ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS HEADLINES

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February 17, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about the most 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 recently include:

 

U.S.
• Public employee union protests spread from Wisconsin to Ohio

• Planned Parenthood financing is caught in budget feud
• House approves Patriot Act extension, sending it to Obama
• Caregivers of wounded troops still waiting for benefits signed into law by Obama
• EPA chief criticizes GOP assault on greenhouse gas regulation

WORLD
• Protesters, police clash in Libya
• Appeals planned after Amazon residents win appeal against Chevron
• Mexican police chief killed in bold attack
• Security forces, opposition forces clash in Tehran
• Tunisia deploys troops to stop Italy-bound migrants
• Protesters, police clash in Bahrain “day of rage”
• On the front lines in Somalia
• Military rulers dissolve Egypt’s Parliament
• Yemeni police block protesters’ march on palace
• Iran’s 1979 revolution is a cautionary tale
• Iran protests—hundreds of thousands march, tear gas fired
• Iran MPs urge death for opponents
• Somali govt. soldiers kill 4 at rally
• ‘Maximum security’ at 4 Israeli embassies due to threats
• Over 200 dead in south Sudan massacre

 

 


PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNION PROTESTS SPREAD FROM WISCONSIN TO OHIO

February 17, 2011 (Bloomberg) -- Demonstrations against bills to restrict public employees’ collective-bargaining rights spilled from Wisconsin into Ohio in what union leaders said was becoming a national fight.
In Madison, Wisconsin, crowds police estimated at 25,000 engulfed the Capitol and its lawns during a third day of protests as Democratic state senators boycotted the legislative session. In Columbus, Ohio, about 3,800 state workers, teachers and other public employees came to the statehouse.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/public-employee-union-protests-...

 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD FINANCING IS CAUGHT IN BUDGET FEUD

February 17, 2011 (New York Times) --Almost unnoticed in the wars over the federal budget has been a pitched battle over money for Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception, medical services and abortions at 800 clinics around the country.

For the last several weeks, those on opposite sides of a sharp cultural divide have engaged in dueling rallies, virtual conferences, online petitions and phone banks as crucial Congressional votes drew near. At stake is more than $75 million that Planned Parenthood receives to provide family planning assistance to low-income women, money that its opponents say only frees up funds for abortions.

Now, in a surprise step that has set off deep alarm among advocates for women’s health, the newly conservative House of Representatives has proposed cutting the entire $317 million program of aid for family planning, known as Title X, in a 2011 spending bill that is expected to pass by the weekend. A proposed amendment to the bill would also bar Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds for any purpose.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/politics/18parenthood.html?_r=1&hp


HOUSE APPROVES PATRIOT ACT EXTENSION, SENDING IT TO OBAMA

February 17, 2011 (Washington Post) -- The House on Thursday passed a 90-day extension of key provisions of the Patriot Act counterterrorism surveillance law, sending the measure on to President Obama for his signature.
The measure passed on a vote of 279 to 143. It extends three provisions of the law until May 27, a compromise reached by congressional leaders to give lawmakers more time to consider re-authorizing them for a longer period of time.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/02/house-approves-short-term-ex...


PROTESTERS, POLICE CLASH IN LIBYA

February 16, 2011 (NPR) -- This week in the city of Benghazi in Libya, hundreds of protesters clashed with government forces. It's just the latest addition to the list of Arab countries where people are protesting. We hear from BBC correspondent Jon Leyne, based in Cairo, who's covering events in Libya.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133816000/Protesters-Police-Clash-In-Libya...

 


APPEALS PLANNED AFTER AMAZON RESIDENTS WIN VERDICT AGAINST CHEVRON
February 15, 2011 (CNN)-- (CNN) -- A judge in Ecuador this week awarded $8.64 billion to Ecuadorian residents of the Amazon who had sued Chevron for years of crude oil pollution, but both sides said Tuesday they will appeal the verdict.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/02/15/ecuador.chevron/index.html?...


CAREGIVERS OF WOUNDED TROOPS STILL WAITING FOR BENEFITS SIGNED INTO LAW BY OBAMA

February 14, 2011 (Washington Post) -- Nine months after President Obama authorized a broad expansion of benefits for those caring for service members severely wounded in the nation's two current wars, none of the assistance has materialized and it is caught up in a bureaucratic tangle that could shrink the number of families eligible for the help.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/13/AR201102...


MEXICAN POLICE CHIEF KILLED IN BOLD ATTACK: REPORT
February 14, 2011 (Reuters)-- Suspected drug hitmen killed a senior police chief in one of the most brazen attacks yet in Monterrey, Mexico's richest city, El Norte daily reported.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-mexico-drugs-idUSTRE71D3DG2...


SECURITY FORCES, OPPOSITION PROTESTERS CLASH IN TEHRAN
Eyewitnesses say tear gas used to disperse pro-Egypt demonstration; protesters chant "death to the dictator"; security forces cut phone lines, blockade opposition leader's home.
February 14, 2011 (Jerusalem Post)-- Eyewitnesses reported Monday that sporadic clashes have erupted in central Tehran's Enghelab or Revolution square between security forces and opposition protesters. Tear gas was used to disperse the protesters, but witnesses report that many have still gathered in nearby Enghelab Avenu.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=208182


TUNISIA DEPLOYS TROOPS TO STOP ITALY-BOUND MIGRANTS
February 14, 2011 (Reuters) -- Tunisia has deployed soldiers to stop a tide of illegal immigrants trying to reach Italy, a military source said on Monday, after Rome said a revolution in the north African country had set off a "biblical exodus." More than 4,000 migrants have crossed the sea from Tunisia to the small Italian island of Lampedusa in the past week, underscoring the lingering instability in Tunisia since protests ousted its president exactly a month ago. Some analysts believe revolts in Tunisia and Egypt could spread to other countries in the region, creating a potential nightmare scenario for European governments which have relied on autocratic leaders in north Africa to help curb migration.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-tunisia-idUSTRE71D2TS20110214


PROTESTERS, POLICE CLASH IN BAHRAIN ON “DAY OF RAGE”
February 14, 2011 (Reuters) - Bahraini police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests on Monday in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital Manama, dampening a "Day of Rage" stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-bahrain-protests-idUSTRE71D...


ON THE FRONT LINES IN SOMALIA
February 14, 2011 (NPR) -- African Union troops have spent more than three years battling Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu, Somalia. The troops, most of them from Uganda, are trying to seize control of Mogadishu.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133756336/On-The-Front-Lines-In-Somalia?ft...


MILITARY RULERS DISSOLVE EGYPT”S PARLIAMENT
February 13, 2011 (Reuters) - Egypt's new military rulers said on Sunday they had dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and would govern only for six months or until elections took place, following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/13/us-egypt-idUSTRE70O3UW20110213


YEMENI POLICE BLOCK PROTESTORS MARCH ON PALACE
February 13, 2011 (Reuters) -- (Reuters) - Hundreds of anti-government protesters, inspired by the mass uprising in Egypt, clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/13/us-yemen-idUSTRE71C0L520110213


EPA CHIEF CRITICIZES GOP ASSAULT ON GREEN HOUSE GAS REGULATION
February 9, 2011 (Los Angeles Times) -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday criticized a bill drafted by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, saying it would strip the agency of its ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The committee's proposed Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 would "eliminate portions of the Clean Air Act, the landmark law that all American children and adults rely on to protect them from harmful air pollution," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson told a packed committee hearing.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/09/nation/la-na-gop-environment-201...


IRAN’S 1979 REVOLUTION IS A CAUTIONARY TALE
February 15, 2011 (NPR)-- Steve Inskeep talks to Dr. Abbas Milani about how events in Egypt compare to the 1979 Revolution in Iran. Milani is the director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University and has just finished a biography of the Iranian monarch called The Shah.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/133769013/Egypt-Iran-Revolution?ft=1&f=3


IRAN PROTESTS – HUNDREDS OF THOUSAND MARCH, TEAR GAS FIRED
February 14, 2011 (Huffington Post) -- Clashes between Iranian police and hundreds of thousands of protesters wracked central Tehran on Monday as security forces beat and fired tear gas at opposition supporters hoping to evoke Egypt's recent popular uprising. Police used tear gas against the protesters in central Tehran's Enghelab, or Revolution, square and in Imam Hossein square, as well as in other nearby main streets. Demonstrators responded by setting garbage bins on fire to protect themselves from the stinging white clouds.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/14/iran-protests_n_822991.html


IRAN MPS URGE DEATH FOR OPPONENTS

February 15, 2011 (Reuters) Iranian lawmakers urged judiciary on Tuesday to hand out death penalties to opposition leaders for fomenting unrest in the Islamic state after a rally in which one person was killed and dozens were wounded, state media said. Clashes broke out between security forces and protesters when thousands of opposition supporters rallied in sympathy for popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday, reviving mass protests that shook Iran after a presidential vote in 2009.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/us-iran-opposition-idUSTRE71D1...


SOMALI GOV'T SOLDIERS KILL 4 AT RALLY
February 15, 2011 (Union-Tribune) -- Somali officials say government soldiers killed four civilians after opening fire on hundreds of civilians attending a peace rally in the capital. Mogadishu's deputy mayor, Warsame Mohamed Jodah, condemned Tuesday's indiscriminate shooting and said the rally was organized to promote peace and targeted no group in particular. Ali Muse, the chief of Mogadishu's ambulance service, says his team collected four bodies. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/15/somali-govt-soldiers-kill...


'MAXIMUM SECURITY' AT 4 ISRAELI EMBASSIES DUE TO THREATS

February 15, 2011 (Jerusalem Post) -- Four Israeli embassies may be closed after serious threats were aimed at them. The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that security at the embassies, which it did not identify, had increased to the maximum level. Security at all Israeli embassies has also been increased, according to reports.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=208319


OVER 200 DEAD IN SOUTH SUDAN "MASSACRE": OFFICIALS
February 15, 2011 (Reuters) -- Attacks by a renegade militia in south Sudan's Jonglei oil state killed at least 211 people, a southern minister said on Tuesday, doubling earlier estimates of the death count. The violence has reignited concerns for the security of the underdeveloped region where voters last month overwhelmingly voted to declare independence from the north in a referendum.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/us-sudan-south-clashes-idUSTRE...


 


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