ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

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December 8, 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 world and U.S. headlines include:

 

 

U.S.

  • Obama sets campaign theme: middle class at stake (AP)
  • Postal Service confirms cuts that will slow down mail (CBS)
  • Republicans split on Democratic plan to extend payroll tax cuts (Washington Post)
  • Obama: Congress ‘shouldn’t go home’ until payroll tax cut is extended (The Hill)
  • Cain suspends campaign (The Hill)
  • Tainted nectar? Consumer group warns of arsenic in fruit juice (NPR)

 WORLD

  • Thousands protest against Putin over Russia vote (Reuters)
  • Putin’s party barely hangs onto its majority (Yahoo! News)
  • WHO issues European measles warning (BBC)
  • 3-D printers help grow new bones (BBC)
  • U.N.: Syria death toll exceeds 4,000 since March (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories. 

 

U.S.

Obama sets campaign theme: middle class at stake (AP)

December 6, 2011 -- Declaring the American middle class in jeopardy, President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined a populist economic vision that will drive his re-election bid, insisting the United States must reclaim its standing as a country in which everyone can prosper if provided "a fair shot and a fair share."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-06-14-04-33

Postal Service confirms cuts that will slow down mail (CBS)

December 5, 2011 -- If you still mail a check to pay your bills, it’s going to take longer for them to get where they’re going starting in January.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/05/postal-service-confirms-cuts-that-will-slow-mail-down/ 

Republicans split on Democratic plan to extend payroll tax cuts (Washington Post)

December 7, 2011 -- A Republican Party that has for decades benefited from a commitment to lower taxes is now finding itself on the defensive on the issue, as members face a deep split over a Democratic plan to extend a payroll tax reduction.

What might normally be a no-brainer for most congressional Republicans is being resisted by many tea-party-conscious members who oppose what they consider a short-term gimmick that would worsen the federal deficit and siphon money from Social Security, which the payroll taxes fund.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-split-on-democratic-plan-to-extend-payroll-tax-cut/2011/12/06/gIQAB0AsaO_story.html?hpid=z1

Obama: Congress ‘shouldn’t go home’ until payroll tax cut is extended (The Hill)

December 3, 2011 -- Congress needs to pass an extension to the payroll tax cut and shouldn't adjourn until they do, President Obama said in his weekly address.

"Both parties came together to cut payroll taxes for the typical middle-class family by about $1,000, but that tax cut is set to expire at the end of this month," Obama said. "We can’t let that happen."

http://thehill.com/video/administration/196999-obama-congress-shouldnt-go-home-until-payroll-tax-is-extended

Cain suspends campaign (The Hill)

December 3, 2011 -- A defiant Herman Cain maintained that various allegations of sexual impropriety plaguing him were untrue, but nonetheless suspended his presidential campaign Saturday.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/197007-herman-cain-campaign-suspend-announcement-affairs-future

Tainted nectar? Consumer group warns of arsenic in fruit juice (NPR)

December 1, 2011 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it will consider setting a standard for how much arsenic should be permitted in apple juice after a consumer group found high levels of the carcinogen in samples of apple juice it tested.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/11/30/142961997/tainted-nectar-consumer-group-warns-of-arsenic-in-fruit-juice?ft=1&f=1053

 

WORLD

Thousands protest against Putin over Russia vote (Reuters)

December 5, 2011 -- Several thousand people protested in central Moscow on Monday against what they said was a fraudulent parliamentary election, shouting "Revolution!" and calling for an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/12/05/russia-election-protest-idINDEE7B40KG20111205

Putin’s party barely hangs onto its majority (Yahoo! News)

December 5, 2011 -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party saw its majority in Russia's parliament weaken sharply, according to preliminary election results released Monday, a humiliating setback for the man who has steadily tightened his grip on the nation for nearly 12 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/putins-party-barely-hangs-onto-majority-092734694.html

WHO issues European measles warning (BBC)

December 2, 2011 -- The WHO report says there were over 26,000 measles cases in 36 European countries from January to October 2011. Western European countries reported 83% of those cases, with 14,000 in France alone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15999492

3-D printers help grow new bones (BBC)

November 30, 2011 – A 3D printer is being used to create "bone-like" material which researchers claim can be used to repair injuries.

The engineers say the substance can be added to damaged natural bone where it acts as a scaffold for new cells to grow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15963467

U.N.: Syria death toll exceeds 4,000 since March (San Diego Union-Tribune)

December 1, 2011 -- The death toll from Syria's crackdown on an 8-month-old revolt has exceeded 4,000 people and the country's leaders should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, the U.N.'s top human rights official said Thursday.

www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/01/un-syrian-death-toll-exceeds-4000-since-march/


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