May 16, 2013 (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 reflect 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:

U.S.

• White House pushes media shield law (Washington Post)
• IRS: First heads roll (The Hill)

• Companies won't face charges in condor deaths    (Los Angeles Times)

• Senate overwhelmingly approves water infrastructure bill  (Sacramento Bee)
• U.S. Safety board is proposing tougher drunk driving standards (CNN)
• Associated Press: Feds Secretly Obtained Reporter Phone Logs (NPR)
• Holder Defends Subpoena Of Journalists' Phone Logs
• Monsanto: The behemoth that controls 90 percent of soybean production (Marketplace.org)
• Exactly what did the IRS want to know?  (NPR)
• Who is profiting from charters? The big bucks behind charter school secrecy, financial scandal and corruption (Alternet)
• Texas man held on pipe bomb charges denies role in fertilizer plant blast  (Chicago Tribune)
• Tsarnaev 2011 murders? Boston-bombing brothers also could be linked to earlier deaths. (Christian Science Monitor)

WORLD

• Award goes to Pakistani girl shot by Taliban (U-T San Diego)
• Mexico sets shelters as volcano shakes, spews ash (U-T San Diego)
• Ex-dictator convicted of genocide in Guatemala (U-T San Diego)
• Rat meat and Chinese food safety (BBC)

Click "read more" and sccroll down down for excerpts and links to full stories

U.S.

White House pushes media shield law (Washington Post)

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. offered few new details Wednesday on Capitol Hill about the Justice Department’s decision to secretly obtain journalists’ phone records, as the White House began pushing for a federal media shield law in an apparent act of damage control amid criticism by members of both political parties and the news media….The Free Flow of Information Act would protect journalists from being compelled to testify about their confidential sources, unless all other avenues are exhausted and exposure is in the public interest.

IRS: First heads roll (The Hill)

Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven Miller resigned on Wednesday over his role in the agency’s controversial singling out of conservative groups.

Companies won't face charges in condor deaths    (Los Angeles Times)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants exceptions to a wind farm and a building project in harassing or killing the endangered birds.

Senate overwhelmingly approves water infrastructure bill  (Sacramento Bee)

In a rare display of bipartisanship on major legislation, the Senate passed a bill Wednesday to move forward on a variety of water infrastructure projects throughout the country.… Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who sponsored the legislation, told colleagues that she was gratified.

U.S. Safety board is proposing tougher drunk driving standards (CNN)

A common benchmark in the United States for determining when a driver is legally drunk is not doing enough to prevent alcohol-related crashes that kill about 10,000 people each year and should be made more restrictive, transportation safety investigators say.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended on Tuesday that all 50 states adopt a blood-alcohol content (BAC) cutoff of 0.05 compared to the 0.08 standard on the books today and used by law enforcement and the courts to prosecute drunk driving.

Associated Press: Feds Secretly Obtained Reporter Phone Logs (NPR)

 The Associated Press news agency says that the Department of Justice secretly obtained two months of telephone records on 20 lines used by its reporters and editors.

Holder Defends Subpoena Of Journalists' Phone Logs

The attorney general says the time and scope covered by the subpoena of Associated Press phone logs fell within Justice Department guidelines.

Monsanto: The behemoth that controls 90 percent of soybean production (Marketplace.org)

This morning the company won a unanimous case before the Supreme Court that threatened to undercut its market share. In other words, Goliath beat David.

Exactly what did the IRS want to know?  (NPR)

What would you do if the IRS wanted to see your interactions on social media? At least one Tea Party group in Ohio received just such.  As part of a broad inquiry for information about the group's activities after it had applied for tax-exempt status, the IRS wanted details about how the Ohio Liberty Coalition promotes or publicizes itself on social media such as Facebook. And that's not all the IRS wanted to know.

Who is profiting from charters? The big bucks behind charter school secrecy, financial scandal and corruption (Alternet)

This article is part of a two-part series that looks at mass school closings targeting America’s inner cities and the promise of charter schools as a magic solution to alleged “failing schools.” Part I explained how the charter school movement cynically appropriates civil rights rhetoric, but often leaves the most vulnerable students worse off than before. In Part II, AlterNet looks at a more likely motivation for the “reforms”: Profit.

Texas man held on pipe bomb charges denies role in fertilizer plant blast  (Chicago Tribune)

A paramedic accused of possessing pipe bomb components will plead not guilty to that charge and denies any involvement in causing the deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant that he was among the first to respond to, his lawyer said on Saturday.

Tsarnaev 2011 murders? Boston-bombing brothers also could be linked to earlier deaths. (Christian Science Monitor)

Tsarnaev 2011 murders? Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was friends with one of the victims of a 2011 triple homicide near Boston. According to some news reports, investigators are exploring evidence that could link him and his brother to that crime.

WORLD

Award goes to Pakistani girl shot by Taliban (U-T San Diego)

A Pakistani human rights activist who founded an all-girls school said the Taliban was "more afraid of the books than bombs" as he and his 15-year-old daughter, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban late last year, were honored Monday at the memorial for Oklahoma City bombing victims. 

Mexico sets shelters as volcano shakes, spews ash (U-T San Diego)

Seismic activity has increased at the Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City, leading authorities to alert towns in two central states and the capital.  Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center says the white-capped volcano spewed a plume of steam more than a half mile into the sky. The volcano shook during Saturday night, sometimes emitting glowing rock over the crater.  The government deployed soldiers and federal police to the area Sunday in the event of a bigger eruption, and officials closed off a seven-square-mile  zone around the cone of the 17,886-foot (5,450-meter) volcano. State authorities prepared shelters.

Ex-dictator convicted of genocide in Guatemala (U-T San Diego)

A Guatemalan court convicted former dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity on Friday, sentencing him to 80 years in prison, the first such sentence ever handed down against a former Latin American leader....

Rat meat and Chinese food safety (BBC)

The latest food scandal in China - which has seen rat meat passed off as lamb - has raised more questions about food safety in the country.