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July 21, 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 world and U.S. headlines include:
WORLD
• U.N. calls emergency meeting on East Africa famine (Reuters)
• Aid agencies deal with terrorists to reach Somalia’s starving (Reuters)
• Al Qaeda jihadist animation targets children (BBC)
• Fukushima: 554 cows fed contaminated feed shipped (Reuters)
U.S.
• Short –term fix considered as debt clock ticks down (CNN)
• Bill Clinton would raise debt ceiling, bypass Congress (Los Angeles Times)
• Out from under the anti-tax pledge (Washington Post)
• Vast wind energy proposal could kill endangered birds (Reuters)
• Visa delays put Iraqis who aided U.S. in fear (New York Times)
• U.S. quietly halts scholarships for Afghan students (NPR)
HEALTH
• Doctors to pregnant women: Wait at least 39 weeks (NPR)
WORLD
U.N. CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING ON EAST AFRICA FAMINE
July 21, 2011 (Reuters) - The United Nations has called an emergency meeting on July 25 to discuss mobilising aid for drought-stricken east Africa, where famine has been declared in parts of Somalia.
A wide swathe of east Africa, including Kenya and Ethiopia, has been hit by years of severe drought and the United Nations says two regions of southern Somalia are suffering the worst famine for 20 years, with 3.7 million people facing starvation.
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76K0DV20110721
AID AGENCIES DEAL WITH TERRORISTS TO REACH SOMALIA’S STARVING
July 21, 2011 (CNN)-- (CNN) -- For aid donors and humanitarian agencies, it is a Faustian bargain: reach and save tens of thousands of people on the verge of starving to death. The price: come to an "understanding" with one of the most active affiliates of al Qaeda, and perhaps help it retain control of large swathes of Somalia.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/20/somalia.analysis/index.html?h...
Al QAEDA JIHADIST ANIMATION TARGETS CHILDREN
July 20, 2011 (BBC) -- Al-Qaeda supporters say they are making an animated children's film aimed at inspiring them to take up armed struggle with the militant group.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14232143
FUKUSHIMA: 554 COWS FED CONTAMINATED FEED SHIPPED
Japanese contaminated beef "sold in and around Tokyo"
July 18, 2011 (Reuters) - Japan's second-biggest retailer said on Sunday it had sold beef from cattle that ate nuclear-contaminated feed, the latest in a series of health scares from radiation leaking from a quake-crippled nuclear power plant.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/18/us-japan-nuclear-idUSTRE76F09J...
U.S.
SHORT-TERM FIX CONSIDERED AS DEBT CLOCK CLICKS DOWN
July 21, 2011 (CNN)-- Top congressional and administration officials kept up their high-stakes talks Thursday on raising the nation's debt ceiling, with a renewed focus on a possible short-term deal as a way to buy more time for negotiators.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/07/21/debt.talks/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
BILL CLINTON WOULD RAISE DEBT CEILING, BYPASS CONGRESS
July 18, 2011 (Los Angeles Times)-- Bill Clinton says if he were president, he would not hesitate to raise the debt-ceiling himself under authority he argues is granted by the U.S. Constitution.
The two-term Democrat, who squared off with Republicans during two government shutdowns, contended in an interview Monday that the 14th Amendment allows for the president to ensure the nation’s debt is covered. He said he would “force the courts to stop me.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-clinton-debt-ceiling-20110719...
OUT FROM UNDER THE ANTI-TAX PLEDGE
July 20, 2011 (Washington Post Editorial Board) – With a handful of exceptions, every Republican member of Congress has signed a pledge against increasing taxes. Would allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as scheduled in 2012 violate this vow? We posed this question to Grover Norquist, its author and enforcer, and his answer was both surprising and encouraging: No.
In other words, according to Mr. Norquist’s interpretation of the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, lawmakers have the technical leeway to bring in as much as $4 trillion in new tax revenue — the cost of extending President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for another decade — without being accused of breaking their promise. “Not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase,” Mr. Norquist told us. So it doesn’t violate the pledge? “We wouldn’t hold it that way,” he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/out-from-under-the-anti-tax-pledg...
VAST WIND ENERGY PROPOSAL COULD KILL ENDANGERED BIRDS
July 14, 2911 (Reuters)-- The Obama administration is evaluating a plan to allow a 200-mile corridor for wind energy development from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico that would allow for killing endangered whooping cranes.
The government's environmental review will consider a permit sought by 19 energy developers that would permit turbines and transmission lines on non-federal lands in nine states from Montana to the Texas coast, overlapping with the migratory route of the cranes.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/14/us-wind-energy-cranes-idUSTRE7...
VISA DELAYS PUT IRAQIS WHO AIDED US IN FEAR
July 13, 2011 (New York Times)Baghdad — Terrorism fears in the United States are all but halting visas for Iraqis, even those who risked their lives aiding the American war effort, making them especially vulnerable ahead of the planned American military withdrawal.
The Obama administration has required new background checks for visa applicants, reacting to a case in Kentucky in which two Iraqi immigrants were arrested on suspicion of ties to an insurgent group, according to American officials in Baghdad.
Advocates say that the administration is ignoring a directive from Congress to draft a contingency plan to expedite visas should those Iraqis who worked for the United States government, especially interpreters for the military, come under increased threat after American forces are drawn down at the end of the year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/world/middleeast/13baghdad.html?_r=3&s...
U.S. QUIETLY HALTS SCHOLARSHIP FOR AFGHAN STUDENTS
July 14, 2011 (NPR)-- The program sent Afghan students to U.S. high schools for a year, but many fled to Canada seeking asylum and fearing a dark future in Afghanistan. One student who left Texas for Toronto said his family received threats for sending their son to the West and thought he'd be in danger if he returned.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/14/137648917/u-s-quietly-halts-scholarship-fo...
DOCTORS TO PREGNANT WOMEN: WAIT AT LEAST 39 WEEKS
July 18, 2011 (NPR)-- In her living room, Caroline Nagy introduces the newest member of her family — the 6-week-old infant in a striped onesie cradled in her arms. "This is Alex Joseph. He was born May 24th — my birthday," she says.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/138473097/doctors-to-pregnant-women-wait-a...
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