ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

May 22, 2014 (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.

• As outrage over V.A. allegations grow, White House scrambles to respond (Washington Post)
• Obama, business execs look to boost investment (The Hill)
• Bernie Sanders has questions about Clinton (Washington Post)
• Jeb Bush hints at 2016 run, talks up faith in his only commencement address this year (Washington Post)

WORLD

• Drones join fight to protect African wildlife (CBS)
• Russia's Says Rides To The Space Station Will End  (NPR)
• How does a drug cartel become a lime cartel? (Washington Post)
• Record Flooding In Balkans Destroys Communities (NPR)
• U.N. monitors warn on human rights in east Ukraine, Crimea (Reuters)

For excerpts and full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

U.S.

As outrage over V.A. allegations grow, White House scrambles to respond (Washington Post)

The White House is scrambling to contain growing outrage over delays in treatment and rigged recordkeeping at veterans hospitals as lawmakers on Capitol Hill prepared to vote Wednesday on a bill designed to help make it easier to fire career employees tied to scandals at the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs.

Obama, business execs look to boost investment (The Hill)

President Obama and several top administration officials will hold an economic summit with business leaders on Tuesday to discuss ramping up job-creating investment in the United States.

Bernie Sanders has questions about Clinton (Washington Post)

As Hillary Rodham Clinton moves steadily toward what Democrats now see as an inevitable campaign for president in 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is readying a dissent from the left. Sanders has been traveling the country to explore the possibility of running his own campaign in 2016.

Jeb Bush hints at 2016 run, talks up faith in his only commencement address this year (Washington Post)

Jeb Bush urged students at a Christian liberal arts college Saturday to reaffirm their socially conservative values, a sign that he is underscoring his own as he considers running in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

WORLD

Drones join fight to protect African wildlife (CBS)

Unmanned aircraft are getting more affordable. Companies are pushing the boundaries of drone technology -- and now, that includes protecting nature….In places like Namibia, drones -- unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs -- have been purchased to monitor game parks and to track poachers.

Russia's Says Rides To The Space Station Will End  (NPR)

With the U.S. imposing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, what happens to U.S. and Russian co-operation in space?

How does a drug cartel become a lime cartel? (Washington Post)

In the western state of Michoacán, Mexico, groups of civilians have formed “self-defense” militias with the aim of kicking out one of the bloodiest drug cartels: “The Knights Templars.” …Violence and extortion are longstanding problems in Michoacán, but it was not until early 2013 that civilians decided to take up arms to defend themselves. Why did they rebel against the Templarios? The leaders of the self-defense groups have provided two different explanations. The first one, given by the leader of the rural town of Tepalcatepec, is that the Templarios crossed a line when they started to kidnap their women and children in groups in order to rape them. The second explanation, given by the leader of Buenavista — the town where the vigilante movement began — is that the Templarios moved from illegally taxing agricultural output to actually exerting direct control over agricultural production.

Record Flooding In Balkans Destroys Communities (NPR)

The worst flooding in Bosnia and Serbia since records began 120 years ago has swept away homes, triggered dozens of landslides, cut off whole communities and killed at least four people.

U.N. monitors warn on human rights in east Ukraine, Crimea (Reuters)

Human rights violations have escalated in eastern Ukraine and serious problems are emerging in Crimea, United Nations monitors said in a report released on Friday.