ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL & NATIONAL NEWS

June 9, 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.

• Giant fire threatens to put power, commerce on the fritz (USA Today)
• Bank of America gets padlocked after homeowner forecloses on it (WFMY News)
• House Dems to call for expiration of Bush tax cuts in debt limit deal (The Hill)
• Wash. Post-ABC News poll shows Americans torn over raising debt limit (Wash.Post)
• Citigroup confirms customer accounts hacked (NPR)
• Playing politics with gasoline prices (FactCheck.org)
• Talk radio’s long war on Fairness Doctrine is over (Atlantic Journal)
• High command quits Gingrich campaign (Washington Post)
• Palin’s official Alaska e-mails to be released (Los Angeles Times)
• Romney draws early fire from conservatives over views on climate change (Wash.Post)
 

WORLD

• Nuclear fuel has melted through base of Fukushima plant (London Telegraph)
• Hackers swap cupcake recipes for bomb recipes on Al Qaeda website (CNN)
• Flamboyant ex-Tijuana mayor arrested with arsenal in Mexico (Reuters)
• Syria faces sanctions for alleged nuclear facility (NPR)
• Japan green tea contaminated with radiation (Herald Sun – Australia)
• Egypt reopens Rafah crossing after Palestinian breech (Jerusalem Post)
• Egypt to put 48 on trial for church clash (Reuters)
• Yemeni president Salah has surgery in Saudi; crowd cheers exit (Reuters)
• Syria: Up to 14 Palestinians killed as hundreds of protesters storm Israeli border (Haretz)
• “We came close to losing northern Japan” (CNN)
• Over 10,000 flee clashes in Sudan border state (Reuters)
• Up to 15,000 killed in Libya War: U.N. rights expert (Reuters)
• After Japan, where’s the next nuclear weak link? (Reuters)
• Thousands of Syrians flee unrest to Turkey (Al Jazeera)

U.S.

GIANT FIRE THREATENS TO PUT POWER, COMMERCE ON THE FRITZ

June 9, 2011 (USA Today)— Fire crews on Thursday managed to stop flames from spreading to eastern Arizona mountain communities as a growing forest fire forced thousands from their homes and threatened transmission lines that supply electricity as far east as Texas.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/2011-06-09-Arizona-wildfire-th...

BANK OF AMERICA GETS PADLOCKED AFTER HOMEOWNER FORECLOSES ON IT

June 5, 2011 (WFMY News )--Collier County, Florida -- Have you heard the one about a homeowner foreclosing on a bank?

Well, it has happened in Florida and involves a North Carolina based bank. Instead of Bank of America foreclosing on some Florida homeowner, the homeowners had sheriff's deputies foreclose on the bank.
http://www.digtriad.com/news/watercooler/article/178031/176/Florida-Home...
 

HOUSE DEMS TO CALL FOR EXPIRATION OF BUSH TAX CUTS IN DEBT-LIMIT DEAL

June 9, 2011 (The Hill) -- A group of House Democrats is calling for any deal to raise the debt ceiling to bring about the end of the Bush tax rates for the wealthy.
 

The lawmakers, led by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), also say that, following last week’s weak job report, they are concerned that certain decreases in federal spending could hurt the economy’s recovery.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/165673-house-dems-to-c...

WASHINGTON POST-ABC NEWS POLL SHOWS AMERICANS TORN OVER RAISING DEBT LIMIT

June 9, 2011 (Washington Post)-- large majority of Americans say the U.S. economy would probably suffer serious harm if Congress fails to give the federal government more borrowing authority. But barely half support raising the government’s debt limit, even if lawmakers also sharply cut spending,
 

. . .The survey highlights the political pressures facing lawmakers and the White House as they lurch toward Aug. 2, when the U.S. Treasury says it is likely to default on its obligations unless Congress agrees to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit. Bipartisan talks aimed at reaching a compromise are set to resume Thursday on Capitol Hill, focusing on Democratic demands for fresh revenue as well as possible mechanisms for enforcing a multi-year agreement to cut spending.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/washington-post-abc-news-...

CITIGROUP CONFIRMS CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS HACKED

June 9, 2011 (NPR)--Thursday, Citigroup confirmed that some customer account information was accessed by hackers. The attack affected only about 1 percent of customers. But still, it's another example of hackers breaking into companies that are supposed to be super secure. Recently, data storage company EMC Ltd had to replace millions of electronic keys, Sony faced several attacks, Google got hit, and now Citigroup. Is anything hack proof?
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/137089303/citigroup-confirms-customers-hac...

PLAYING POLITICS WITH GASOLINE PRICES

Both parties make questionable claims about gasoline, oil.
May 27, 2011 (FactCheck.org) -- Democrats and Republicans disagree on energy policy, but this they share: Both shade the facts on the complex issue for political advantage.
http://factcheck.org/2011/05/playing-politics-with-gasoline-prices/

TALK RADIO’S LONG WAR ON THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE IS OVER

June 8, 2011 (Atlantic Journal)--Right-wing radio's long battle against the Fairness Doctrine is over. Today, Federal Communications Commission chief Julius Genachowski said he's removing the Fairness Doctrine from the agency's rulebook.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2011/06/talk-radios-long-war-fai...

HIGH COMMAND QUITS GINGRICH CAMPAIGN

June 9, 2011 (Washington Post) -- Less than a month after one of the most calamitous political launches in recent memory, former House speaker Newt Gingrich’s campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination imploded on Thursday, when its top officials quit en masse.
At least 16 of the former lawmaker’s advisers, including all of his senior campaign aides, departed the fledgling operation in a major and potentially devastating shake-up.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/high-command-quits-gingrich-campa...

PALIN’S OFFICIAL ALASKA EMAILS TO BE RELEASED

June 10, 2011 (Los Angeles Times)--The state plans to release more than 24,000 pages of emails from her time as governor. The Times will put them in a searchable archive online.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-palin-emails-20110610,0,68652...
 

ROMNEY DRAWS EARLY FIRE FROM CONSERVATIVES OVER VIEWS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

June 8, 2011 (Washington D.C.) -- It seemed like a straightforward question on a second-tier issue: Would Mitt Romney disavow the science behind global warming?
The putative Republican presidential front-runner, eager to prove his conservative bona fides, could easily have said what he knew many in his party’s base wanted to hear.
Instead, the former Massachusetts governor stuck to the position he has held for many years — that he believes the world is getting warmer and that humans are contributing to that pattern.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-draws-early-fire-from-cons...

WORLD

NUCLEAR FUEL HAS MELTED THROUGH BASE OF FUKUSHIMA PLANT

June 9, 2011 (London Telegraph)--The nuclear fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant has melted through the base of the pressure vessels and is pooling in the outer containment vessels, according to a report by the Japanese government.
The findings of the report, which has been given to the International Atomic Energy Agency, were revealed by the Yomiuri newspaper, which described a "melt-through" as being "far worse than a core meltdown" and "the worst possibility in a nuclear accident."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8565020/Nuclear-fue...

HACKERS SWAP CUPCAKE RECIPES FOR BOMB RECIPES ON AL QAEDA WEBSITE

June 4, 2011 (CNN) -- Some hackers in the U.K. pulled off a cyber attack on an al Qaeda website, replacing bomb recipes with cupcake recipes

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/06/04/exp.nr.cupcakes...

FLAMBOYANT EX-MAYOR ARRESTED WITH ARSENAL IN MEXICO

June 4, 2011 (Reuters)--The millionaire businessman, who owns a successful chain of casinos, a soccer team and racetrack, was arrested during a raid in an upscale Tijuana neighborhood, the army and federal prosecutors said in a statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/04/us-mexico-arrest-idUSTRE7531TV...

SYRIA FACES SANCTIONS FOR ALLEGED NUCLEAR FACILITY

June 9, 2011 (NPR)--The U.N.'s nuclear agency has decided to refer Syria to the Security Council over a suspect installation that is widely believed to have been a clandestine nuclear reactor. The installation was destroyed in a 2007 Israeli air strike, but IAEA officials say its inspectors have been banned from fully investigating the vestiges as well as other suspect installations in Syria. The Security Council could impose sanctions on Damascus similar to those already in place for Iran.
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/137089315/syria-faces-sanctions-for-allege...
 

JAPAN GREEN TEA CONTAMINATED WITH RADIATION

June 10, 2011 (Herald Sun/Australia)-- JAPANESE green tea, esteemed around the world for its purity and health-enhancing properties, has become contaminated with radiation, as fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continues to blight Japan's agricultural heartlands, authorities revealed today.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japans-green-tea-contamin...

EGYPT REOPENS RAFAH CROSSING AFTER PALESTINIAN BREACH

June 3, 2011 (Jerusalem Post)--After bus loads of passengers left waiting at the shut Rafah border, angry Palestinians force gate open; tensions grow between Hamas and Egypt.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/04/us-mexico-arrest-idUSTRE7531TV...

EGYPT TO PUT 48 ON TRIAL FOR CHURCH CLASH

June 4, 2011 (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor said it had referred 48 Muslims and Christians to criminal court on Saturday for their roles in sectarian violence that led to the burning of a church in the Cairo district of Imbaba on May 7. The clashes, in which 12 people were killed and 52 wounded, were sparked by rumors that Christians had abducted a woman, Abeer Fakhry, who had converted to Islam. Among the charges against the 48 were incitement to sectarian violence, premeditated murder, terrorism and arson, the prosecutor said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/04/us-egypt-sectarian-court-idUST...

YEMENI’S PRESIDENT SALAH HAS SURGERY IN SAUDI; CROWDS CHEER EXIT

June 5, 2011 (Reuters)--Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in an attack on his palace, underwent surgery in Saudi Arabia and Yemenis seeking his overthrow celebrated what they hoped was the end of his 33-year rule.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/05/us-yemen-idUSTRE73L1PP20110605...
 

SYRIA: UP TO 14 PALESTINIANS KILLED AS HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS STORM ISRAEL BORDER
 

June 5, 2011 (Haretz)--At least four mines reportedly exploded near Syrian town of Quneitra, injuring many of the hundreds of protesters who gathered on Israeli border to mark 44 years since beginning of 1967 Six-Day War.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/syria-up-to-14-palestinian...

“WE CAME CLOSE TO LOSING NORTHERN JAPAN”

May 31, 2011 (CNN video)-- “It was even worse than the worst imagination of the media” — Radiation now “leaking through cracks in the containment and melted holes” after total meltdown…school children exposed to 20 times what an atomic worker is exposed to. (CNN VIDEO)

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/05/31/exp.arena.japan...

OVER 10,000 FLEE CLASHES IN SUDAN BORDER STATE: U.N.

June 9, 2011 (Reuters)--More than 10,000 people displaced by fighting in Sudan's Southern Kordofan were staying near a U.N. compound on Thursday, the country mission spokesman said, after nearly a week of clashes in the tense border state.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/09/us-sudan-kordofan-idUSTRE75863...

UP TO 15,000 KILLED IN LIBYA WAR: U.N. RIGHTS EXPERT

June 9, 2011 (Reuters - An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people have been killed on both sides in four months of fighting in Libya, according to Cherif Bassiouni, who led a U.N. Human Rights Council mission to Tripoli and rebel-held areas in late April.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/09/us-libya-un-deaths-idUSTRE7584...

SPECIAL REPORT: AFTER JAPAN, WHERE’S THE NEXT NUCLEAR WEAK LINK?

June 9, 2011 (Reuters)--Imagine a country where corruption is rampant, infrastructure is very poor, or the quality of security is in question. Now what if that country built a nuclear power plant?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/09/us-nuclear-power-emerging-idUS...

THOUSANDS OF SYRIANS FLEE UNREST TO TURKEY

June 9, 2011 (Al Jazeera) -- More than 2,400 refugees flee unrest in Jisr al-Shughur and other towns as Turkish officials brace for further arrivals.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/06/201169131651223112.html