of her potential candidacy by GOP insiders.
The two-hour movie - the existence of which was first reported late Tuesday by RealClearPolitics and confirmed by CNN - is the work of conservative filmmaker Stephen Bannon.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/25/palin-movie-coming-to-th...
MISSOURI TORNADO DEADLIEST IN DECADES
May 24, 2011 (CNN) -- Joplin, Missouri (CNN) -- The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, Sunday killed 117 people, authorities said Tuesday, making it the deadliest single U.S. tornado since modern record-keeping began more than 60 years ago.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/24/missouri.tornado/index.html?hpt=T2
STORMS KILL 13 AS THEY TEAR THROUGH MIDWEST
May 25, 2011 (CBS) -- Violent storms with winds of more than 150 mph slammed into a chunk of the central U.S. overnight, killing at least 13 people in three states, flattening homes, crushing cars and ripping apart a rural Arkansas fire station.
The high-powered storms arrived Tuesday night and early Wednesday, just days after a massive tornado tore up the southwest Missouri city of Joplin and killed 122 people.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/25/national/main20065996.shtml?ta...
EPA CRITICIZED FOR SCALING BACK ON MONITORING FALLOUT FROM JAPAN DISASTER
May 10, 2011 (American Independent)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is wrong to cut monitoring for radiation with the nuclear disaster in Japan still unfolding, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said this week.
Last week EPA announced that it was returning to its regular program of quarterly sampling for radiation in precipitation, drinking water and milk because tests indicated that fallout from Japan was “well below any level of public health concern.”
http://www.americanindependent.com/183341/epa-criticized-for-scaling-bac...
WORLD
MUBARAK TO BE TRIED FOR MURDER OF PROTESTERS
May 24, 2011 (Yahoo News/Reuters) – Hosni Mubarak was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial for the killing of protesters and could face the death penalty, scotching speculation the former leader would be spared public humiliation by Egypt's military rulers.
Mubarak, ousted on February 11 after mass demonstrations demanding he end his 30 years in power, has been questioned for his role in a crackdown that led to the killing of more than 800 demonstrators and has been probed over corruption.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110524/ts_nm/us_egypt_mubarak_4
TEPCO CONFIRMS MELTDOWN AT 2 MORE FUKUSHIMA REACTORS
May 24, 2011 (Reuters) - The operator of the nuclear power plant at the center of a radiation scare after being disabled by Japan's earthquake and tsunami confirmed Tuesday that there had been meltdowns of fuel rods at three of its reactors.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/24/us-japan-tepco-reactors-idUSTR...
EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS FOUND BY INFRA-RED SATELLITE IMAGES
Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt
May 24, 2011 (BBC)--More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13522957
THOUSANDS FACE VOLCANIC ASH CLOUD FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS
May 24, 2011 (BBC) -- Thousands of passengers face UK flight cancellations because of drifting ash from an Icelandic volcanic eruption.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13513981
JORDAN IS PALESTINE, MK ELDAD DECLARES AT EMBASSY
Group gathers at Jordanian embassy on Jordan's Independence Day with petition to make country official Palestinian homeland
May 24, 2011 (Jerusalem Post) -- A handful of Israelis marked Jordanian Independence Day on Tuesday by attempting to present the Jordanian embassy in Ramat Gan with a petition to make the country the official national homeland of the Palestinian people.
…Eldad added "there is already a Palestinian state in Jordan. 80% of the Jordanian people are Palestinians, and it is built on 65% of the Jewish homeland allocated in the Balfour Declaration and given to us at the San Remo conference. Once the Palestinians lose their orphan status as a people without a state, their international demands will become much weaker."
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=221999&R=R1
BOMB ATTACK HITS 15 NATO FUEL TRUCKS IN PAKISTAN
May 21, 2011 (Reuters) -- (Reuters) - A bomb attack hit 16 NATO fuel trucks passing through Pakistan to Afghanistan early on Saturday, local officials said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/21/us-pakistan-nato-blast-idUSTRE...
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