ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

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March 24, 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:

 

• ‘Civilians spared’ by Libya Raids (BBC )
• Obama condemns bombing in Jerusalem, urges calm (Reuters)
• 1 dead, 39 injured in Jerusalem bus station bombing (Jerusalem Post)
• Palestinian rocket slams into Ashkelon (Jerusalem Post)
• Radiation found in Tokyo water, infants shouldn’t drink (Reuters)
• Urgent: radiation 1600 times normal 20 km from Fukishima plant. IAEA (Kyodo)
• Japan quake loaded stress on fault closer to Tokyo (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Does Japan quake make a U.S. quake more likely? (Mother Jones)
• California Republican convention scorns Brown tax plan (Sacramento)
• Poll: Deficits best closed by cuts and taxes (Washington Post)
• Genetically modified crops get boost over organics with recent USDA rulings
• Reid: Rider on Planned Parenthood won’t be included in budget deal (The Hill)
• Saudis arrest 100 Shi’ite protesters: rights group (Reuters)
• Saudis gather to demand release of prisoners (Reuters)


‘CIVILIANS SPARED’ BY LIBYA RAIDS

 

March 23, 2011 (BBC)--The US chief of staff for the mission in Libya has insisted there have been no reports of civilian casualties caused by allied action.
  

Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber's comments come despite claims to the contrary by Muammar Gaddafi's government.
 

Earlier, British Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell said Col Gaddafi's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force".
 

Latest reports from Libya speak of an explosion at a military base in the Tajura region east of Tripoli.
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12843741

 

OBAMA CONDEMNS BOMBING IN JERUSALEM, URGES CALM

 

March 23, 2011 (Reuters) -- President Barack Obama condemned a bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday that killed one person and injured at least 30 others, as well as rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in recent days.
  

"There is never any possible justification for terrorism. The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defense," Obama said in a written statement.
 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-israel-explosion-obama-idUSTRE72M65B20110323

1 DEAD, 39 INJURED IN JERUSALEM BUS STATION BOMBING
 

March 23, 2011 (Jerusalem Post)-- A 60-year-old woman died and 39 were injured after a bomb exploded at a bus station in central Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon.

 

Police said the explosion took place outside Egged bus number 74 at a station opposite the Jerusalem Conference Center (Binyanei Ha'uma) in the center of town.

http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=213442

 

PALESTINIAN ROCKET SLAMS INTO ASHKELON

 

March 23, 2011 (Jerusalem Post) -- An escalation in the shelling of southern Israel by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza continued on Sunday, when a Grad-type rocket fired from Gaza slammed into southern Ashkelon in the evening hours. Two residents suffered shock as a result of the blast, and were taken to a clinic for medical treatment.

 

A rocket alert system rang out across Ashkelon at around 7:20 p.m., local officials said.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=213072

 

RADIATION FOUND IN TOKYO WATER, INFANTS SHOULDN’T DRINK
 

March 22, 2011 (Reuters) - Radiation exceeding health limits for infants was found in a Tokyo city water purifier and authorities are advising that the water not be given to babies, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official said, confirming an earlier report by NHK public TV.
  

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/japan-water-idUSS7E7EN00420110323


URGENT: RADIATION 1.600 TIMES NORMAL 20 KM FROM FUKISHIMA PLANT, IAEA

 

March 22, 2011 (Kyodo)-- Radiation 1,600 times higher than normal levels has been detected in an area about 20 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, International Atomic Energy Agency officials said Monday.
  

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/80057.html


JAPAN QUAKE LOADED STRESS ON FAULT CLOSER TO TOKYO

 

March 21, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune)--The recent monster quake that hit northeastern Japan altered the earth's surface, geologists say, loading stress onto a different segment of the fault line much closer to Tokyo.
 

Experts are quick to point out that this doesn't mean a powerful earthquake is necessarily about to strike the Japanese capital. Even if it did, the structure of the tectonic plates and fault lines around the city makes it unlikely that Tokyo would be hit by a quake anywhere near the intensity of the 9.0-magnitude one that struck March 11, said Roger Musson of the British Geological Survey.
 

But, given the vast population - Tokyo and its surroundings are home to 39 million people - any strong temblor could be devastating.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/mar/21/japan-quake-loaded-stress...

DOES JAPAN QUAKE MAKE A U.S. QUAKE MORE LIKELY?
 

March 21, 2011 (Mother Jones)--Seismically speaking, it's been a rough few months on the Pacific rim. On February 27, 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile. In September, two major quakes rocked New Zealand's South Island, and a 6.3 followed in February in Christchurch. Just a few weeks after that, the devastating 9.0 quake struck Japan, causing a tsunami and a nuclear crisis. These quakes occurred on three of the four "corners" of the notoriously jumpy Ring of Fire. The other corner? The West Coast of the United States. So does this series of earthquakes up the US's chances of the dreaded "Big One"?
  

This Newsweek story from last week suggests that the answer is yes, since the earth is "like a great brass bell, which when struck by an enormous hammer blow on one side sets to vibrating and ringing from all over."
 

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/03/does-japan-quake-made-us-quake-more-likely

 

CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN CONVENTION SCORNS BROWN TAX PLAN
 

March 20, 2011 (Sacramento Bee)--Taxes and primary endorsements were the talk of the California Republican Party convention in Sacramento on Saturday, as party officials and delegates wrestled with ways to boost their share of the statewide electorate.
  

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/20/3489333/california-republican-convention.html#ixzz1HUmls24Y


POLL: DEFICIT BEST CLOSED BY CUTS AND TAXES

 

March 23, 2011 (Washington Post) -- A sizable majority of all Americans — and nearly half of Republicans — say the best way to slice the federal budget deficit is by cutting spending and increasing taxes, according to last week’s Washington Post-ABC News poll.
  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-deficit-best-closed-by-cuts-and-taxes/2011/03/23/AB7EOHJB_story.html
 

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS GET BOOST OVER ORGANICS WITH RECENT USDA RULINGS
 

March 23, 2011 (Washington Post)--At the supermarket, most shoppers are oblivious to a battle raging within U.S. agriculture and the Obama administration’s role in it. Two thriving but opposing sectors — organics and genetically engineered crops — have been warring on the farm, in the courts and in Washington.
 

Organic growers say that, without safeguards, their foods will be contaminated by genetically modified crops growing nearby. The genetic engineering industry argues that its way of farming is safe and should not be restricted in order to protect organic competitors.
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/genetically-modified-crops-get-boost-over-organics-with-recent-usda-rulings/2011/03/10/ABAAWNLB_story.html#weighIn

 

REID: RIDER ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD WON’T BE INCLUDED IN BUDGET DEAL
 

March 17, 2011 (The Hill) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday drew a firm line with Republicans, declaring that a controversial Planned Parenthood measure will not be included in any deal on the budget.
  

Reid’s warning, coupled with the GOP’s insistence that taxpayer dollars should not fund Planned Parenthood, increase the chances of a government shutdown.
 

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/150629-reid-no-deal-on-abortion-planned-parenthood

 

SAUDIS ARREST 100 SHI’ITE PROTESTERS: RIGHTS GROUP
 

March 23, 2011 (Reuters) – Saudi authorities arrested 100 Shi'ite protesters during demonstrations in the east of the country last week, a Saudi human rights group said on Wednesday. Hundreds attended protests in and around the region's main Shi'ite center, Qatif, calling for the release of prisoners and withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain.
  

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-saudi-arrests-idUSTRE72M24Y20110323?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FworldNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+International%29

 

SAUDIS GATHER TO DEMAND RELEASE OF PRISONERS
 

March 20, 2011 (Reuters) --Dozens of Saudi men gathered outside the Interior Ministry in the capital Riyadh on Sunday to demand the release of jailed relatives, amid a heavy police presence.
 

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-saudi-protests-idUSTRE72J12Y20110320?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FworldNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+International%29

 


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