ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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June 11, 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.

WORLD

 

For excerpts and links to full stories, click "read more" and scroll down.

 

U.S.

Reports on surveillance of Americans fuel debate over privacy, security (Reuters)

The debate over whether the government is violating citizens' privacy rights while trying to protect them from terrorism escalated dramatically on Thursday amid reports that authorities have collected data on millions of phone users and tapped into servers at nine internet companies

White House defends surveillance as world digests leaker’s motives (CNN)

he White House said Monday it welcomes a debate over the electronic surveillance programs exposed by a National Security Agency contractor, even as federal agents began building a case against the self-proclaimed leaker.

U.S. farmer lawsuit filed against Monsanto over GMO wheat  (Reuters) - American wheat farmers and a food safety advocacy group filed a lawsuit Thursday against biotech seed developer Monsanto Co, accusing the company of failing to protect the U.S. wheat market from contamination by its unauthorized wheat. The petition, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, seeks class-action status to represent other farmers It says were harmed by lower wheat prices as some foreign buyers have shied away from U.S. wheat.

Supreme Court bars retroactive use of sentencing guidelines (Washington Post)

A divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that tougher sentencing guidelines passed after someone commits a crime cannot be used to justify a longer sentence for the defendant.

Chrysler refuses to recall 2.7 million Jeep SUVs   (CNN)

Chrysler Group says Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs that federal safety regulators say is at risk of fire in rear-end crashes are safe.

Senate passes five-year farm bill (The Hill)

The Senate on Monday approved a five-year farm bill in a 66-27 vote. More than 15 Republicans joined most Democrats in supporting the bill, which would cut $24 billion from farm spending over 10 years, including a $4 billion reduction to food stamps. Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and Jack Reed (R.I.) were the only Democrats who voted against the bill.

White House defends top officials' use of 'secret' accounts (Christian Science Monitor)

...an Associated Press investigation showed that some of the president’s top political appointees are using “secret” government e-mail accounts in a bid to avoid unwanted messages.

WORLD

East Africans told to resettle: Are these 'land grabs' or progress? (Christian Science Monitor)

In Ethiopia, a plan known as 'villagization' has freed up vast tracts for foreign corporations and brought a storm over methods of development at the World Bank.

Masai herders appear victims of land deal with Dubai hunting firm (Christian Science Monitor)

Tanzania plans to move Maasai families off ancestral land, claiming environmental necessity to protect wildebeest.

Mexico says it rescues 165 migrants kidnapped near U.S. border (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Mexican troops have rescued 165 people, mostly Central Americans including children and pregnant women, who were kidnapped by a gunman in Mexico's northeast and held captive less than a mile from the U.S. border, the government said on Thursday.

In Gaza, Hamas Targets Palestinian Informants In Crackdown (NPR)

Palestinians convicted of working for Israel's security forces face harsh punishment, which can include vigilante justice. Hamas, the Islamic group that runs the Gaza Strip, has been waging a campaign to crack down on Palestinian collaborators, or informants.

Most Europeans, especially the French, unhappy about EU: survey (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of French people think the European Union is headed in the wrong direction and more than half disapprove of President Francois Hollande's leadership, according to a widely-watched survey released on Wednesday.

Anti Khamenei slogans chanted at large Iran protest (Jerusalem Post)

Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral of Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri in Iran's second largest city....  Taheri, who died on Sunday at 87, was a pro-reformist Friday prayer leader in Isfahan who resigned from his post in protest, and was a vocal opponent of the Iranian hardliners in power, according to the report.  Protesters at the funeral chanted “shame on the dictator” and called for lifting house arrest on reformist and opposition leaders, Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya reported. 

Another contaminated water leak at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant (Reuters)

(Reuters) - The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said it had found another leak of contaminated water on Wednesday, piling pressure on the utility to curb the problem as it seeks permission to release water to the sea.

15 dead in European flooding, thousands evacuated (UT San Diego)

At least 15 people have died and four others are missing in the floods that have ravaged central Europe, authorities said Wednesday as swollen rivers surged downstream toward Germany.

Egypt prosecutor orders trial for leading activists (Reuters)

 Egypt's public prosecutor ordered a group of political activists to stand trial on Wednesday on charges they incited violence near the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in March, a case that has hardened rights activists' fears of a crackdown.

Convictions put Egypt's beleaguered NGOs into deeper chill (+video) (Christian Science Monitor)

In a case that has sent a chill over Egypt's civil society, an Egyptian court convicted 43 nonprofit workers, including more than a dozen Americans, of illegally operating non-governmental organizations and accepting unauthorized foreign funds, sentencing them to up to five years in prison.

Pakistan PM Sharif sworn in, calls for end to drone strikes (Reuters)

 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, formally elected by parliament on Wednesday, again called for an end to U.S. drone strikes aimed at militants which many view as a breach of Pakistan's sovereignty..

Not Everyone Cheers Turkey's Move To Tighten Alcohol Rules (NPR)

Among the many reasons for ongoing riots in Turkey: A recent law restricting the advertising and sale of alcohol. Secular Turks see the new rules as the latest effort by the ruling AK Party to impose religious values on the population.

Putin orders crackdown on Islamists, police detain 300 people (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Russian police rounded up 300 people at a Muslim prayer room in Moscow on Friday after President Vladimir Putin ordered a crackdown on radical Islamists ahead of next year's Winter Olympics.


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