Today's news stories: Tamil Tigers, Supreme Court, NRA, Netanyahu
Our coverage today:
In world news ...
• The big story coming out of the weekend is the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka after more than a generation of war. Anuj Chopra in southern India looks at whether the movement can continue after the death of its leader. We're also putting together a briefing-style Q&A on the Tamil Tigers.
• Howard LaFranchi in Washington is watching the outcome of the meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Josh Mitnick in Israel gives the view of Netanyahu from there: Israeli residents of the West Bank fear that he’s going to give in to US demands to halt settlement expansion.
• Bikash Sangraula in Kathmandu reports on Maoist lawmakers – many of them former rebels – storming Nepal's parliament on Monday to block a vote for a new prime minister.
• Liam Stack reports that Kuwaitis made history on Saturday, sending four women to parliament in an election many hoped would end years of political instability in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.
• Ben Quinn in London is filing a short report as the expenses scandal in the British parliament is descending into a sort of constitutional crisis. The Speaker of House of Commons is under increasing pressure to quit.
• On a lighter note, Jordan's popular Queen Rania has joined Twitter! Loyal fans who couldn’t get enough from her website or YouTube channel can now follow her daily dish on what movies the king likes best and what she thought of the Pope’s visit. Nicholas Seeley reports.
• Ilene Prusher reports that Michelle Obama has snubbed Israel’s first lady. Was this a protocol snafu or geopolitical move? We plan to post this story tomorrow.
In US news ...
• Warren Richey writes that women who wanted their maternity leaves to count toward their pensions – even though their leaves occurred decades ago, before pregnancy discrimination was illegal – lost their case in a Supreme Court decision issued today.
• In another Supreme Court decision Warren is covering, men of Arab descent who were detained in New York City right after 9/11 cannot sue the US government officials who ordered them held.
• All expectations are that Obama will nominate a woman for the open slot of the US Supreme Court. Linda Feldmann looks at the difference, if any, between the jurisprudence of women versus that of men. What does the record show?
• Patrik Jonsson is at the annual convention of the NRA, which has an air of urgency as gun rights defenders insist their rights are about to be eroded by the Obama administration and a Democratic Congress. Why NRA members are on "war footing," and what they plan to do to win.
• Gail Chaddock is finding that credit card legislation now pending in Congress would make it especially difficult for young people to get credit.
• Pete Spotts is following the repair crew fixing the Hubble telescope as it orbits the earth. He's finding that the astronauts come through swimmingly in a mission that tested – as never before – their ability to fix gadgets and hardware in space.
• Dante Chinni has checked in on the "Patchwork Nation" Hardship Index, and he's finding little good news, especially in the communities characterized as Monied 'Burbs.
