ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

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April 16, 2012 --  (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   
  • Taliban hits Kabul, other Afghanistan cities in coordinated attack (Washington Post)
  • Man in nursing home awakens listening to music from his past (Time) 
  • U.S. condemns North Korea missile launch, warns on nuclear (Reuters)    
U.S.  
  • Politifact: Romney claim on women job losses under Obama is “mostly false” (Politifact)
  • Just a few states could decide battle for Obama, Romney (Los Angeles Times)
  • US homebuying season finally signaling a recovery (AP)
  • Residents dig out after Midwest tornadoes (NPR) 
  • Don’t wait for Social Security check  in the mail (Bloomberg Businessweek)
  • 15 mind-blowing facts about wealth and inequality in America (Business Insider)

 

 

 
Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories.  

WORLD

 
Taliban hits Kabul, other Afghanistan cities in coordinated attack (Washington Post)
 
April 15, 2012 --  Insurgents attacked cities across eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, including at least three prominent targets in Kabul, a rare coordinated effort spanning some of the country’s most important population centers. The Taliban promptly asserted responsibility for the string of suicide bombings and firefights, calling the strikes the beginning of its spring offensive.
By midnight, as the attacks continued for an 11th hour, at least 14 police officers and nine civilians had been wounded, according to the Interior Ministry. Western officials said the swift actions of Afghan security forces kept the incidents from causing more casualties.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/taliban-hits-afghan-capital-other-cities-in-rare-coordinated-attack/2012/04/15/gIQAtSmAJT_story.html?hpid=z1
Man in nursing home awakens listening to music from his past (Time)
 
April 11, 2012 -- To watch Henry—an elderly man who has spent over ten years in a nursing home, barely able to answer yes or no questions—come alive when listening to music from his past is a reminder of the powerful, inspiring, and affecting power of music.
 
A new documentary, Alive Inside, follows the “awakening” that occurs when people suffering from memory loss and Alzheimer’s are given music they have a strong emotional connection to — often, music they grew up with. In the clip, Henry is barely responsive before one of his caretakers puts headphones on him and starts up one of his favorite tunes. Almost instantly, we see Henry swaying from side to side and singing, his eyes wide open.
 
U.S. condemns North Korea missile launch, warns on nuclear (Reuters)

April 16, 2012 -- The U.N. Security Council on Monday strongly condemned North Korea's rocket launch, urged tightening of existing U.N. sanctions and warned Pyongyang of further consequences if it carries out another missile launch or nuclear test.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16/us-korea-north-un-idUSBRE83F03E20120416
 
U.S.
 
Politifact: Romney claim on women job losses under Obama is “mostly false” (Politifact)
 
April 11, 2012 -- Women account for 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under Obama."
Mitt Romney on Friday, April 6th, 2012 in Mitt Romney's website
 
Just a few states could decide battle for Obama, Romney (Los Angeles Times)
 
April 15, 2012 -- With the November field set, Americans can look forward to months of trench warfare as President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney wage a costly, brutal and scathingly negative fight over a narrow slice of voters in a limited number of states.

Although Romney still must accumulate the 1,144 delegates he needs to officially claim the Republican presidential nomination — a task made infinitely easier by the exit of his chief rival, Rick Santorum — the more important calculation involves the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-romney-strategy-20120416,0,6446713.story

 
US homebuying season finally signaling a recovery (AP)
April 15, 2012 -- Five years after the U.S. housing bust sent sales and prices plunging, the spring home-buying season is pointing to a long-awaited recovery.
Reduced prices, record-low mortgage rates, higher rents and an improving job market appear to be emboldening many would-be buyers. Open houses are drawing crowds. A wave of foreclosures is leading investors to grab bargain-priced homes.
And many people seem to have concluded that prices won't drop much further. In some areas, prices have begun to tick up.
 
Residents dig out after Midwest tornadoes (NPR)
 
April 15, 2012 -- The television was on and tuned to forecasters' dire warnings of an impending storm when Greg Tomlyanobich heard a short burst from a tornado siren blare after midnight. Then silence. Then rumbling.

The 52-year-old quickly grabbed his wife and grandson, hurrying them into the emergency cellar as debris whirled around their heads at their mobile home park in northwest Oklahoma. They huddled inside with about 20 other people before the tornado, among more than 100 reported to have swept across the nation's midsection during the weekend, roared across the ground above, ripping homes from their foundations.
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/15/150681488/residents-dig-out-after-tornadoes-strike-midwest

Don’t wait for Social Security check  in the mail (Bloomberg Businessweek)
 
April 15, 2012 -- Starting next year, the check will no longer be in the mail for millions of people who receive Social Security and other government benefits.
The federal government, which issues 73 million payments a month, is phasing out paper checks for all benefit programs, requiring people to get payments electronically, either through direct deposit or a debit card for those without a bank account.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U5M6RO0.htm
 
15 mind-blowing facts about wealth and inequality in America (Business Insider)
 
April 9, 2012 -- The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Cliché, sure, but it's also more true than at any time since the Gilded Age.
The poor are getting poorer, wages are falling behind inflation, and social mobility is at an all-time low. 
If you're in that top 1%, life is grand.

 

 

 


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