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July 13, 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 U.S. news headlines include:
U.S.
- Senator calls for investigation of News Corp (Reuters)
- Defense Secretary: U.S. within reach of `strategically defeating’ Al Qaeda (ABC)
- Suicide and a nation’s condolences (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Former First Lady Betty Ford dies at 93 (Sacramento Bee)
- Democrats launch campaigns by blowing GOP Medicare plan (Washington Post)
- Republican ‘change’ ad hits TV (CNN)
- Fact-checking Michele Bachmann (PolitiFact)
- Victory for media diversity: court strikes down FCC attempt to relax media ownership rules (Democracy Now)
WORLD
- Mumbai: Explosions shake India’s financial hub (CNN)
- Celebrating Independence Day for South Sudan (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Murdoch, savaged by Parliament, pulls BSkyB bid (Reuters)
- A prenatal surgery for Spina Bifida comes of age (NPR)
- Pakistan’s nuclear bomb-maker says North Korea paid bribes for know-how (Washington Post)
U.S.
SENATOR CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF NEWS CORP
July 13, 2011 (Reuters)-- A senator called for an investigation of News Corp following the telephone hacking scandal at one of its British newspapers, signaling the crisis could spread to the United States.
Senator John Rockefeller, chairman of the committee on commerce, science and transportation, said phone-hacking at News of the World raised "serious questions" about whether the newspaper's parent company had broken any U.S. laws.
So far, the scandal has largely been contained to the British business of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. But News Corp is based in New York, and owns a clutch of prominent media properties in the United States, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Fox News.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/13/us-newscorp-rockefeller-idUSTR...
DEFENSE SECRETARY LEON PANETTA IN AFGHANISTAN: U.S. WITHIN REACH OF ‘STRATEGICALLY DEFEATING’ AL QAEDA
July 9, 2011 (ABC News)--The United States is "within reach of strategically defeating al Qaeda," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today en route to Afghanistan.
"I think now is the moment -- now is the moment to put maximum pressure on them because I do believe that if we continue this effort that we can really cripple al Qaeda as a threat to this country," Panetta told reporters on board a flight to the war-torn country.
With the killing of Osama bin Laden, U.S. forces recovered a "treasure trove" of intelligence, which Panetta said has allowed U.S. intelligence to identify 10 to 20 key al Qaeda leaders who are based in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/defense-secretary-leon-panetta-lands-afgh...
SUICIDE AND A NATION’S CONDOLENCES
July 10, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board)-- Suicide is the quiet, coldly efficient assassin of America’s warriors.
Consider this chilling fact: Last year, more military personnel died by their own hand than were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/10/suicide-and-a-nations-con...
FORMER FIRST LADY BETTY FORD DIES AT 93
July 9, 2011 (Sacramento Bee)--Betty Ford said things that first ladies just don't say, even today. And 1970s America loved her for it.
According to Mrs. Ford, her young adult children probably had smoked marijuana - and if she were their age, she'd try it, too. ..She mused that living together before marriage might be wise, thought women should be drafted into the military if men were, and spoke up unapologetically for abortion rights, taking a position contrary to the president's. "Having babies is a blessing, not a duty," Mrs. Ford said.…In an era when cancer was discussed in hushed tones and mastectomy was still a taboo subject, the first lady shared the specifics of her breast cancer surgery. The publicity helped bring the disease into the open and inspired countless women to seek breast examinations.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/08/3757245/former-first-lady-betty-ford-di...
DEMOCRATS LAUNCH CAMPAIGNS BY BLOWING UP GOP MEDICARE PLAN
July 9, 2011 (Washington Post)--Democratic House candidates across the country are signaling a desire to make the GOP’s plan for Medicare reform a real issue — early and often — in the 2012 election.
From California to New Hampshire, Democrats are launching their campaigns with a united message on Medicare and hoping it will pay off next year.
That message? “Your Republican member of Congress voted to end Medicare as we know it, and it’s time for someone new.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/democrats-launch-campai...
REPUBLICAN ‘CHANGE’ AD HITS TV
July 13, 2011 (CNN) -- The Republican National Committee launched its second ad Wednesday as part of a month-long campaign highlighting what they see as President Obama's failed leadership on the economy.
The minute-long spot, "Change Direction," contrasts excerpts from President Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2008 with the current unemployment rate and national debt. It will air on cable and broadcast stations in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, all states President Obama won in 2008 in which Republicans hope to be competitive.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/13/rnc-change-ad-hits-tv/
FACT-CHECKING MICHELE BACHMANN
June 16, 2011 (Politifact)-- Michele Bachmann, the House member from Minnesota and a tea party favorite, is winning positive reviews for her performance at Monday night's debate among Republican candidates for president. We've been fact-checking Bachmann since 2009. We've rated 23 statements on the Truth-O-Meter. Here's how the tally breaks down:
True 1
Mostly True 0
Half True 2
Barely True 4
False 9
Pants on Fire 7
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/jun/16/fact-checkin...
VICTORY FOR MEDIA DIVERSITY: COURT STRIKES DOWN FCC ATTEMPT TO RELAX MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES
July 8, 2011 (Democracy Now)--A federal appeals court has overturned part of a Federal Communications Commission rule that made it easier for a single company, like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, to own a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in a single market. The ruling marks the second time the appeals court has intervened in the commission’s attempts to relax media ownership rules.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/8/victory_for_media_diversity_court_s...
WORLD
MUMBAI: EXPLOSIONS SHAKE INDIA’S FINANCIAL HUB
July 13, 2011 (BBC)--Three near-simultaneous explosions have shaken India's commercial capital Mumbai (Bombay), police say.
Seventeen people were killed and 81 injured, said Maharashtra state's chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14141454
CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR SOUTH SUDAN
July 9, 2011 (San Diego Union-Tribune)-- Even before the Southern Sudanese Independence ceremony began, there was dancing.
Women wearing brightly colored dresses in reds and yellows and greens greeted each other in native high-pitched calls, turned up the stereo and danced in the courtyard of their City Heights community center.
This was the day the nearly 2,000 local Sudanese refugees had been waiting for — their first independence day. Decades after civil and tribal wars,
southern Sudan seceded from the north, and on Saturday, the Republic of South Sudan became the world’s newest nation.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/09/nearly-2000-celebrate-ind...
MURDOCH, SAVAGED BY PARLIAMENT, PULLS BSKYBBID
July 13, 2011 (Reuters)-- Rupert Murdoch withdrew his bid for broadcaster BSkyB on Wednesday in the face of cross-party hostility in parliament following allegations of widespread criminality at one of his tabloid newspapers.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/13/uk-newscorp-idUKTRE76A1OJ20110713
A PRENATAL SURGERY FOR SPINA BIFIDA COMES OF AGE
July 11, 2011 (NPR)— When she was 19 weeks pregnant, Sarah White went for a routine ultrasound and got a shock.
"I could tell that something was wrong because the ultrasound tech got real quiet," White says.
White's male fetus had spina bifida — a hole in his lower back that exposed the vulnerable spinal cord.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/11/137712436/a-prenatal-surgery-for-spina-bif...
PAKISTAN’S NUCLEAR-BOMB MAKER SAYS NORTH KOREA PAID BRIBES FOR KNOW-HOW
July 6, 2011 (Washington Post)--The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb program asserts that the government of North Korea bribed top military officials in Islamabad to obtain access to sensitive nuclear technology in the late 1990s.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pakistans-nuclear-...
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